All the World's a Stooge (1941) User Reviews

Orphans Create The Storm

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 20 June 2010]

Somebody at Columbia Pictures must have remembered Spencer Tracy admonishing Katharine Hepburn when she tried to adopt a war orphan in Woman Of The Year. Because in this Three Stooges short All The World's A Stooge the main part of the story involves the Stooges being adopted as war orphans.

Lelah Tyler playing a Spring Byrington type society matron thinks it would be just perfectly grand to adopt a war orphan because it's just the latest fad. That's all her put upon husband Emory Parnell needs and he decides to teach her a lesson. So he hires three very recently out of work window washers who've been practicing dentistry without a license and on him to play war orphans.

Just the sight gags of Moe and Curly in Little Lord Fauntleroy suits and Larry in drag is enough. But the three of them manage to create enough mayhem in the Parnell/Tyler household on the screen that they might have discouraged many a family from actually adopting an orphan kid. It all ends at a party where as you know inevitably pastries are served and we all know where they wind up.

Moe, Larry, and Curly at their best.

so stupid

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 10 June 2020]

Wealthy Ajax Bullion is dealing with a bad tooth ache while his socialite wife Lotta is more concerned about her refugees. Ajax arrives at the dentist and mistakes the Stooges as real dentists. In reality, Larry, Curly, and Moe are window washers. On the way out, Ajax finds the escaping Stooges hiding in his car and recruits them to pretend to be refugee children for his wife.

This is just stupid. I'm not sure if it's funny but it is definitely stupid. It's not a matter of the Stooges dressed as kids. It's that the husband would think the boys could make it work that is truly stupid. It's better if the Stooges are the stupidest characters. The Stooges need to get to the refugee kids with a different premise.

Wild & Wacky Is Right!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 22 February 2008]

This is another wild and wacky Three Stooges from their Columbia Pictures days. Although it was now 1941, this one still had the zany look and feel of the '30s episodes. In other words, it was pure lunacy and fun to watch.

In just 17 minutes, the boys go from window washers to dentists to refugee children in little kids' outfits (which you have to see to believe!) Along the way, you get tons of slapstick gags and totally outrageous behavior, with credibility stretched the max. The latter was perhaps never more so than this Stooges story because everyone believes these 40-year-old guys are six-year-old!

There are a lot of familiar faces in this one, people who played in a number of Three Stooges shorts, and they are all fun to watch. Emory Parnell was especially good as "Ajax." Richard Fisk, who plays the dentist ("Dr. I. Yankum") is best remembered as an Army drill sergeant who the Stooges drove nuts in a couple of episodes.

The dentist scenes, by the way, will make you squirm. The sound effects are incredible. It is "Marathon Man" but with laughs!

Funny Stooges' Short

[Michael_Elliott · 19 June 2012]

All the World's a Stooge (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Classic short from The Three Stooges starts off with them working as window cleaners in a dentist office and sure enough a man comes in mistaken them for the doctor. After removing and replacing his teeth, the man asks the three to come back to his house and pretend to be refugee children so that his wife will be happy but of course things don't turn out too good. As with a lot of the Stooges shorts, this one here really breaks down into two one reelers with each half containing some good stuff. Of the two I think I preferred the first half inside the dentist office because we're treated to all sorts of funny gags including the boys accidentally letting cement dry inside the man's mouth and they must come up with a way to free it. Another funny gag involves them having to make a getaway and there being a cop that gets in the way. The second half of the film gets off to a great start simply by seeing Moe and Larry in a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit with Larry in drag! Fans of the Stooges should really enjoy this short and if you're new to the group then this is also a nice place to start.

Butler's name

[pcooney1-573-512947 · 10/10 · 5 January 2013]

The Butler's name is listed as "Botters", however, while watching this episode it sounds like his name is "Bupkis", which would be more in line with Stooges humor. "Bupkis", for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is a Yiddish word that means nothing of value, worthless, or something along those lines. I'm not sure if the official script lists him as Botters, and they ad-libbed, but, regardless, Bupkis is a way funnier name. Listen closely to the opening scene, and see what you think. The wife speaks very quickly, so you really have to listen. The Stooges always used funny names for their butlers. One was called Sappington, and several others had similar names. I'd love to hear back from others, as to what they heard. I love how "Bupkis" rolls his eyes at literally every comment the wife makes, and hurls verbal barbs at her, yet sounds polite, and the lady of the house is oblivious to the fact that she is being insulted. Just another "Stooges" jabs at the complete phoniness and ridiculousness of "High Society". The regular guy wins again in this short.Overall, this is one of the best Stooges shorts out there. Enjoy!

All Of One Sight Gag - Larry Fine as Mabel

[richard.fuller1 · 9/10 · 5 December 2007]

A bizarre comedy short, almost resembling what the Simpsons often attempt to do.

Yes, the Stooges begin as window washers and are mistaken for dentists, which then lead to their hiding out as war refugees (aided by the man they mistakenly performed dentistry on as well).

The program might have been somewhat better had the Stooges been kids in the beginning, much the same way Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy would do in Brats, depicting their own kids, just as they would also do in portraying their own sisters and each other's wife (Stan married to Ollie's 'sister' and Ollie married to Stan's 'sister').

The Stooges were already considerably shorter than those around them, giving them a child-like appearance anyway. Had they started out as kids, then the program might have been able to focus on jokes in that regard for much longer.

As it is, other than Curly's putting limburger cheese on himself, thinking it was salve, there wasn't much else that took place.

But without a doubt, the piece de la resistance was undeniably Larry Fine dressed as the little girl. Too hilarious.

The masquerade was definitely enhanced with the Stooges shooting dice and there is little 'Mabel' with a cigar in 'her' mouth.

I just can't help but think things could have developed further from this.

Lelah Taylor, attempting some Billie Burke in Dinner at Eight or Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey, eventually gets annoying and heard from entirely too much.

She definitely would have been diluted having to deal with little Mabel.

Not the funniest Stooge per se, but once again, . . . . . Larry Fine as Mabel was enough.

Wild and wacky!

[slymusic · 29 September 2006]

"All the World's a Stooge" is a funny, entertaining, and somewhat bizarre Three Stooges short featuring Larry, Moe, and Curly. What make this film so bizarre are the Stooges' abrupt transitions in occupation. They start out as window washers, become mistaken for dentists, and wind up posing as little children refugees! (Larry with his frizzy hair is especially laughable dressed as a little girl.)

My favorite highlights from "All the World's a Stooge" include the following (don't read any further if you haven't yet seen this film). The Stooges' first scene at Dr. I. Yankum's office is quite funny as Moe appears to be pulling someone's tooth but is actually pulling Curly back onto the scaffold! Moments later, when the boys are mistaken for dentists, they apply some screwball techniques for pulling a tooth. After that, they escape by rapidly travelling downward on their scaffold, bonking a policeman (Bud Jamison) on the head with a falling bucket and landing their scaffold right on top of him! Posing as a dumb little kid named Frankie, Curly reaches for a jar of salve to rub on his chest in order to take care of his cold, but he accidentally grabs a jar of limburger cheese instead; the subsequent facial expressions of discomfort among the various party guests are hilarious! Finally, in the end, the childish Stooges go a little too far when they steal some booze and are chased around the house by their adoptive "father."

"All the World's a Stooge" is a really good Stooge film with a supporting cast that includes such familiar faces as John Tyrrell, Richard Fiske, Symona Boniface, and Bud Jamison. Emory Parnell and Lelah Tyler portray Mr. and Mrs. Bullion, the couple who adopts the three "refugees," and the husband & wife could not be any more different. Mr. Bullion is a cantankerous fellow who feels that having dogs and cats is bad enough without children, whereas Mrs. Bullion is a nervously energized socialite who is overly enthusiastic about the prospect of adopting children.