Shemp really is fantastic in this one, as Paul mentioned. The bad vision Shemp with glasses that don’t really work is put to great use here. Shemp views an outfielder painted on an advertisement as an actual outfielder, punches a player versus his intended umpire target, pitches a ball in the outfield and can’t hit a target to save his life. He’s extremely fast talking, energetic and boastful throughout, really carrying the comic load in the first half of the film. Absolute prime Shemp that any Stooge fan should watch. I also love the fact we have a baseball comedy, something I always wish The Three Stooges would have done. I’d say prime Shemp outside the Stooges are Vitaphone shorts like this, the ones where he’s teamed with Harry Gribbon and Daphne Pollard and a small amount of actual solo shorts he made. All mandatory viewing for Stooge fans.
The second half comedy of this film is carried a little more by Roscoe Ates and his stuttering schtick, which he’s done in every film I’ve seen the guy in. The baseball element also takes over, so your interest will vary depending on how much you like baseball. Yes, some historical accuracy was played with but it’s understandable. Both Dean brothers are featured, so from a plot perspective, both brothers pitch. Yes, they’re made to look immortal, so we get the immaculate inning, a rare feat - though more common these days with strike outs up in general.
An entertaining short overall. If you guys are interested in Shemp solo at Vitaphone, I highly recommend picking up THE VITAPHONE COMEDY COLLECTION VOLUME TWO for staters, then get Volume 1 next. The latter volume is more Shemp centric as the earlier volume has a few good Shemp roles, but mostly earlier stuff where he’s a bit player. But yeah, I’m really surprised some of these Shemp Vitaphones don’t get talked about more on this board. Really good Shemp and overall better than most the solo stuff he did at Columbia. Gives you an idea what Shemp as a Stooge would have been like in the mid 30’s.
