Fling in the Ring (1955)

The stooges are the trainers of "Chopper", a beefy boxer, and they bet their bankroll on Chopper to win his next fight. When "Big Mike", their boss, tells them to have Chopper lose or ... See full summary »

Director:

Jules White

Writer:

Jack White (screen play)

Stars:

Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Shemp Howard	...	Shemp (as Shemp)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
Dick Wessel	...	Chopper Kane (archive footage) (as Richard Wessel)
Claire Carleton	...	Kitty Davis (archive footage)
Frank Sully	...	Big Mike

Storyline

The stooges are the trainers of "Chopper", a beefy boxer, and they bet their bankroll on Chopper to win his next fight. When "Big Mike", their boss, tells them to have Chopper lose or they'll lose their lives, the boys try to soften up Chopper so he'll lose. The fight gets canceled and the stooges have to contend with an angry Big Mike and his goons.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick | boxing | the three stooges

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Taglines:

A knockout of a knockabout comedy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1955 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Shemp first attempts to enter the ring to spar with The Chopper, he becomes entangled in the ropes. The Chopper can be clearly seen standing just outside the ring with his fully gloved hands on his hips. The scene quickly cuts to a closeup of The Chopper, whose now-bare right hand is pulling up the glove on his left hand.

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Connections

Remake of Fright Night (1947)

User Reviews

A Rehash, But Like Previous Rehashs, The New Footage Is Brilliant.

Fling In The Ring is a remake of the classic Fright Night, which was the first short that Shemp was The Third Stooge. And while A Fling In The Ring isn't as funny as the hysterical original, it's very funny. The short consist of quite a bit of footage from the original short, with some new scenes added in, and from what I saw, quite a few of the new scenes were down right funny. However, beginning with this short, and continuing until he died, I was surprised to see how frail and ill Shemp looked. It's a shame that he had to die when he was only sixty. Oh well, everyone dies eventually.

Fright Night is one of the best Three Stooges shorts that I have ever seen, and this short while a rather rehashed remake (by this point, Columbia Pictures had downsized the short film department, so recycling had become more obvious and mandatory). And while I mostly laughed at the old footage, the new scenes where pretty funny too. The best Stooge shorts include classics like A Plumbing We Will Go, Punch Drunks, Brideless Groom, and Malice In The Palace. I am a huge fan of The Three Stooges, and out of all of them, Shemp is most likely my favorite.

I'll give this film a rating of eight stars out of ten, meaning this: this short is not one of the best films that the Three Stooges have ever made, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it all the same. If only The Stooges would have been able to make more new material around this time, because if they would have been able too, who knows, the quality of their shorts may not have decreased. If you loved Fright Night, the chances are that you will enjoy this short too, I liked it, it's not one of my all time favorites, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

8/10