"The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" is considered by many Stooge fans to be the best feature film the boys ever made, and while it is not my personal favorite Stooge feature, I do concur that this film is quite excellent. Wonderfully directed by Edward Bernds, with a very good music score by Paul Dunlap, this film is a time-travel adventure story, with Moe, Curly-Joe, and Larry cast as pharmacists who help their friend Schuyler Davis (Quinn Redeker) with his bizarre space-time conveyor. Schuyler, his girlfriend Diane (Vicki Trickett), and the Stooges all take a trip from New York back to Ancient Greece, approximately 900 B.C.
My favorite scenes from "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" include the following (DON'T read any further if you haven't yet seen this picture). At the pharmacy, Larry and Curly-Joe try to concoct their own elixirs, and they make a huge mess instead; particularly funny is Larry's act of accidentally hitting Moe in the back of the head with a flying bottle. Familiar Stooges character actor Emil Sitka has a small but humorous part as a shepherd who gives confusing directions. The Stooges clumsily attempt to break Ulysses (John Cliff) out of jail (reminiscent of the Stooges' earlier 1947 short "Out West"). When the boys try to repair Schuyler's time machine, they accidentally set off some fireworks. The Stooges disguise themselves as women when they find themselves in a women's bathing area, but their disguises don't last very long. On the galley ship, the Stooges overpower their captors, and Larry & Curly-Joe dance around the ship while Moe bangs the slave master's drum.
"The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" is a very enjoyable feature-length comedy. The supporting cast consists mostly of unknowns, but they do first-rate work. In addition to Quinn Redeker, Vicki Trickett, and Emil Sitka, there are Samson Burke as the mighty Hercules, Gene Roth (who appeared in various earlier Stooge shorts with both Shemp and Joe as the third Stooges) as a harbor captain, and George N. Neise as two lecherous heels: Ralph Dimsal (head of the pharmacy where the Stooges & Diane work) and Odius (the undeserving king of all Ithaca).
My favorite scenes from "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" include the following (DON'T read any further if you haven't yet seen this picture). At the pharmacy, Larry and Curly-Joe try to concoct their own elixirs, and they make a huge mess instead; particularly funny is Larry's act of accidentally hitting Moe in the back of the head with a flying bottle. Familiar Stooges character actor Emil Sitka has a small but humorous part as a shepherd who gives confusing directions. The Stooges clumsily attempt to break Ulysses (John Cliff) out of jail (reminiscent of the Stooges' earlier 1947 short "Out West"). When the boys try to repair Schuyler's time machine, they accidentally set off some fireworks. The Stooges disguise themselves as women when they find themselves in a women's bathing area, but their disguises don't last very long. On the galley ship, the Stooges overpower their captors, and Larry & Curly-Joe dance around the ship while Moe bangs the slave master's drum.
"The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" is a very enjoyable feature-length comedy. The supporting cast consists mostly of unknowns, but they do first-rate work. In addition to Quinn Redeker, Vicki Trickett, and Emil Sitka, there are Samson Burke as the mighty Hercules, Gene Roth (who appeared in various earlier Stooge shorts with both Shemp and Joe as the third Stooges) as a harbor captain, and George N. Neise as two lecherous heels: Ralph Dimsal (head of the pharmacy where the Stooges & Diane work) and Odius (the undeserving king of all Ithaca).