classicsoncall Review of Rockin' in the Rockies

Rockin' in the Rockies (1945)

"There must be a better way to get on a horse."

[6/10 · 7 November 2015]

I caught my fair share of Three Stooges shorts as a kid but never a full length film. Curiously, the trio doesn't really operate as a trio here, as Moe Howard goes by the name of Shorty Williams, and lures Curly and Larry into his prospecting scheme as a way for them to escape the law. The backdrop of a Western film was probably a way of getting the boys into cowboy outfits and astride some horses but the story could have left that element out and still arrive at the same conclusion, which was to get their various supporting players hired by a Broadway producer just trying to get some rest and relaxation while on vacation. With a host of musical numbers, the picture gets some mileage out of a handful of performers like the Hoosier Hotshots and the Cappy Barra Boys. They didn't sound particularly talented to me, but the number that won over producer Trove (Tim Ryan) featured one of the members on a makeshift instrument that brought to mind Smiley Burnette in one of the Durango Kid flicks. A couple of pretty young ladies were also on hand, but the idea that singer June McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) would fall for an older homely guy like Moe, er Shorty, was beyond my ability to comprehend.