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Reviews
Savage Sam (1963)
Okay, but not great.
Both books were better than the films, but this one suffered the most by comparison. The dog didn't look like he should look in the mind of anyone I know, and the budding romance between Travis and Elizabeth was handled very clumsily. The framing is good, the visual effect is good, and the performances were adequate, but the only reason to see this is if you've seen the first one and learned to care deeply about the characters. "Old Yeller" was somewhat unpolitical and timeless, but "Savage Sam" is very dated by it's depiction of the settler/Native American struggle. The book at least was more accurate and matter-of-fact. They were probably ahead of their time by even mentioning someone who sympathized with the Native American mindset, but it's still painfully incorrect politically now. I feel the same way about another Disney effort, "Peter Pan" so maybe that's just from looking at it in retrospect.
Cuckoo on a Choo Choo (1952)
Review
I must be one of the few people that likes this short. I guess you have to understand what The Stooges are making fun of here. This film makes fun of A Streetcar Named Desire, hence the reason Larry is trying imitate Marlon Brando and the torn T-Shirt, and Harvey, which explains Shemp seeing and animal no one else can see and Shemp imitating James Stewart when he is talking to the canary. Coincidently, Victoria Horne who plays Roberta in this film appeared in Harvey. My favorite gag is when Larry tells Moe, "If you don't want to lose Roberta, you'd better play ball with me." I guess this is 50's slag for You better Listen to me. Then after that, Moe whips out a ball and he and Larry toss it at each other. Although there are better shorts, this one is ok.
Pies and Guys (1958)
Could Have Been Better
This is basically a scene by scene remake of the superior Half-Wits Holiday which was Curly's last film as a Stooge. What disappoints me is the stock footage from that short. I know the short subject department was getting less money from the studio and had to use stock footage, but what about putting them in a more original situation. At least Joe gets hit more and gets hit with a pie.