Reviews & Ratings for
Commotion on the Ocean More at IMDbPro »

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Not bad, considering the tragedy of Shemp's death, 11 March 2006
Author: slymusic from Tucson, AZ

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Commotion on the Ocean" is the last Three Stooges short with Shemp Howard as part of the team. Actually, Shemp wasn't even there at the time of shooting; he had suddenly passed away of a heart attack at age sixty, and Moe Howard & Larry Fine were forced to continue the act without him. But before they picked up Joe Besser, Moe and Larry made four more Stooge comedies with ample stock footage of Shemp from previous shorts, mixed in with new footage featuring (mostly) Moe & Larry and (briefly) Joe Palma doubling for Shemp. In the case of "Commotion on the Ocean," most of the stock footage is from "Dunked in the Deep" (1949), with the opening scene in the newspaper editor's office lifting stock footage from "Crime on Their Hands" (1948). The fact that there even WAS a double for Shemp is hidden quite well in this remake; Joe Palma is not even recognizable in the new footage of the newspaper editor's office.

Taken as a whole, "Commotion on the Ocean" is not a bad Stooge comedy, with the only major fault being the weakness of the closing fight scene between the Stooges and foreign governmental spy Bortch (Gene Roth); the stock footage from "Dunked in the Deep" is chopped up quite heavily during this scene, so the finale becomes much less interesting to watch. But here are two of my favorite scenes in this remake. In one of the new segments on the ship, while Shemp is conspicuously absent, Moe, Larry, and Bortch cough up sawdust while eating a wooden fish by mistake. And in the stock footage of the newspaper editor's office, Moe grabs two bookends and presses Shemp's ears with them; Shemp then tells Moe to "stop the presses."

Indeed, Shemp's sudden death was a tragedy, and Moe & Larry were real troupers for continuing with the act. It would never again be the same as before, but fortunately Joe Besser, and later Curly-Joe DeRita, would add their own flavor to the upcoming Three Stooges films.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Not even worth watching, 12 July 2001
Author: stooge60540 from Naperville, Illinois, USA

Another one of these low-budgeted, remakes after Shemp's death in 1955. A remake of DUNKED IN THE DEEP (1949) and not even worth watching. The second half is entirely reused footage from DUNKED, and the first half is just reused footage from CRIME ON THEIR HANDS (1948), with a small new scene added in. At least that stupid double used for Shemp was only in one part.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Funny Most Because Of The Old Footage., 15 October 2011

Author: Humphrey Fish from United States

This is the very last Three Stooges short film that had Shemp Howard (my personal favorite Stooge) as The Third Stooge, how very sad. And unfortunately, this is not one of the best Stooge shorts. It is a remake of 1949's Dunked In The Deep, and in a few of the new scenes filmed, they had to use Shemp's doppelganger (as I call him) because Shemp had died at this time. This short was mostly funny because of a lot of the old footage that was used in this short. This short is funny, it isn't hysterical, but it is funny.

I don't really see how I could call this short a remake when about three-fourths of it consists of stock footage, such as from Dunked In The Deep, as well as 1948's Crime On Their Hands. Both of the shorts that I just mentioned are very funny, but while they are very funny, Commotion On The Ocean is just funny. Like the three previous shorts before this one, what really made my opinion on this one fall was the tragedy of Shemp Howard's death. That is really sad in my opinion, considering that Shemp is my favorite Third Stooge.

So in short, this was not one of the best Three Stooges short films, but I still found it to be entertaining and funny, but that's mostly because of the old footage. It really is a shame that Shemp did not go out with a hysterical one, but he wasn't to blame, because he was dead at the time, and so he wasn't around to work on the short in the first place. If you are a die-hard Stooge fan, then this short is for you, I liked it mostly because I too am a die-hard Stooge fan, but I did not find it hysterical, although I found it to be funny.

5/10

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
A good mixture from two older shorts., 19 September 2001
Author: crusefamily

COMMOTION ON THE OCEAN is the best job they've done after Shemp's death so far. It's a remake of DUNKED IN THE DEEP. Joe Palma only doubles for Shemp in one scene of the new footage, but it looks more realistic. All we see of Shemp is his shoulder, and you can't tell the difference.

The beginning of the short actually comes from CRIME ON THEIR HANDS, with a different story in the newspapers. The film is almost a direct lift from the two shorts, except for a scene of Moe, Larry, and Gene Roth eating and coughing up a plastic fish.

This is a good job, considering the work they did in: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM, HOT STUFF & SCHEMING SCHEMERS.

***1/2 out of 4 stars.

2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Good Stooges short! Gene Roth is excellent in this one!, 15 June 2004

Author: Movie Nuttball from U.S.A.

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is one of My favorite Three Stooges shorts! Gene Roth is excellent in it! The scenes with the Stooges especially with Shemp are really funny! The fish scene is quite funny especially how Moe fooled the woman. There is another Three Stooges short with alternate scenes called Dunked in the Deep. This is really an underrated Stooges short!

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