THREE LITTLE PIRATES

This is the most overrated short in Three Stooges history (even moreso than Ache). I just found that watching it is painful instead of funny. Curly is out on his feet here, the lights are on but nobody is home. It looks as if Moe is propping him up through the whole thing.

The Maha skit in this short is not at all funny. It goes on for way too long and is even more painful to watch than the rest of this short. This short and Half-Wits Holiday should not have been made.

Bomb

I just finished tearing through the Stooge shorts of 1946, continuing my ongoing project of watching all the shorts in order (thanks Sony). It drove home to me what a lousy year 1946 was for the boys, as short after short queued itself up in my DVD player and laid a resounding egg. Exacerbating the problem of Curly's weakened state was the consistent weak writing of the shorts that came out that year. Thankfully they ended on the high that is Three Little Pirates. The laughs this one delivered brought sweet relief after the clunkers that preceded it.

The Curly in this one obviously still isn't the Curly of previous years, but the Maha character seemed to be designed around this slower version of his Stooge, and it worked so brilliantly that I'm not sure the Maha scenes would have been as funny if the sharper Curly of old had been playing him. It also warmed my heart to see Curly improvising his way through crossing his legs and sitting down at the table in the governor's throne room - a little glimmer of the kind of thing Curly was a master of in better days, but which eluded him in preceding shorts.

A great short, and the one breath of fresh air in an otherwise crappy year in Stooge history.

I've always thought this short was their weakest of the 1940s and far from the classic many think it is. I found it quite sad actually. Curly's voice was strained, he had little energy and he looked terrible. He was obviously very sick. Even when I was a kid I thought the Majah stuff was kind of lame. I never understood the appeal of that bit and I guess I never will.

This is a great short, and should have been Curly's(a.k.a Jerry's last)Even though he's very sick here his punchline "NyaNyahavnavista" is perfect for him.The pinball gag is great too and weird.Funny this was shot just 2 weeks before Curly's stroke and Curly now had wrinkles here!He's only 42 and he's got wrinkle that should have really set off something in Jules mind but sadly it didn't.The best of the Curly sick-era shorts (No pun intended.)

It was probably an intentional joke, like the "ancient radio" joke in SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE.

An excellent Stooge film considering Curly's health. It includes the famous "Maha" skit, which Curly performed flawlessly. I bet a lot of people at the time thought he was progressively getting better, but we all know what ended up happening to him in the very next film...

This is a great stooge short. Anybody says something different they have to think again. Their new routine rules and the fighting at the bar against Black Louie and his men totally rocks. It's so funny I give it four stars without thinking twice.

I just now noticed there was a flick called TIME OUT FOR RHYTHYM which featured the "maharaja" routine. If Curly looks like Shemp here, it may be because the scene was used first in 1941 & lifted here. Perhaps Curly's ill health was the reason for this.Joan Howard Maurer in "The 3 Stooges Scrapbook" gives it 3 pokes, I give it 3 and a half.

Curly's penultimate short, and his last great one. Ed Bernds was fortunate to have caught Curly during an "up" period (Bernds' only other short in that category was "Micro-Phonies"). Curly actually does some fine physical comedy, even if his voice sounds strained (he even sounds very catty when he tells Moe, "Aw shut up, I don't have to). And just when we were in for a disappointing ending (Moe proclaiming himself governor of the island), Ye Olde Tilt provides a pleasant exclamation point. All this, and the "Maha" routine, too.

This is a great short! I don't know how well Curly felt during filming, but he seemed to feel great compared to how he was in "Half-Wits Holiday".Who DOESN'T enjoy the Maha scene? In the tavern, Larry was the man! From when Black Louie grabbed him by the hair to the last time he got the pin ball machine to knock out one of the bad guys, he was a riot. The other 2 weren't bad themselves! Moe's "living portrait" gag was genius. A little thing that makes me laugh is that last swing Moe took at Black Louie from the picture frame- the swing he missed on. It just looks kind of funny to me. Speaking of Moe- he was great at the very end, mindlessly babbling Curly's part of the Maha sketch as Larry and Curly drag him away.ISLIPP so you don't have to. ©2001Edited by - ISLIPP on 11/15/2001 6:38:27 AM

The beatings endured by our stooges(particularly Larry and Curly) during the west wall scenes are outstanding stuff. If only the rest of the short could've maintained that high level of comedy. 3 pokes Edited by - Shemp_Diesel on 11/16/2001 1:22:55 PM

In my opinion, the only good shorts in Curly's sick period are this and MICRO-PHONIES. The beginning started out a little slow, but in the scene with the tools, it gets better. The Maha routine was great and I think the whole bar scene was funny, especially the fight scene. I didn't notice it, but I bet the reason why Curly looked like Shemp on the video box is because Curly and Shemp were brothers and brothers usually look alike in at least one way.

Yeah,It was a good short the 2nd best of Curly's sick period. I like when Curly blabs out gibberish and brains the bad guys.This short drowned out Curly's failing health and was his last great short because he you know...Curly looks like his eldest brother Shemp with the glasses and I'm glad Moe didn't abuse his sick baby brother.A good job Curly!

A classic, and it was shot only 2-2.5 weeks before Curly's major stroke. I agree that Curly looks like Shemp on the video/DVD cover. I am a HUGE Maha routine fan, and think this is a well written and well performed short by all parties involved.

I think DR. BELCH and sickdrjoe say it best about this short. I agree with the points about the short comings of THREE LITTLE PIRATES as well as it's strengths. The ONE impression that's left with me the most(besides the great MAHA skit), is the mere SITE of Curly in those extra thick glasses.. LOVE IT!

Man, am I tired of seeing that WARD ROBEY disclaimer every time I go to add a comment. It's like waiting an extra hour at an airport after Flight 800 (I told you that guy was a terrorist!) Anyway, I really, really wanted to love this one - I hadn't seen it in years until last nite - but something about it leaves me cold. The Maha sketch was cute, but I'd much rather have Moe punish Curly & Larry with power tools. This is also a very dark short, and I mean the lighting, not the humor. Oddly enough, though I'm a big fan of Jules White, I think by this point Bernds was the most clever and creative director for the job - as the boys were getting older, he seemed to give them more wiggle-room for spontaneity and spur-of-the-moment inspiration. All the elements for a classic are right there, but...I'm not sure what's missing, I just know something is (it's not Curly, either; he's pretty damned spry here). Maybe it's me.

A great short for this period, everyone does well, there were many very funny scenes, like when they do the maha skit. Rating: 94%(A)Edited by - Mike Holme on 8/23/01 8:36:48 PM