"There goes Shemp with a left jab. There goes Shemp with a right uppercut. There goes Shemp with a haymaker! There goes Shemp." That's right, Three Stooges fans, Shemp Howard is back with the famous slapstick trio following a solo career that lasted more than a decade. "Fright Night," directed by the incomparable Edward Bernds, marks Shemp's first Three Stooges short at Columbia Pictures, and it happened to be his personal favorite. After all, this short deals with one of Shemp's favorite pastimes: prizefights! In "Fright Night," the Stooges are the proprietors of Muscle Manor, where they train the heavyweight boxer Chopper Kane (Dick Wessel).
Here are my favorite highlights from this outstanding short. The overhead shots of the lengthy chase sequence between the Stooges and a gang of mobsters inside a warehouse is some of the most exciting chase footage ever seen in a Three Stooges film; during all the commotion, one of the gangsters named Moose (Cy Schindell) gets knocked out cold with a couple of bricks, after which Moe hides behind a curtain and uses Moose as a puppet in order to have him "converse" with mob leader Big Mike (Harold Brauer). After Larry hilariously demonstrates some "love taps," Shemp unwillingly tries to spar with Chopper while one of his gloves is accidentally tied to the ropes.
I cannot emphasize enough what a wonderful Three Stooges short "Fright Night" is. Shemp Howard proved he could hold his own, both as a solo comic and as a Stooge. It is my sincere hope that Shemp is receiving the credit and recognition he rightly deserves for his contribution to film comedy.
Here are my favorite highlights from this outstanding short. The overhead shots of the lengthy chase sequence between the Stooges and a gang of mobsters inside a warehouse is some of the most exciting chase footage ever seen in a Three Stooges film; during all the commotion, one of the gangsters named Moose (Cy Schindell) gets knocked out cold with a couple of bricks, after which Moe hides behind a curtain and uses Moose as a puppet in order to have him "converse" with mob leader Big Mike (Harold Brauer). After Larry hilariously demonstrates some "love taps," Shemp unwillingly tries to spar with Chopper while one of his gloves is accidentally tied to the ropes.
I cannot emphasize enough what a wonderful Three Stooges short "Fright Night" is. Shemp Howard proved he could hold his own, both as a solo comic and as a Stooge. It is my sincere hope that Shemp is receiving the credit and recognition he rightly deserves for his contribution to film comedy.