Boobs in Arms (1940) User Reviews

The Stooges Can't Get Away From This Guy!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 1 March 2007]

The boys are out on the street selling greeting cards (did they actually do that sort of thing in the 40s?) and are having a tough time. After getting socked by a pretty woman, they flee and run over a guy. That guys is steamed but the boys show him or thing or two and dump into one of those street elevators. He vows revenge.

Meanwhile, the Stooges try their sales luck inside. They knock on a lady's door and she's distraught. She doesn't think her husband loves her anymore and the boys help in a plan to make him jealous by "making love" to her when he comes home. Guess who the husband is? The same guy they pushed down the elevator shaft!

Once again, they run, as the irate husband pulls a gun and starts shooting. They wind up in an Army recruiting line. Once in the military, guess who their drill sergeant is? Yup. Now, he (Richard Fiske, who does a great job in here) gets revenge but they still drive him crazy, too.

This "setup" - the first half of this short movie - is the best part. The second half is okay but gets a little too silly at times. Overall, however, no matter how many times I've seen this, I still laugh at much of it. It is part of the "G.I. Stooge" DVD, the transfer on this is outstanding, too: one of the clearer pictures.

Got in the Army and know the world!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 20 February 2020]

To survive ours friend making everything, this turn they are selling greeting cards and ends up knock on wrong door of a sorrowful wife when appear her jealous husband, they running away through the streets and got into Army, there they meet once more the jealous husband as the Sergeant, due the Stooges's behavior let the sad Sergeant gonna crazy, until they send away to war, there on the battle they are recruited to bombing the enemies with a special one laughing gas bomb, however instead they hit their enemies the daffy Stooges hit themselves, a non-stop laughing allowed them to invade the enemy field releasing the prisoner and flying away over a flying bomb to nowhere, I did remember this fantastic episode from my childhood days on this specific scene on the bomb, simply unforgettable, impregnated in my mind forever!!

Resume:

First watch: 1973 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8

Three Boobs Join The Army

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 3 July 2021]

"Boobs In Arms" was originally released back in 1940.

Anyway - As the story goes - If you're going to run from a woman's jealous husband, make sure he's not a recruiting agent for the army. Basic training has never been as basic as when Curly, Larry and Moe enlist.

My Favorite

[Ed in MO · 10/10 · 16 July 2002]

I've seen each of the nearly two hundred Three Stooges' shorts at least a dozen times each, and this has always been my favorite. There are just so many things that happen in this short--Jules White could have made a two hour feature out of all the different scenes and situations! But I think the funniest scene of all is the ending which takes place during WWI. The Germans at the headquarters all speak pig latin, which is hilarious in itself, but it's just too funny when Moe is screaming with laughter because of the laughing gas, and then giggles, "Our own troops are shooting at us!" To which Larry replies, while busting a gut, "We'll be killed!" This is by far my favorite Stooge short.

Nobody can make you laugh like The Three Stooges.

[mack3175 · 25 January 2002]

If you are a Three Stooges fan. Then you'll love this short. Moe, Curly, and Larry play greeting card salesmen, who join the army. And cause a lot of mayhem. When you watch this short you'll laugh so hard you won't no when to stop. It will make you laugh till it hurts.

Very good Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 3 August 2004]

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is a very good Three Stooges short. Richard Fiske performs really good here. Lynton Brent, Evelyn Young Wife, Johnny Kascier, Philip Van Zandt, Charles Dorety, Eddie Laughton, Cy Schindell, and John Tyrrell are also in this and all of them are good in this one! This is a funny one. The beginning of it is really hilarious! I think that this is one of the underrated Three Stooges shorts. Its really good and I recommend this one!

basic Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 7 November 2019]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are struggling to sell greeting cards on the street. They escape a jealous husband into the arms of the army. Their training sergeant turns out to be the jealous husband. It's basic Three Stooges. The turns are pretty random. The guys are fools but not good-hearted ones. The bayonet exercise is the best and inventive slapstick of the movie. The rest is pedestrian. The ending could have been poetic with the incompetent boys saving their nemesis. Instead, it does more random turns and they literally ride into the sunset. There is something about laughing at your own jokes which devalues them. This is still plenty fun especially for fans.

You're in the army now

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 15 November 2017]

"Boobs in Arms" is an American English-language short film from 1940, so this one is already over 75 years old. It runs for 18 minutes and is in black-and-white. If you take a look at the cast list and crew list, you will find many names that make it obvious that here we got another Three Stooges short film, one from the earlier days as you see by Curly's inclusion, but not from the earliest days. It is the time of WWII and accordingly a great deal of this one is about life in the military. The propaganda element is not as strong as in some other Stooges short films from that time. Early on, the trio are simple salesmen, but through coincidence they do not only end up on the front line, but also right inside the enemy's headquarter where they thanks to the accidental use of laughing gas take out one Nazi errr.. bad guy after the other. It was all very bizarre. The parts earlier in this one here when they keep running into a not so friendly sergeant are maybe still the best thing about this one. There is certainly some sad irony to Richard Fiske's fate given his character in here. Overall, this is not one of the most or least known Stooges works. It's their usual routine pretty much, so if you like their other stuff, you will enjoy it too. I personally was not impressed though and even if they seemed to have a fun time filming, I did not have a fun time watching. That's why I give it a thumbs-down. By the way, "boobs" in the title refers (like so many other times) to the Stooges themselves here as a synonym for "fools". The way we use it today was definitely not as common back then as a description for the perhaps most beautiful components of the female body.

My favorite There Stooges short

[stooge60540 · 11 July 2001]

My favorite Three Stooges short of all-time. I loved this short since I first saw it, and I never get tired of it.

First, the opening scene the Stooges having no-luck selling greeting cards to passerbys in the street is great. Especially when one man blows cigar smoke in Curly's face as a sign to leave him alone, and Curly replies, "Oh, a SNOB, eh?" One woman even punches Curly in the face, and he replies, "Oh, a SNOBESS, eh?!!?"

The next scene with the Stooges accidentally bumping into a man (played by Richard Fiske), and ending up getting into a fight with him is hilarious, ending with the Stooges knocking the man deep into a shut-in, and locking him in!

Then the Stooges try to help a lady who thinks her husband doesn't love her anymore by flirting with her to make her husband jealous. But her husband turns out to be the same man who the Stooges knocking into the shut-in! He quickly whips out a gun and runs after the boys, and after a hilarious wild chase, the boys end up dodging him, and wind up hiding in a line for Army recruits. In no time, they wind up as Army soldiers.

The next scene with the Stooges marching with the other soldiers is excellent, and features Curly at his best. He's especially funny when he's making those funny faces when the sergeant is going through the manual of arms.

And finally, the ending scene, which is the best part. The boys get blown with laughing gas, and laugh hysterically all the way as they are captured by the enemy, attacked by the general, and knock out all of the enemy soldier, all ending with the Stooges being blown by a cannon into God-knows-where in the sky! I love that part, and I think it's the funniest and most outrageous Three Stooges ending ever.

Those are just SOME of the many reasons why this is my favorite Three Stooges short. But this short is a must for any Three Stooges fan.

"Hey! What's the idea goin' swimmin'? We've got work to do!"

[Sharee65 · 8 June 2002]

One of my favourite Stooges shorts ever. Not only did the comedy and the brief "romance" made this short enjoyable, but also the usage of suspension and black comedy used in the war sequences.

It began with the Three Stooges selling cards. Curly tries to present a card to two very uppity people, which he refers to them as a "Snob!" and a "Snobess!". They then knock into some really touchy guy and knock him off once again - this time, into a hole on the ground.

Later they try to sell cards at an apartment and meet a young, married but depressed and desperate lady, who fears that her husband doesn't show any signs affection to her.

Woman: "My husband doesn't love me anymore!"

The guys make up a plan that they pretend to be her lovers, so her husband may get jealous and develop a greater need of his wife.

Curly: "Make way for the original Romeo! N'yuk-n'yuk!"

Her husband - who turns out to be the same guy they threw down the hole - walks through and spots the guys "romancing" the lady in a hope to make him jealous.

Husband: "What's goin' on in here?" Curly (not reconizing the man at first sight): "Scram, buddy! You're interferin' romance!" Moe (ditto): "Go."

Later on, after a chase, the Three Stooges enlist in the war and think all is well. Until they relize that their commander is the exact man who - oh, you'll just have to find out yourself!

After a hilarious attempt to "march like soilders", the Three Stooges get a really serious warning.

Commander: "Now listen - one more break out of you guys and I'll kill you - all three of you! Now I'm going to teach you to act like solders whenether you like it or not."

Later on, the Commander is captured. The Three Stooges are given laughing gas to win over the enemies. Instead they turn the bomb in on themselves and end up laughing till the very end of the short!

Very funny... also a piece of history too, considering the fact that this particular short was made during a very difficult time when the Troops were fighting, suffering, dying and it was surely hard to laugh during these times. I think this is a short "for the troops" - really dedicated to the troops. :)

Ciao, from Sharee!

"I'm suffocated! I'm humiliated!"

[slymusic · 29 March 2008]

Directed by Jules White, "Boobs in Arms" is a very good Three Stooges short starring Moe, Larry, and Curly. The boys begin this film as greeting card salesmen, and they end up as unwilling soldiers in the army. Their sergeant is brilliantly played by Richard Fiske, who ironically was killed in action during his subsequent involvement in World War II. Fiske's yelling, frustrated sergeant is his most memorable characterization in a Three Stooges short.

Highlights: Who could forget the classic army drill sequence with all the skip-stepping and the bungled manual arms? After misfiring a cannon and getting hit with an exploding shell of laughing gas, the Stooges laugh uncontrollably as they instigate a slapstick riot with the enemy.

"Boobs in Arms" teaches us a valuable lesson: Stupid Stooges should never be permitted to handle dangerous weapons!

Watch Out for That Laughing Gas

[Michael_Elliott · 30 July 2011]

Boobs in Arms (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Classic Three Stooges short starts off with the boys trying to sell some greeting cards when they get mixed up with a married woman who wants their help in making her husband jealous. They end up on the run and duck into a recruiting office and soon they're in the Army and sent on a mission to deliver some laughing gas to the enemy but they end up with a dose of it themselves. If you want to show someone a Stooges short to make them fans than this here would be a good pick as it has just about everything you'd want from the boys. There's plenty of violent action, plenty of good one-liners and best of all is that Moe, Larry and Curly are at the top of their game and really deliver a memorable short. There are many good moments scattered throughout the short but one of the funniest happens once they've been captured and are delivered to the enemy but they're having so much fun that they don't mind laughing and smacking around the bad guys. Another funny bit involves the married woman who gets them in trouble to start with. All the violence Stooge fans have come to love is on display here including countless pokes to the eyes and punches to the face. Just watch the sequence where the boy's Sergeant decides to do some bayonet practice with the boys being the targets.