Matri-Phony (1942) User Reviews

'The Biggest Chiselers In Town'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 23 October 2008]

Oh, boy: more corny signs.

The boys are in ancient Rome and are stonecutters. The sign over their front door of business reads, "Ye Olde Pottery and Stone Works - Mohicus, Larrycus And CurleyCue - The Biggest Chiselers In Town"

Emperor "Octopus Grabus" has issued an edict in which all unmarried redheads are ordered to the palace of for matrimony. One hot babe is pursued and runs into the boys' store looking to be hidden from a Roman soldier. The boys are happy to oblige.

My first or second look at this particular story probably made me laugh but now, some 40-50 years later, I had seen Curly pretend to be a woman so many times that isn't funny, anymore. The scenes with him and the Mr. Magoo-like "Octopus" (Vernon Dent) What I am saying is that is just too much familiar material.

To end on a positive note, the "dame" in trouble, "Diana," played by Marjorie Deanne was very hot. I'm surprised she didn't have a longer career, unless that was her choice.

ancient Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

It's ancient Erysipelas in the reign of the rash Emperor Octopus Grabus. Mohicus, Larrycus, and Curleycue own a pottery and stone works. The Emperor is searching for a young redhead to marry and Diana begs the boys to hide her. The boys are arrested when a soldier finds Diana hiding.

A cross-dressing Curly is always fun. There is plenty of fun crab work. I do wonder how Diana escaped. The easy move is for her to dress as a soldier and she can pass the Emperor without noticing her. The bum fed the wine is out of focus. The last scene has the boys in an awkward position which is weird and not actually funny. The funnier move would be them falling head first into giant pottery surrounded by soldiers. This has some fun but some could be improved.

"The Biggest Chiselers in Town"

[slymusic · 11 September 2006]

Directed by Harry Edwards, "Matri-Phony" is not exactly my favorite Three Stooges short starring Moe, Larry, & Curly, but it's pretty darn good. According to one source, the boys absolutely despised working with Harry Edwards, so it comes to no surprise that there were only two Stooge shorts directed by him ("Three Little Twirps" [1943] being the second). Set in Ancient Erysipelas, during the reign of a very nearsighted womanizing emperor named Octopus Grabus (Vernon Dent), this short has the Stooges as proprietors of a pottery shop, where they hide a beautiful young lady (Marjorie Deanne) from the clutches of Grabus.

Highlights: At the Stooges' shop, Curly shows a potential customer a trophy, which he calls "a 10th-Century rasbanyas yata bene futchy ah timiny carungie." (Curly would use this famous double talk later on in "Three Little Pirates" [1946].) One of the emperor's guards (Cy Schindell), who arrests the Stooges for hiding the young lady, gets knocked unconscious; the boys hide behind a curtain and briefly use him as a puppet when another guard approaches, but of course Curly is stupid enough to ruin the gag. (This gag would be done several years later in the wonderful Stooge short "Fright Night" [1947], again with Schindell as the puppet.) Before Curly has trouble eating the live crab sandwich, he says, "Vitamins A-B-C-D-E-F-Gee, I like food!" Curly is probably at his most childish in his female disguise as the emperor playfully chases him around the room; probably the funniest bit is when Curly swings on a vine and slams right into the portly emperor, knocking him down. At the very end, when the Stooges escape from the emperor, they jump out of a window but don't get very far!

"Matri-Phony" is an enjoyable Three Stooges short, and for a change of pace, it takes the boys out of their customary suits & ties and places them into tunics. Some might think that Vernon Dent was miscast as the nearsighted Octopus Grabus, but Dent was a consummate actor who could portray just about any type of character. Usually for the Stooges, he was a tough antagonist, whether it be an authority figure or a villain.

One of the funniest Three Stooges episodes!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 10 March 2003]

This ancient Rome short is hilarious!I love the dinner table scenes and also the scenes with Vernon Dent.The armor and clothes looked realistic.The things the Stooges do in their store is hysterically funny!This is a great one to watch!

Has Its Moments, But Very Disjointed

[abbazabakyleman-98834 · 5/10 · 9 October 2019]

This had the great ingredients to be a funny Stooges short, but the end result is pretty disappointing. First off, a lot of great gags were edited out during post-production, with a lot of awkward cutting away at certain scenes. Second, Harry Edwards' alcoholism and erratic behavior dampened the entire production of this short with him berating and insulting the cast by saying they couldn't act, nixing a lot of great material in the script (courtesy of Monte Collins & Elwood Ullman), etc. The shooting schedule went over two weeks due to these problems and veteran director Del Lord was brought in to film additional footage.

But there are still a few funny scenes with Curly interacting with a snake charmer and a seemingly endless scene with the Stooges roughed up by the hard-nosed palace guards, and the emperor flirting with Curly disguised as a redhead. It's no wonder the Stooges refused to work with Edwards again. He did direct them a year later in Three Little Twirps, which is a marginal improvement, but still falls short.

Winning Stooges Short

[Michael_Elliott · 12 January 2015]

Matri-Phony (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Funny two-reeler has Mo, Larry and Curly working as potters in ancient Rome when Emperor Octopus puts out a call saying he wants to marry a young red-headed woman. One just happens to be hiding in their store and when the guards find her the three men are taken to the Emperor's lair where comedy follows. Fans of the Stooges are really going to find plenty to laugh about here. From what I've read the three didn't enjoy director Harry Edwards but you really couldn't tell by watching the film as all three men are in fine form. There are several funny moments throughout the film but the highlight has to be when the boys are being held in front of the Emperor with spears to their backs. Curly doesn't realize it and makes an escape only to be caught by something other than the guard. Another funny sequence happens early on inside their shop as a guard comes in looking for the hiding girl but gets a sales talk from Curly. The film certainly isn't a classic or masterpiece but fans of the Stooges should at least get several laughs.

The Man Loves His Ginger girls

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 3 May 2020]

The boys are potters in ancient Rome during the reign of Octopus Grabbus played by veteran Stooge foil Vernon Dent. What the emperor wants the emperor gets. Dent has proclaimed he wants all the redheaded women brought to him. One has taken refuge with 3 Stooges for a much protection as that affords you.

She;'s caught and the boys vow to rescue her. After that it's a series of Stooge type gags and pratfalls.

The boys are in good form here.