Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947)

The Stooges, in this short, are "The Pip Boys: Lary, Moe & Shemp." (Yeah, that's the way they spelled Larry on their front door. They are tailors and sell new and second-hand clothes.The story involves the boys trying not to be foreclosed and a bank robber who is on the loose. If the Stooges can somehow catch the crook and get the reward money, they could stay in business.Like a number of these shorts involving Shemp - who I did really like and think was funny - a lot of the routines are re-hashed stuff that were done in prior "Curly episodes." Nonetheless, Shemp adds his touches.Also similar to many, this short only really starts cooking the last 5-6 minutes when chaos usually erupts. In this case, it's at the store when the crook and his pals return to look for a missing safe combination and some cash stolen out of his sports-coat.Overall, a "fair" episode, but not a whole lot we haven't seen before.

This was part of a 3-DVD box-set, and this disc came with the Laurel and Hardy shorts Mud & Sand, Just Ramblin' Along, Oranges and Lemons, The Tree in a Test Tube and another Three Stooges one, Brideless Groom; it also came with Malice in the Palace, and the features Atoll K(or Utopia) and Flying Deuces. At least this has one decent joke(the 200% one), amongst all the brutal violence made out to look like it is excruciatingly painful, crossing the border into pure torture here and there. That is all, however. 17 minutes, and only one piece of material that isn't based on us laughing at others being hurt(because, you know, we're not the ones getting hit, jabbed, beaten, etc.). It's called "schadenfreude" in German. The act of enjoying other people's suffering. Slapstick doesn't have to be like that(I refer you to aforementioned duo), and the only thing I can come up with to explain these is that people were tense and unhappy around this time, and seeing others have it bad, or even worse, made them feel better about themselves. Yeah. Or you could, y'know, try to solve the problems, seek out the cause of your static, unsatisfying, no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel lives and attempt to deal with it. I recommend this solely to fans. 5/10

No, you knuckleheads! That's Terry Horgan! He was here! Yes, there's a lot to like in this brilliant short. Where can I begin? Moe cooking pancakes on a steam press? Shemp keeping a pair of trousers in a window shade? How about Shemp reading with his lips as he peruses the Sunday funnies---this, of course, interspersed with fits of convulsive laughter, along with the requisite "hee-bee-bees" thrown in. Then there's Shemp reaching down a trouser leg and snatching a 50 dollar bill from Moe's hand, thinking he's found another fifty, whence follows a bit of comedic brilliance: you know what Moe's going to do (justifiably so), but it kills you nonetheless. How about that set-up to the film's climax: Terry Horgan and his henchmen stroll into the shop in disguise (phony beards) and deliver that immortal line, "We-would-like-our-suits-cleaned-and-pressed-while-we-wait," in a ridiculously overplayed staccato. Even the Stooges' suspicions are aroused by that! And the great Shemp almost gets away by putting on one of the phony beards himself. Then there's Cy Schindling getting the steam press treatment. There's even Vernon Dent, as if the film didn't have enough! Check out Shemp's reaction when Vernon threatens him with "I ought to run you in!" There's Larry wondering if he's hallucinating whether the "Pip Boys'" mannequins are coming to life, before shoving Terry Hargan's trousers in Vernon Dent's face with the imperative, "Smell the ocean!" Oh, brother, I could go on and on . . . The pace is breakneck, the timing sublime. Even time-worn gags, when interjected, come off great, thanks mostly to the Stooges' formidable talents. I can't recommend this Stooges short strongly enough. So I won't. Watch it when you have the chance.

Although I Am not the biggest Three Stooges fan in the world, a little of them here and there can't hurt now, can it? In 'Sing A Song of Six Pants', The combo, consisting this time of Larry, Moe and Shemp, are dry cleaners. After finding a safe combination in a pair of pants and realizing the clothes they dryclean are owned by a local gangster in town, they decide to keep the combination when the gangster's moll shows up. When the gangster himself comes by, then of course all pandemonium breaks loose! You can imagine the rest of the story, and well, the way the guys flesh the thing out, eg more kiddie violence, stupid humor and generally bad behavior then one can tolerate. Although this is of course juvenile, I found myself laughing at spots, so I guess this won me over!