Talk About Cinema

With a supporting cast that includes Shemp Howard, Max and Buddy Baer, and future Abbott and Costello Show regulars Hillary Brooke and Joe Besser, one would think that Africa Screams is better than it is. That's not to say that Africa Screams is necessarily a bad film; just an underwhelming one. Buzz Johnson (Abbott) and Stanley Livingston (Costello) work at a book store. When Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) expresses interest in a book containing a map in it, Buzz and a reluctant Stanley take the opportunity to accompany her on an expedition to Africa, as Stanley has read the book that she was looking for and supposedly remembered the map. Along the way, Stanley is followed by a gorilla that he unintentionally saved and the duo continues to annoy the members of the expedition, which also includes famous animal trainer Clyde Beatty, nearsighted hunter Gunner (Shemp Howard), and the whiny Harry (Joe Besser). The main problem with this film is Abbott and Costello themselves. The s...

It Ain’t Hay is probably the most unique Abbott and Costello film so far. It’s based off of a story by popular short story writer Damon Runyon called Princess O’Hara , and there’s a community-driven atmosphere to it, as it does stress the importance of the high standing of the characters in the town that they live in. Does it work for Abbott and Costello? For the most part, yes. Wilbur Hoolihan (Costello) is a taxi driver who is friends with Grover Mockridge (Abbott), King O’Hara (Cecil Kellaway), his daughter Princess (Patsy O’Connor), and their horse Finnegan. After Wilbur accidentally kills Finnegan by feeding him candy, Grover and Wilbur inadvertently steal a famous race horse named Tea Biscuit in an attempt to make it up to them, and so they have to find a way to return the horse without anyone noticing. Surprisingly, the one major problem with this is the initial set-up. It’s one of those films that kind of throws you into it. For example, Grover and Wilbur have this friend ...

We fittingly finish off Shemp Howard month with Shemp’s final feature film appearance, Gold Raiders . This western was the only feature film the Three Stooges made during Shemp’s second run with the group and they costar with George O’Brien, best known for his role in the 1927 silent film,  Sunrise . George O’Brien is a former U.S. Marshal who is working on selling insurance policies to the small town of Red Mesa. He recruits the Three Stooges in a plan to trick the crooks who are planning to steal gold shipments after he’s able to save the trio from the crooks. He also recruits the disgraced Doc Mason (Clem Bevans) and his granddaughter Laura (Sheila Ryan) in an attempt to help Doc start a new life and gain back some of his reputation. The film was shot in only five days and the quality kind of represents it. It has a fairly small scale western setting, and there are multiple editing errors throughout. For example, at one point while in their wagon, the Stooges are singing a s...

As you may have noticed, all of the previously covered films this month have only featured Shemp in supporting roles. The reason for this is that Shemp only found himself in the lead whenever he was working in short subjects at Vitaphone and later Columbia. When it came to features, though, studios really didn’t know what to do with him, so they gave him small parts in features that very rarely left an impression, either because of how small his part was or because the film itself was not particularly popular. No studio was willing to put Shemp into the spotlight... Except for one. In 1944, Monogram Pictures teamed up Shemp with Billy Gilbert and Maxie Rosenbloom for a trio of films in which they received top-billing. Gilbert was a character actor who appeared with many of the top comedians of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and even the Three Stooges. Probably his greatest legacy was as the voice of two characters for Walt Disney Productions:...

In today’s installment of Shemp Howard month, we are discussing Private Buckaroo , a Universal army film starring Dick Foran, the Andrews Sisters, and trumpeter Harry James, as well as featuring Shemp in a major supporting role. Foran plays Lon Prentice, a vocalist who works with James’s group and expresses interest in joining the army. When he finally enlists, though, he insists on receiving special treatment, only doing training whenever he feels like it. Normally I hate these kinds of plots where the main character is a selfish egotist yet for almost no reason we’re supposed to feel sorry for him because of some predicament he got himself into. In this case, though, I find it tolerable enough because this film really is not that focused on the story. Instead, this film is clearly a talent showcase and as far as that goes it actually does a pretty good job. This film is very big band-oriented, a style I’ve always enjoyed and James in particular is clearly enjoying showing off his...

In today’s installment of Shemp Howard month, we are discussing a mystery film, The Strange Case of Dr. Rx . Much like in The Invisible Woman , Shemp’s part here is not that big, though unlike The Invisible Woman , the rest of the cast, with the exception of one person, are playing their parts more seriously, so Shemp stands out more as a result. Jerry Church (Patric Knowles) is asked to take the case of the mysterious Dr. Rx, who has a reputation for killing criminals who have been acquitted in court. Church is reluctant, but eventually takes on the case, while also having run-ins with an ex-girlfriend (Anne Gwynne), the police captain (Edmund MacDonald) and even Dr. Rx himself. The mystery is pretty generic. Though they try to throw a red herring in there, it doesn’t work because we see very early on that this was an inside job and the red herring, though mentioned, does not show up until about halfway through the film. I was at one point thinking this movie was a sequel, because...

I’ve mentioned previously that my favorite member of the Three Stooges is Shemp Howard. Shemp was a brilliant comic who was gifted at doing both verbal comedy and physical comedy at the same time, making him a bit more versatile than the other Stooges, who were very good in their own right. Since March 11 is his birthday, I’ve decided to celebrate by declaring March this year to be Shemp Howard month on this blog. Every Friday I will be posting a review of some movie to feature Shemp in it. So, let’s start off by talking about The Invisible Woman , Shemp’s first and only appearance in the Universal Monsters series. Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore) has spent 10 years working on an invisibility formula with the support of rich playboy Richard Russell (John Howard). Needing to test the formula on a human subject, he puts out an ad and gets a willing volunteer in Kitty Carroll (Virginia Bruce), a fashion model who is fed up with her abusive boss and decides to get revenge on him with...

The re-issue trailer for In the Navy : In the Navy follows Buck Privates in the release order, though initially Hold That Ghost was supposed to fill this spot, as it went into production after Buck Privates . However, after the huge success of Buck Privates , Universal decided to shelve Hold That Ghost and instead make another service comedy with Abbott and Costello, only this time dealing with the Navy instead of the Army. Knowing that this is basically capitalizing off of the success of Buck Privates (to the point that they even make a joke with the title ) , I find it ironic that I consider this to be a much better put together film. Tommy Halstead (Dick Powell) is a popular singer under the name of Russ Raymond. One day he decides to join the Navy and his disappearance becomes a huge scandal. Dorothy Roberts (Claire Dodd) is a reporter who tracks him down and attempts to get photographic evidence of where he is. Meanwhile, the Navy also has to deal with the antics o...

The trailer for Buck Privates : Buck Privates is the first film to actually star Abbott and Costello and unlike One Night in the Tropics it was successful enough to cement Abbott and Costello as top-draw box office power. The question is, does this film hold up as well as its reputation back then? Well...let’s see. Slicker Smith (Abbott) and Herbie Brown (Costello) are running from an officer when they accidentally enlist themselves in the Army, thinking they’re about to go see a movie. Joining them are the spoiled playboy Randolph Parker III (Lee Bowman) and his former valet Bob Martin (Alan Curtis) as well as the officer who was chasing them earlier (Nat Pendleton). Smith and Brown must learn the ways of the army while Smith and Brown both find themselves attracted to the same girl, Judy Gray (Jane Frazee), all the while Parker learns the value of hard work...yeah, it’s that kind of story. So the obvious big improvement over One Night in the Tropics is that Abbott ...