"Three Little Pigskins" (1934, short number 4 in the Columbia series) is notable for the presence of (1) a very blond Lucille Ball, who (it is said) left her own studio because she wanted to advance her career by appearing with Curley (as it was spelled then), Larry, and Moe, and of (2) Walter Long, the bad guy who threatens Laurel & Hardy in <I>Saps at Sea</I>. The sight of the boys begging for dimes on the streets might be timely but it is hard to laugh at it. Sending Curley down in a dumbwaiter is used here for the first of many times in the series.<p> "Dizzy Detectives" (1943, number 68) has them first as totally inept carpenters and suddenly as equally useless policemen in search of an ape-like burglar that turns out to be a real gorilla. The only really new aspects in this short are Curly's trying to act grown up and unafraid and his sudden courage in the face of danger. Otherwise it is business as usual as they run from room to room to escape the beast.<p> "Sock-a-Bye Baby" (1942, number 66) has a premise that had been and would be used by many other comedians, notably Jerry Lewis in <I>Rock-a-Bye Baby</I>: the introduction of an infant into the household. While we might spend a good deal of the film fearing for the child's health and safety at the hands of the Stooges, the infant (Baby Joyce Gardner) manages to upstage the stars at every close-up. The police chasing them in the final sequence is well handled, with Dudley Dickerson wasted in an all-too-brief appearance. There are anti-Nazi and -Japanese references, and one praising by inference airplane workers, all of which easily date this film. <I>--Frank Behrens</I>
Reader Reviews
"Three Little Pigskins" provides a representative sampling of the work of the Three Stooges during the Moe-Larry-Curly period. These three shorts made for Columbia consist of one minor classic, one average effort, and a rather lame one, arranged in that same descending order of quality:"Three Little Pigskins" hails from 1934 and is the fourth of the Columbia shorts and the Three Stooges answer to the climax of "Horse Feathers" where the Marx Brothers destroy a football game. Here the gangster Joe Slack needs some ringers to help his team beat a professional team, especially since Joe has a $50,000 bet on the game. So a young and blond Lucille Ball suggests Joe check out the local college where he gets the mistaken idea the Stooges are football players. On the gridiron the boys try their best, but you know how good that is going to end up being and their are some pretty funny football gags before Joe chases them away with his gun.
"Dizzy Detectives" comes from 1943 and starts off with the boys as handymen, engaging in their usual acts of creative destruction, before suddenly joining the police force where they have to solve the Ape Man burglaries. Curly steals this one, as is usually the case, with scenes involving a rocking chair and cat, as well as a rug and a hat. The ending is another example of a gorilla ex machina that provides a climactic explosion.
"Sock-a-Bye Baby" is a 1942 short that has a mother leaving her baby in a basket on the doorstep of the Stooges. They take care of little "Jimmy" but then the mother reports the child missing to her husband, who happens to be a cop, and the chase is on. Now, there a few good gags in this one, but the plot idea makes no sense and the fact that the situation is not of their own doing works against the comedy. If this is supposed to be the Stooges' version of Charlie Chaplin's classic "The Kid," then this one is even worse than I think.
That last one almost drags this trio of shorts down another star, but the other two are good enough to bring it in under the wire. Besides, if you are talking about representative efforts of the Three Stooges, that comes out at four stars.
