Muscle Up a Little Closer (1957) User Reviews

Entertaining

[vicallen · 7/10 · 11 May 2001]

Give Joe Besser a chance and he can be funny. Typical later stooges fare. Tiny is everymans dream...cooks, works, and can fight! Larry is showing his age (hair shorter than usual) but the guys can still bring on the chuckles. If you like the WWF then this one is for you!

Energetic!

[slymusic · 26 January 2006]

The second of sixteen Three Stooges shorts with Joe Besser as the third Stooge, "Muscle Up a Little Closer" hits its mark. It is quite an energetic film that is fun to watch. I almost overlooked this short, thinking it was not one of the better Stooge films with Besser, but I was proved wrong. And as a nice change of pace, Moe and Larry decided to slick their hair back, as they had done in real life.

Highlights: As Moe searches under the lockers for the missing ring belonging to Joe's much-overweight girlfriend Tiny (Maxine Gates), the dumbbells on top of the lockers fall on Larry's head, knocking him out cold. As Larry searches under the bed for the ring, Tiny collapses onto the bed, which in turn collapses onto Larry; director Jules White was apparently fond of fat jokes, as proved when Larry says, "A truck hit me!" while having a spring attached to his face. Upon discovering that Elmo Drake (Matt Murphy) is the crook who stole the ring, Moe and Larry try to fight him and get knocked out; Tiny overpowers him, though, and recovers her ring after a brutal wrestling match.

Moe: "This is a man's job." Larry: "Where will we find one?" BONK!

good grief

[awobyob · 2/10 · 21 November 2004]

Man, I'd really be worried for Maxine Gates if she were still alive with this "desimone_ken" character on the loose (sheesh).

Moving on....

MUSCLE UP... is a somewhat curious piece for me because it's the only short from the Besser era I can think of that seems to have a decent script behind it. I can only imagine that had this story been done with a 100% Curly or Shemp that it may have been a very good entry in the stooge film library. Unfortunately, Joe Besser is third stooge in this one. Nothing personal against the guy, but his dainty personality just didn't mesh at all with the brashness of Moe and Larry.

1.5/10

Blimp takes off on guy!

[maxcellus46 · 3/10 · 10 December 2005]

Not at all a contender for being overly amusing as Stooge shorts go but when another supporting actor/actress is added that can obviously hold her own, comically, then there's hope yet. Maxine Gates was certainly far more capable of working with the Stooges than say that one with the lame psycho singer "Tiny" as Joe's sister. BLAH! I only wish that Joe had been more cooperative in taking punishment from Moe. They actually may have clicked and become the "Three Stooges" of the 1960's. Should've, would've, could've. It's all academic now. In any case, this is not overall a very bad short. Joe seems to be getting it right here especially when he has to clean up some cases of eggs that he spilled out and broke. Can you hear Curly doing his trademark "la lee, la de la" here? That's what Joe attempts and does pretty well too I might add. Also the "idea" he gets about using a blow torch to first fry up the egg residue and then sweep it up. Something I can hear Curly thinking out loud about: "Hmm!That's an idea!" The scene where Moe and Larry are going through lockers looking for the stolen ring is somewhat of a quandary to me though. First, why aren't all three looking and why isn't there any real slapstick going on about this episode? Also, in some of these "late era" shorts, why are Moe and Larry appearing without their traditional hairstyles? It's like Laurel & Hardy without their bowler hats or their personal hair styles. In any case, on the whole, not a bad short to catch sometime. Too bad not all the shorts with Joe in it are up to this one.

MAXINE GATES IS A REAL WOMAN

[desimone_ken · 10/10 · 24 May 2004]

Maxine Gates is a perfect woman. She's too good for that wimpy Joe. She's awesome, twice the size of Joe,Eats like a Horse, Stronger and tougher than any Male. More woman should follow that kind of role model. Healthy and gorgeous. It was awesome seeing Tiny toss Elmo around like a toy with those body slams and snap over the shoulder flips,Then the climax when she ran and leaped through the air and sat down on Elmo's stomach, squashing him like a grape. Then she kept squishing him with her awesome gorgeous hefty might. Big Girls like Tiny Ray (Maxine Gates) are the best. It's great to see a woman that size be happy and eat tons of food and lift heavy weight with her pure strength. That's the perfect woman and she's gorgeous..

One of the Better of the Besser Appearances..

[jazzfi · 2 July 2013]

Growing up with The Three Stooges in Los Angeles on UHF Channel 52 KBSC during the late '60s, we looked forward to the antics of the Howard-Fine-Howard company, so the episodes with Joe Besser with a bit of a let-down, especially since Moe didn't abuse the latter as he always had the others, and because of his blatant sissiness, although this had historically been Besser's on-stage persona. This episode however is chock full of fun, and is a bit more palatable than their other late shorts. The fiasco with the eggs when Joe trips on the hand-truck, and the blow-torch sequences are hilarious. Then Moe tends to Joe's heart-attack by sterilizing his hands in water then wipes them dry on an oily rag.. Not my favorite or maybe even in the top 20, but still has plenty of worthwhile laughs..

Maxine Gates as Tiny is awesome

[desimone_ken · 10/10 · 1 June 2004]

Maxine Gates as Tiny Ray is awesome. It was great to see a real woman without weight issues like Tiny toss Elmo around like a rag. She finished what most men couldn't and beat the rats out of some Gym Bully. She beat him without any effort with her pure gorgeous heft and still she wasn't tired, Tiny just kept getting Bigger, Stronger, Tougher and meaner without trying. She made it look so easy. The bed crushing scene when she squashed Larry under the bed beneath the springs was great. Tiny is as strong as ever when she military pressed the Barbell overhead with such ease, Most men don't lift like that anywhere. Check out her size, She's twice as big as Joe and much bigger and tougher and stronger than Elmo. And then she beat Elmo within an inch of his life. Tiny finished Off what most men couldn't. Go Tiny. Maxine Gates is the Biggest and Best

Maxine Gates is the perfect woman

[desimone_ken · 10/10 · 30 September 2003]

Maxine Gates is the perfect woman, A Perfect 20 on a scale of 1-10. She's Strong, eats like a horse, Dresses well, Lifts heavy weight like an animal and seems fun to be with. Every woman should be like her. I've always loved big woman like that. They can have all those skinny girls. She can break any man in two.

Maxine Gates is awesome as Tiny Ray. My type of woman.

[desimone_ken · 10/10 · 5 September 2003]

Maxine Gates is awesome, I wish there more women like her. She is every man's dream. She can cook, Fight, and lift very heavy weight. Where can I find the Video of this episode and Husbands beware. She's my dream girl. Some one you can have alot of fun with. Plus I can't stand skinny girls. She's so Healthy.

Good one!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 30 June 2005]

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!

One of My favorite Stooges shorts with Joe is none other than Muscle Up a Little Closer! All appearing in this short are the Maxine Gates, Harriette Tarler, Ruth White, and Matt Murphy! There are so many funny parts here. Joe and Gates are very good together in this one. This is a very hilarious short and I recommend it!

Despite possibly not seeing the whole short, I enjoyed The Three Stooges' Muscle Up a Little Closer

[tonyvmonte-54973 · 8/10 · 12 May 2024]

Joe's heavyset woman fiancee has lost her ring so he, Moe, and Larry look for it. It turns out a wrestler stole it and they all try to get it back...The version I saw from MeTV seemed to be edited especially after I read the other reviews on this site citing some scenes I didn't see. Be that as it may, I did like the various punches done by the boys even though Joe is for the most part spared as he didn't like being the target of physical gags. It's because of him that for the first time in these Columbia shorts, Moe and Larry have their hair slicked back as they did in real life. Oh, and the woman who played Joe's girlfriend was also good for some physical gags. So that's my recommendation of Muscle Up a Little Closer.