Larry, Curly, and Moe are waiters slash dinner theater performers. They are invited by a doctor to cheer up his patient, a little girl whose bank cashier father had disappeared with $300k bonds. The Stooges dress up as little girls but it's not enough. The girl is still sad. They set off to find her father. With only a limited random description, they randomly search the streets for the man. It turns out that the father had been kidnapped by the bank robbers. This is pure Stooges at their bumbling best. I love that they are randomly searching for a man with no plan. They are completely clueless and it's glorious. There is no meanness. It's pure joy.
7 Reviews
Freaky But Fun
Horst_In_Translation15 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Nutty But Nice" is a black-and-white short film from 1940, so this one is already over 75 years old. It is an American movie from the days of World war II and it was made by White and Adler and maybe now you know already that this is a Three Stooges short film. It runs for slightly under 20 minutes as they always do and features Curly, Larry and Moe. No Shemp yet. Watching this one, it becomes very clearly that they were using Curly as their main attraction at that point already. Near the end, it almost becomes a Curly highlight reel. I already said that this is from tumultuous times politically and the Stooges were known for political comedy as well making fun of Hitler on many occasions. They don#t do so here, but the reference to bonds (take a look at Disney's affiliation with war bonds) may not have been coincidental. Anyway, it is mostly about the comedy of course as always with this trio. No love interests for them this time, but they end up helping a little girl whose father got kidnapped by a gang of criminals. And Curly takes them all down, including his two pals. I must say I am generally not the biggest Stooges fan, but I enjoyed this one. Yes it has weak parts too (the drowning joke), but there are many funny scenes too. More than usual in their works. I recommend the watch here. I wish these three could have been this funny in their other works too.
Playing rough with the bad guys!
slymusic6 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Nutty but Nice" is a fairly heartwarming Three Stooges short directed by Jules White. Perhaps more than any other Stooge film, "Nutty but Nice" demonstrates the most human qualities of the slapstick trio as they literally fight for justice on someone else's behalf. In this case, the boys are singing waiters ("America's Gift to Indigestion") who provide an ailing little girl with just the right kind of remedy she needs: the rescuing of her daddy, a bank cashier who was kidnapped with $300,000 in bonds.
As one Stooge author rightfully acknowledged, "Nutty but Nice" displays Curly's energy at its highest level! One instance of this is the scene in which the Stooges try to navigate in the basement and then fight the bad guys. Other highlights: For the ending, Moe, Larry, & Curly sing their own version of "Home on the Range" and plaster themselves with pies. The boys have some very unorthodox ways of searching for the missing bank cashier; particularly funny is the boys' act of repeatedly knocking over a bootlegger carrying several buckets of beer.
"Nutty but Nice" is a splendid action-packed slapstick comedy. The star of this picture is undoubtedly Curly Howard because of all his youthful energy! The excellent supporting cast includes John Tyrrell & Vernon Dent as the little girl's two doctors, Ned Glass as the girl's kidnapped father, and Cy Schindell & Lynton Brent as two of the heavies.
As one Stooge author rightfully acknowledged, "Nutty but Nice" displays Curly's energy at its highest level! One instance of this is the scene in which the Stooges try to navigate in the basement and then fight the bad guys. Other highlights: For the ending, Moe, Larry, & Curly sing their own version of "Home on the Range" and plaster themselves with pies. The boys have some very unorthodox ways of searching for the missing bank cashier; particularly funny is the boys' act of repeatedly knocking over a bootlegger carrying several buckets of beer.
"Nutty but Nice" is a splendid action-packed slapstick comedy. The star of this picture is undoubtedly Curly Howard because of all his youthful energy! The excellent supporting cast includes John Tyrrell & Vernon Dent as the little girl's two doctors, Ned Glass as the girl's kidnapped father, and Cy Schindell & Lynton Brent as two of the heavies.
Good Three Stooges short!
Movie Nuttball31 December 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!
One of the most unique Three Stooges shorts is Nutt But Nice. In this short are Vernon Dent, Lynton Brent, Cy Schindell, John Tyrrell, and Bert Young. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent and Schindell. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I strongly recommend this one!
One of the most unique Three Stooges shorts is Nutt But Nice. In this short are Vernon Dent, Lynton Brent, Cy Schindell, John Tyrrell, and Bert Young. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent and Schindell. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I strongly recommend this one!
At Least The Boys' Heart Was In The Right Place
ccthemovieman-118 September 2008
Tons of gags but not a majority that work. That's not to say there aren't laughs, just not quite as many as their should have been - too many sight gags we've seen numerous times before in the prior stooges films of the 1930s. That can be acceptable if the gags were great to start with, but these are of the so-so variety, and they get a little stale after seeing them many times.
The boys do a good deed by searching for a missing father with the intent on cheering up a little girl who is sick in bed at a hospital, and miserable. The only thing on her mind is her daddy.....so the boys try to accommodate. It's a little different and could have been a heart-warming, feel-good story and still funny at the same time, but the jokes fell flat.
All is not lost, though, as Curly's fight in the basement with a bunch of bad guys is entertaining, as are a few other short scenes earlier on.
The boys do a good deed by searching for a missing father with the intent on cheering up a little girl who is sick in bed at a hospital, and miserable. The only thing on her mind is her daddy.....so the boys try to accommodate. It's a little different and could have been a heart-warming, feel-good story and still funny at the same time, but the jokes fell flat.
All is not lost, though, as Curly's fight in the basement with a bunch of bad guys is entertaining, as are a few other short scenes earlier on.
Not a Classic But Worth Watching
Michael_Elliott30 June 2011
Nutty But Nice (1940)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent Three Stooges short has the boys working as waiters when a couple doctors ask them to visit a sick girl. It turns out that the girl is the daughter of a kidnapped banker and the only way she'll recover is by having her dad return so the Stooges set out to find him. This short is a bit different than many others in the series as it seems sentimentality was what they were mainly going for and laughs were just second. I doubt anyone is going to confuse this for classic material but at the same time I thought there were a few funny moments and the film is certainly much better than its reputation would have you believe. I think the weakest parts of the film are the few minutes inside the hospital where the child is in bed and the Stooges are trying to make her laugh. Not only do they not make her laugh but the viewers won't be overly thrilled either. The film finally picks up once the boys start their search and of course they get mixed up with some gangsters who are the ones holding the father hostage. There's plenty of nice violence in this short but this is what you'd expect. One of the highlights has one of the bad guys sticking his head through an opening in the door only to have the Stooges trap him with a chair and start to abuse him. The sequence towards the end deals with the lights going out and all types of confusion following but I found the entire thing to be rather dull in terms of laughs.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent Three Stooges short has the boys working as waiters when a couple doctors ask them to visit a sick girl. It turns out that the girl is the daughter of a kidnapped banker and the only way she'll recover is by having her dad return so the Stooges set out to find him. This short is a bit different than many others in the series as it seems sentimentality was what they were mainly going for and laughs were just second. I doubt anyone is going to confuse this for classic material but at the same time I thought there were a few funny moments and the film is certainly much better than its reputation would have you believe. I think the weakest parts of the film are the few minutes inside the hospital where the child is in bed and the Stooges are trying to make her laugh. Not only do they not make her laugh but the viewers won't be overly thrilled either. The film finally picks up once the boys start their search and of course they get mixed up with some gangsters who are the ones holding the father hostage. There's plenty of nice violence in this short but this is what you'd expect. One of the highlights has one of the bad guys sticking his head through an opening in the door only to have the Stooges trap him with a chair and start to abuse him. The sequence towards the end deals with the lights going out and all types of confusion following but I found the entire thing to be rather dull in terms of laughs.
Dreadful and schmaltzy
planktonrules17 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This short is a major departure for the Stooges and looks more reminiscent of the "schmaltzy" films they made with Joe DeRita in the 1960s. In other words, instead of their usual formula, the film was incredibly overly sentimental and sweet--something the Stooges NEVER should be! It all starts with the Stooges (Moe, Curly and Larry) as singing waiters. Inexplicably, a doctor thinks their antics are funny and asks them to come to the hospital to cheer up a sick child. But, their efforts are in vain as the girl is pining for her missing father, so the boys volunteer to find him. This is NOTHING like the normal plots of their shorts and the whole idea of their searching for a kidnapped dad in order to save a dying girl is anything but comedic! The basic premise is terrible and can't help but make this one of the worst Stooge outings with Curly.
Give me violence, pokes in the eyes and silly antics any day over sentimentality!
Give me violence, pokes in the eyes and silly antics any day over sentimentality!
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