Cuckoo on a Choo Choo (1952) User Reviews

The Weirdest Three Stooges Short of All

[mrb1980 · 6/10 · 24 September 2009]

By 1952, the Three Stooges were on their way downhill. The guys were getting old, Shemp Howard had replaced superstooge Curly Howard, many shorts were remakes with stock footage, and production values were going south.

However, none of those things can explain the extreme weirdness of "Cuckoo on a Choo Choo", with Larry, Moe, Shemp, Patricia Wright and Victoria Horne. The film actually splits up the Stooges, with Larry and Shemp (sort of) working as a team and Moe coming along as an outsider.

Larry (awkwardly doing a Marlon Brando imitation) has somehow stolen a railroad car, and is hiding there with his girlfriend (Wright), Shemp, and Shemp's girlfriend (Horne). Shemp is a chronic drunk and refuses to marry Horne, in spite of her begging. Moe is a railroad detective who comes along and sees his long-lost girlfriend (Horne)! Lots of bizarre scenes follow, including Shemp interacting with an imaginary 6-foot canary in a most unconvincing costume. At the end, Moe and Larry are knocked senseless, Shemp drunkenly decides to run off with his imaginary canary friend, and likewise is knocked unconscious.

Besides splitting up the Stooges, this short subject also has Larry as the main character, which almost never happened. I believe this film is the only Stooges short with one of the boys as a hopeless drunk (Shemp, who worships his little brown jug). Moe, violent as always, is not even part of the team at the film's beginning. Wright is absolutely beautiful, even though that adds almost nothing to this truly bizarre short. You might like "Cuckoo on a Choo Choo", but it definitely isn't something you'd expect from the Three Stooges.

Not the worst Stooges short...

[jimtinder · 6/10 · 6 March 2005]

"Cuckoo on A Choo Choo" has often been called the worst Three Stooges short. While it's not their best film, the uniqueness of this work in the series begs for a second look.

Larry and Shemp have swiped a railroad car called Schmow, with Larry hoping to marry his girlfriend. Shemp is a rich drunk who would rather woo an imaginary canary than the sister of Larry's girlfriend. Moe plays a railroad detective who discovers the car.

"Cuckoo on a Choo Choo" is a broad satire on "A Streetcar Named Desire." Larry satires Marlon Brando's role in that movie, and it is a delight to see him in a role other than middle Stooge. Shemp's drunkard character adds some comedic highlights as well.

True, the film is budget-thin (the streetcar is basically the only set) and tedious at times. But the satire and the broad humor make this film unique (much like the uniqueness of their first Columbia film, "Woman Haters," which included rhyming dialogue).

This is not the worst film in the series (the racist "The Yoke's on Me," which shows Japanese-Americans that escaped from a California relocation camp, surely rates that honor). I encourage Stooge fans to seek out this hard-to-find film and compare it with "The Yoke's on Me" or half of the Joe Besser shorts for awfulness. "Cuckoo on A Choo Choo" offers enough funny business and satire to appeal to the casual Stooge fan. 6 out of 10.

Love it or hate it

[nightcrawler4141 · 7/10 · 3 May 2002]

That appears to be the general attitude regarding "Cuckoo on a Choo-Choo". This episode draws a great stir among stooge-heads, pro or con. Myself, I'm on the "pro" side. The weirdness of the "imaginary canary" doesn't seem to farfetched if you keep in mind this is a Three Stooges comedy and the fact that once Moe gets on the train, the regular dynamic of Moe bossing the other two around, quickly settles in. I would recommend any stooge fan watch this short and see for yourself what side of the fence you may fall on. Grade: B+

Average, but weird short

[holme-1 · 10 June 2001]

This short is extremely weird, but some of the gags are quite funny, but some of the gags are just too silly. The idea about Shemp seeing an imaginary canary is absolutely ridiculous and very silly. Unfortunately, Shemp is not that funny in this one because he spends too much time acting drunk than actually being funny. But Moe and Larry do a pretty good job. Overall: C+

weird Three Stooges and I like it

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 October 2023]

Larry and Shemp are living in a stolen railroad car. Lenora won't marry Larry until Shemp marries her sister Roberta first as dictated by family tradition. All Shemp does is get drunk. Railroad investigator Moe tracks down the stolen railway car. He's actually been searching for Roberta who turned down his marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Shemp is hallucinating a giant canary.

This one stands out a little more with the canary and the skunk. They do plenty of gorilla suit characters, but this is a giant canary-man. It's a surreal ridiculous sight. It's weird and I like it. It's mildly humorous. The skunk is also unusual. They used a real skunk at times. I think they can de-sense the skunk, but it still smells.

Pretty strange!

[ftgplus4 · 4/10 · 30 December 2006]

This is well known as one of the most controversial Stooges shorts. Some say it's the worst they ever did, while others defend it. What most agree on, however, is that it's really STRANGE.

I don't think it's particularly good or bad. In fact, I find it somewhat reminiscent of earlier Stooges shorts that satirized things that people today may or may not be familiar with. "Men In Black", "You Nazty Spy!" and "I'll Never Heil Again" were similarly satirical, and (more to the point) similarly surrealistic and plot-less. It also anticipates the different-in-a-not-so-good-way features of some Besser shorts, showing once again that Besser didn't make the Stooge train head downhill -- he merely hopped onto it when it was already heading that way.

Still, some parts did make me laugh -- at least parts near the beginning involving Shemp. The line "Horrible, but I like it!" was funny. So were the weird music & sound effects whenever someone took a drink -- or at least they were funny until they'd happened too many times.

The weirdest thing is the imaginary canary. The most nonsensical thing is Shemp, finding himself in trouble, calling out "Moe!" as in some other short -- but in this one Moe's character is some stranger he's barely noticed! The most unfunny thing is the blond lady, whose loud, annoying crying and running away didn't always have a coherent motivation. Then again, there isn't much coherent about this one anyway. And maybe there doesn't have to be.

A Victim of 'Soicumstances'?

[W.B. · 8/10 · 8 January 2010]

I am among those who are drawn towards this bizarre Stooges short; certainly because of the reference to the "Penciltucky R.R. Co." (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk) and the railroad car named "Schmow," among others, plus this not being a "typical" Stooges entry. (And in this film in particular, Larry looks almost like a hippie version of former New York Mayor Ed Koch, especially when you consider the longer hair.)

But one has to wonder if this being judged among the worst of their offerings has as much to do with what was going on behind-the-scenes at Columbia's short-subjects department at the time this was being produced, as anything else in the film. This was from the period after Jules White became the sole producer/director of the Stooges (a situation, or 'soicumstance' if you will, which would stand until the closing of the short-subjects unit in 1958), following the firing of producer Hugh McCollum and the resignation of director Edward Bernds (all of whose directorial efforts of the Stooges were under McCollum) out of loyalty to his just-sacked boss and mentor. It is agreed among many Stooge-o-philes that the quality of their shorts plummeted mightily after White took full control. (To be sure, the Stooges' films weren't Shakespeare or anything else even slightly resembling "high art"; but for what they were, opinions differ among fans on when the quality decline took place - Curly's career-ending stroke and Shemp replacing him, the aforementioned backroom studio politics, etc.)

The question thus has to be asked (and probably unlikely to be answered, since almost all the participants are now dead, with the possible exception of actress Patricia Wright who played "Lenora"): How would the McCollum/Bernds duo have tackled such an unorthodox, offbeat script as this? Bernds is usually regarded by Stooge aficionados as helming some of their better entries, and especially his dealings with the actors and working around them (i.e. the final Curly shorts he crafted, where he took into account Curly's illness when making them, unlike White who merely shifted the action towards Moe and Larry; not to mention, in general, White's forcing everybody to work according to his idea of what "worked" in two-reel comedy).

Well...it's different.

[m2mallory · 3/10 · 20 December 2011]

Is this the worst Three Stooges comedy ever made? No, not really. It's not as painful to watch as some of the last shorts to feature a very ill Curly Howard. But it is the most peculiar one they ever did. Larry is essentially imitating Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalsi, right down to the torn t-shirt (and Brando looks a LOT better shirtless). He at least he seems to be enjoying proving that he can do more than get slapped. Shemp does what he can with the ridiculous role of a drunkard whose DTs are restricted to a gigantic canary--somebody in a really dreadful bird costume--while Moe plays the antagonist of the piece, the sort of part that was usually filled by Vernon Dent. So what gives? One can only speculate that this script was not written for the Stooges. The Columbia Short Subject department often re-filmed the same scripts, virtually unchanged, with different comics or teams. So the most charitable explanation for this short is that it has been prepared for another studio team, but for whatever reason given to the Stooges. Maybe it seemed like a good idea that the time.

horrible, but I like it

[simeon_flake · 8/10 · 11 December 2004]

A running gag in this short is Shemp (or in one scene, Larry) guzzling from the brown jug, doing the usual double takes as we hear the familiar train/whistle sound effects, then remarking "horrible, but I like it". A perfect way to sum up my feelings about this short. Sure the plot may seem a 'bit' absurd, but what are we watching here, Hamlet. I doubt any of these 190 films were made with the idea of improving our minds.

Larry's girl in this film says Shemp is filthy with money. I guess he's the definition of "eccentric millionaire" if he likes to spend all his time living with a hobo like Larry on a stolen boxcar. :-)

8/10

Bizarre, Beyond Bizzare

[della_ital79 · 4/10 · 10 September 2022]

The most bizarre and controversial Three Stooges short of all time.

I truly can't properly rate it. I really don't know if I like it or not.

Shemp is my favourite Stooge and this is "His"episode. Shemp gets a lot of solo screen time, more than any other Three Stooges short film. He spends most of it here being drunk/intoxicated.

I really can't believe this script was approved or green lit by any executive. The only meaning I can understand about this film is it might be a metaphor for alcoholism. Beyond bizarre.

Casual observers will be turned off completely, and won't discover the true genius of the Stooges. This is for die-hard "Stoogeaholics" only.

Review

[insanity_84 · 10 March 2004]

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.

Bizarre Stooge short.

[maxcellus46 · 4/10 · 10 December 2005]

The whole time of this short is spent in a stopped railroad car, and that's pretty much how the comedy is too. This is a "minimalist" Stooge short because there are no scene changes, no varied support cast, no foils like Vernon Dent to run up against, and the Stooges are all playing separate characters, not a team. Shemp plays a drunk through out the whole time, which wears thin after about five minutes. I don't know what Larry's position is in all this mess, and Moe is gruff as always as a detective. None of this gels. It's as if Chaplin or Orson Welles were directing this as an experimental film, and they had their goof ups too. This short it totally miss able.

Underated

[footpuppy · 10/10 · 9 April 2022]

Although critics and even stooges themselves, said it was their worst short, I think it's better than all the Joe Besser shorts combined.

It was Shemp, my favorite stooge. I guess you have to know the back story of the stooges. They were under contract to deliver X number of shorts per year to Harry Cohn, Columbia president.

They have been screwed by Cohn for years. Probably way of getting back at him.

What was the writing drinking?

[markm-00775 · 4/10 · 11 September 2021]

As mentioned in most other reviews, this is just a weird or bizarre entry into the Stoogea history. An episode which centers around one of the Stooges being drunk, with hallucinations of a large carry.... er .... Canary was just ... bad.

Had it been a part of the plot... maybe, but it centered on his behavior. And why did the woman insist on marrying him? Would money really make you look past his obvious faults?

This entry would unfortunately become average for the Curly-Joe years, but even a Shemp remake could do better than this.

All the drinking jokes fall flat, and maybe the best was the razor kissing scene. Even Moe has nothing to contribute to this film. Larry calls this a favorite, maybe because of his character not being the punching bag to Moe in this. Larry actually is a highlight of the episode, but it's wasted on a poor script.

Not the worst Stooges short!

[kcschip · 8/10 · 4 June 2020]

This short has the rep of being the Stooges worst but (IMO) that is simply not true.

All one needs to do is watch shorts like "The Yokes on Me", "False Alarms", "Flat Foot Stooges" & many of the Joe Besser shorts (especially the 2 shorts where the Stooges sister dies & comes back as a horse) to realize this.

It's my opinion that had "Flat Foot Stooges", "The Yokes on Me", & "False Alarms" had Shemp or Joe in it instead of Curly people would be more likely to see just how awful those 3 shorts are. But because fan favorite Curly is in it these 3 shorts get a pass.

It is my opinion that "The Yokes on Me" is the worst Curly short. And it is also by far the worst short the Stooges ever did.

The Absolute WORST!

[gmzewski · 1/10 · 20 February 2006]

Of the entire 190 shorts of the Stooges' career, this one is the bottom-of-the-barrel WORST of any of them! I can't exactly pinpoint where they stopped being truly funny, and began to become a parody of themselves, (it had nothing whatever to do with Jerry's leaving and the re-entry of Shemp), but perhaps it started when they ran out of original ideas and began doing remakes of earlier story lines, (some of which were quite good, in fact). But this one is beyond just plain SILLY, it's degrading and insulting to both them and the viewer. The storyline makes no sense whatsoever, even in the surreal comedic world of the Stooges. I've been told by others that it may be an allegory on alcoholism, with drunken Shemp's hallucinating the big bird, but that's pure BULLSHIT, it's just STUPID, and I'm surprised that Mssrs. Horowitz and Fine even agreed to stoop this low for such a lousy piece! Unfortunately, it was filmed and released, and became the stereotype of the Stooges for anyone with a negative viewpoint on them & their act. It's only saving grace is as a comparison to their GOOD work, and it's sad to see how far down they'd gone! Beyond even gratuitous violence for its own sake, like shooting each other with guns for no apparent reason, many of us wish it had never been made. Whose idea was this trash, anyway? Felix Adler? What a waste of talent, money, and time!

Not the average Stooge short

[stooge60540 · 17 August 2001]

CUCKOO ON A CHOO CHOO is a very bizarre Three Stooges short. The gags are all rather silly and dumb other than genuinely funny, and the Stooges act stranger than usual here. I think it's one of the worst ones I've ever seen, and I never was a fan of the shorts that have the boys playing different characters. That comes off too forced and drama-like.

Grade: D-

Bums and birds

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 15 March 2020]

Columbia Pictures' "Cuckoo on a Choo Choo" (A Train Called Schmow) is an American live action short film and maybe the title is already enough to make obvious what we have here and if not then the photo here on imdb should at least make 100% clear that this is of course another Three Stooges project, not one of their most known, but also not one of their least see. The year is 1952, so this one will soon have its 70th anniversary, and Curly died in early 1952 and this one id from late 1952, so it is of course a Shemp movie. It also becomes pretty obvious here given the slapstick and story that they planned on turning Shemp into the star from the trio. He probably does not have Curly's star potential, especially in terms of comedy, but I like Shemp and the fact that this film here did not do too much for me had more to do with the story than with his performance or anybody else's. This one barely runs for over 15.5. minutes, so it is one of the Stooges' shortest works, even if we are only looking at short films. It is also one of their works that is somewhat original and not a remake of an older work or a film that got remade later on. Director is White and writer is Adler like so many other times with the Stooges trio. The plot here may be slightly linked to a famous film that came out not too long before this short, but check out the movie connections here on imdb for further information if you care. I personally think the connection is truly vague and not sure if there even is one in the sense that this short is inspired partially by another movie. I myself liked the scenes with the canary, but most of the rest did not do too much for me unfortunately. This also includes the skunk scene that many will probably identify as the film's best moment(s), but I was not amazed by it at all. Same for the slapstick here, but with regard to that I am rarely too big on anything the Stooges ever made there. That is just personal approach though. I guess am more prone (in a positive way) to dialogue comedy instead of physical comedy, even if there are exceptions of course. Still kinda surprised me here that the girls have the hots for Shemp in this film. Two girls, three Stooges is not a healthy formula for Moe and Larry, but honestly, it feels that even if there were 10 girls, they all would have been into Shemp. There you get the reference about who they wanted to be liked the most and the star. Also of course, Larry has almost zero material to work with here, which I found a bit sad. Moe has more and he shines with it here and there. i still think he is the most talented actor from the gang and some of his face expressions were pretty amazing. It's also nice that he gets his fair share of punishment too because he is (as always) the biggest bully, but he is still likable thanks to his clumsiness. All in all, I give this one a thumbs-down. But people who like other Stooges shorts will perhaps like this one enough too, so just a subjective take from me here. In any case, I don't think you need a recommendation because I believe everybody who considers watching this one here has seen probably enough Stooges works to make up their mind for themselves. Even with Shemp as there are also (short) films that include him that are pretty famous. He may not be Curly, but he is a worthy addition to and delivers for other reasons. And by the way, it was really obvious how much he resembled his brother Moe here because there are several moments when you just see nothing but these two together on the screen. That's all.

An interesting change of pace

[slymusic · 6 April 2010]

"Cuckoo on a Choo Choo" is a most unusual Three Stooges short starring Shemp, Larry, and Moe. This time around, the boys' screen characterizations take an interesting twist: Larry stands out as a "tough guy" type, Shemp is a hopeless drunk, and Moe is briefly separated from the team as a police detective in search of them. The plot doesn't really go anywhere, but I disagree with Stooge fans who claim this film to be the boys' absolute worst.

A few memorable scenes: There is a myriad of bells, whistles, car horns, cuckoos, etc. every time Shemp takes a swig from a jug. Larry showers with a bottle of beer. Shemp laughs uncontrollably as Moe's electric razor slips down Shemp's back and he subsequently conks Moe's & Larry's heads together.

Larry especially liked "Cuckoo on a Choo Choo", and he included it in his small personal collection of Stooge films.

Definitely the Worst of the Stooges Shorts

[Ed in MO · 7 February 2002]

This short is without question the worst of the Stooges shorts. The problem is that the big bird quickly becomes irritating and Shemp's drunk act grows very old. Larry used to watch this short over and over again when he was in the old actor's home and liked it best because he thought he looked like Marlon Brando from "A Streetcar Named Desire." Avoid if possible.