BLAZING STEWARDESSES

I just finished watching Blazing Stewardesses and quite frankly there isn't much to say about this film other than it's pretty bad. With that said I'll start with the positives (what few there are): The Ritz Brothers (Harry in particular) are funny and the only times the movie got laughs out of me was when they were on the screen. It's a shame that this comedy team is all but forgotten in today's world and were pretty much forgotten for the most part when this film was made. Yvonne DeCarlo is wonderful as the proprietor of a cat house and to put it bluntly way too good of an actress to even be in this film. Her talents go wasted here. There is also a scene with "Mabel" that got a chuckle out of me.

Now for the bad, and there's plenty of it. Everybody else in this movie is wretched and boring, including Red Barry and Bob Livingston. The script seems to be haphazardly thrown together, and the ending in particular left me scratching my head in bewilderment. I thought DeCarlo was the ring leader of the ski-masked desperado gang but in the end she ends up living happily ever after. Perhaps it's something I missed.

I realize this is nothing more than a Sexploitation flick, but even as that this movie fails. Would it have been the most risque work in the Three Stooges canon had the group survived long enough to participate? Yes, but that's not saying much. The nudity in this film is almost non-existant; in fact most of the "nudity" (an ass shot and upside-down side boob) happens within the first ten minutes of the film. With Sexploitation films you expect to see some more nudity.

So there you have it; I would only recommend this film to anyone who would like to get a glimpse of the Ritz Bros. or who is morbidly curious about this interesting side-note in Three Stooges history. As I said earlier, it really is a shame the Ritz Bros. are forgotten because they truly are a funny team (the third Ritz Brother, Al, died in 1965) and I can see why so many legendary comedians like Mel Brooks and Jerry Lewis thought so highly of Harry Ritz. It is also interesting to think of how the Stooges would have done in a "what if?" scenario. They definitely wouldn't have made this stinker any good, but it would have been an interesting end to their careers...far more interesting than Kooks Tour at any rate.

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