http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/141http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045233/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tkg0Gre_j3wWatch THREE DARK HORSES in the link above
It's weeks like this where I wish I stuck to my original idea and did no ratings. The first eleven minutes of this thing are among the best eleven minutes you will ever find in a Stooge short, the rest is just passable. The short deserves a ten in a sense because those eleven minutes are incredible, but doesn't deserve a ten because of lack of perfection....eh, whatever. There's bigger problems in the world, like what to eat for dinner tonight.
OK, first off, filmed in August 1952 and released in October 1952, this was obviously rush released for the 1952 election. Most Stooge shorts at this point were released a year or even more after their release. THREE DARK HORSES harkens back to the innocent days when they put on the front that delegates mattered and nominees were actually determined at the conventions. These days, they don't even pretend, they already know before the convention begins who the nominee is, even changing rules on the spot just in case....I'll stop now, just want to see if Dunrobin is reading this.
![[pie]](https://threestooges.net/forums/Smileys/default/throwingapie.gif "Throw Pie")
. Also, please read the CRASH GOES THE HASH thread. I made a comment about Bud Jamison returning. Well, here is the short he returns, in a sense. Check out those Hammond Eggar posters, that face is indeed that of Bud Jamison! Nice tribute. Also glad I'm reviewing this one in the middle of an election cycle.
Man, those first eleven minutes, energy galore. When the boys get their tryout as the canned delegates by doing slapstick routines, it is like watching old masters at work. The camera just stays still, Moe starts out working Larry's nose, Shemp interjects, Larry looks on in horror as Moe and Shemp do their magic....it's prototypical Stooge mayhem, simple and direct. At this point, they are very seasoned vets who just can pull this stuff off like its nothing. Nobody does this eye gouging and slapping stuff better than these guys. Then we get the scene where they are acting as delegates! Energy galore again, all three putting on a great show, but special mention must go to Moe, putting in one of the best performances of his career. Shemp doing head rolls like a kid, Moe speaking of a two hour work week that would make ANY candidate today blush, yes, even that one!
Once the parrot in the turkey gag happens for the umpteenth zillionth time in a Stooge short, things become more average. I'm not offended by the ending, nothing wrong with corrupt lobbyists getting their just deserts, it!'s just that the gag itself is quick and lame, the whole bath tub thing. Would have loved a higher budget where perhaps some actual footage of the boys on the convention floor would have been welcomed, but that would include extras, lots of them, and this is 1952.
A flawed masterpiece in my eyes. One I hate rating. But will do so anyway.
9.5/10
