Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)

In 1961, the Stooges had a problem. It was a GOOD problem. During the late 50s, their popularity took a huge leap, because Columbia had sold many of their old film shorts to TV and they had become standard fare in kids-show blocks across America. My own parents didn't like me watching the Stooges, because they were afraid I'd poke my sister in the eye or hit someone on the head with an anvil. But it was just those kind of antics that made them popular.But the problem was that Hollywood now saw them as kiddy-show heroes. And nobody wanted to make the kind of shorts that established the Stooges, doing the kind of violent schtick that defined who they were. So they were packaged into several awful movies to appeal to the little people, which were 180 degrees away from the style and content of their classic shorts.This is a perfect example. What is Stoogey about this movie? Hardly anything. There's a teeny pie fight which isn't much of a fight, since only one guy gets hit. There's an occasional whack or pratfall. But it's as though someone's offstage warning Moe and the gang not to do anything that might make the mommies in the audience uncomfortable. They have to play sweet little "mountebanks" in a subordinate role to a flash-in-the-pan Olympic skater. They are a pale shadow of their real selves.In the meantime, we get to watch a very lavish fairy tale with mammoth sets, script by the guy who wrote the WIZARD OF OZ film, and direction by one of Hollywood's prime musical directors. If you have little girls who love Disney Princess movies, they might like this. But Stooge fans will snore their way through sappy songs, lengthy skating numbers, and even a lackluster sword fight. Trivia bit: you'll recognize Mel Blanc right away as the voice of the ventriloquist dummy. And one of my favorite 60s character actors, Burt Mustin, has a few good lines in an early scene.

Why are some people so down on this movie? I saw it when I was only 7 or 8 years old and I loved it. I was already a fan of the 3 Stooges and I found this a great change from their usual slapstick. I even thought Joe DeRita was Curly Howard, they looked so much alike. What I don't understand is that often the Stooges were attacked by critics who claimed they were not funny, that all they did was hit each other in the heads. Yet for once they made a movie in which they did less hitting and played up fantasy,romance, and adventure instead. And then the critics complained that they did not do enough! It just goes to show you can't please everyone. All I can say to the people who hate the Stooges, if you don't like them then go watch something filthy on Comedy Central. I say the 3 Stooges rank right up with Laurel and Hardy as classic comedians. God bless them for bringing me so much happiness as a child!

http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vlcsnap1685933in8.jpg the link is a screen shot from the movie. The guy totally looks like the burger king. I think burger king owes this guy and the 3 stooges some money. The 3 stooges look old in this movie, they did it for a paycheck, thats all. I like when the kid hits his head on the rock, great acting, and when he grows up his tights are a little disturbing as well. The acting in the movie is horrible, the stooges are not at their comic best either. It was hard to get through this movie but you have to give a shout out to the burger king, its about a minute into the movie, it made my jaw drop.

For the most part this was a reasonably watchable and suspenseful telling of the Snow White story. It didn't seem to derive much of anything from the classic Disney version, and that was pretty much a good thing. The acting was a little stiff at times, which was forgivable. But I had to turn the sound down during the singing numbers -- blah! And I could have done very well without the skating scenes that were shoehorned in. (Note the fake Stooges -- with "Curly Joe" being VERY obviously fake -- in the second skating scene.) Also, the plot started getting weaker toward the end, when it most needed not to.As for the Stooges -- well, the reviewer who said this was an "odd vehicle" for them hit it on the head. They deserved something better tailored to their talents than this. They're not the main focus of the story, and we see little of them during the first 40 minutes. But, as usual when they're handed lemons, they make the best lemonade they can. Their comedy is toned down, leaving them with relatively serious parts (particularly toward the end). But, to their credit, they're convincing in their roles as bumbling but kindly old entertainers.As for Curly Joe -- well, he was arguably the least funny "third" Stooge. But, as with the much maligned Joe, he may have done quite well if the Stooges were given better material during his tenure. As it was, his dotty, good-natured persona was appropriate for this era of the kinder, gentler "kiddie" Stooges.