I have never been a huge fan of The Three Stooges....and you might want to keep this in mind as you read this review. I am not a die-hard fan but I have enjoyed some of their earlier films. But their latter pictures have never interested me--mostly because the replacements for Curly and Shemp were just not nearly as entertaining. In their last films, Curly Joe DeRita played this third Stooge and the films, in general, are very tame compared to the earlier films. Sure, there's some slapping and bonking...but less than normal. And, the comedy bits in these full-length pictures are a bit tired....just like you'll find in "The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze".
Like their latter films, it's full-length and features the Stooges in secondary roles. I am not sure why the studios did this, as they were very popular...and the other characters in the films were pretty limp. In many ways, it was as if the Stooges were guest stars who appeared here and there in other folks' movies.
The story involves some crooks that come up with a terribly convoluted and difficult plan. They'll rob a bank and place the blame on Phileas Fogg III--a relative of the famous guy from "Around the World in 80 Days". And, while Fogg is traipsing about the world trying to win a new bet (traveling around the globe without spending any money), he won't realize that the police will be chasing him. As for the Stooges, they play Fogg's three servants who accompany him.
Let's cut to the chase. Although this is supposed to be a comedy, it's really NOT funny. Part of it is because they recycle some overly familiar old material (such as having Curly Joe go mad and start beating up people when he hears the tune "Pop Goes the Weasel"....exactly what Curly did in the 1930s "Punchdrunk" and Shemp did in the 1940s "A Hit With a Miss". They also used the Maharajah gag.....which wasn't funny the first times the trio did them. Overall, a film which wastes the Stooges' talents and which, inexplicably, made money.
Like their latter films, it's full-length and features the Stooges in secondary roles. I am not sure why the studios did this, as they were very popular...and the other characters in the films were pretty limp. In many ways, it was as if the Stooges were guest stars who appeared here and there in other folks' movies.
The story involves some crooks that come up with a terribly convoluted and difficult plan. They'll rob a bank and place the blame on Phileas Fogg III--a relative of the famous guy from "Around the World in 80 Days". And, while Fogg is traipsing about the world trying to win a new bet (traveling around the globe without spending any money), he won't realize that the police will be chasing him. As for the Stooges, they play Fogg's three servants who accompany him.
Let's cut to the chase. Although this is supposed to be a comedy, it's really NOT funny. Part of it is because they recycle some overly familiar old material (such as having Curly Joe go mad and start beating up people when he hears the tune "Pop Goes the Weasel"....exactly what Curly did in the 1930s "Punchdrunk" and Shemp did in the 1940s "A Hit With a Miss". They also used the Maharajah gag.....which wasn't funny the first times the trio did them. Overall, a film which wastes the Stooges' talents and which, inexplicably, made money.