A Gem of a Jam (1943) User Reviews

No Stooges "Gem", but has some funny moments

[jimtinder · 6/10 · 1 July 2003]

The Stooges are office cleaners mistaken as doctors by bank robbers. The leader has been shot in the arm and the Stooges are forced to operate! Will they get out of this "Gem of a Jam"?

"A Gem of A Jam" proves the old saying that the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. There are individual scenes that shine: the Stooges do their classic bit, the "Cossack Dance." The scene with Curly being "operated" on instead of the bank robber offers some hilarious results, and when Curly falls into a tub of plaster, prepare to laugh. And don't forget the welcome comic antics of Dudley Dickerson.

Viewed together, however, "A Gem of a Jam" doesn't add up. The bank robber plot is dropped in favor of making Curly look like a ghost. There is not much of a cohesive whole to this film; modern viewers may cue past moments of sluggishness for genuine laughs.

Some funny moments, but not a Stooge classic. 6 out of 10.

Yep. The Three Stooges Are At It Again!

[strong-122-478885 · 7/10 · 28 June 2013]

A Gem Of A Jam may not be one of the very best short films starring The Three Stooges, but, all the same, it does contain some hilariously priceless moments of pure slapstick mayhem that will surely tickle more than just your funny-bone.

When it comes to the comical antics of Curly, Larry & Moe, our boys are in mighty good form here in a Gem Of A Jam. As expected, the face slaps, the eye-pokes, the belly wallops and the one-liner insults are all delivered fast and furious as only The Three Stooges could possibly deliver them.

Here in "Gem", Curly, Larry & Moe are after-hours office cleaners making things all spic'n'span in the workplace of Doctors Harts, Burns & Belcher.

Following Curly getting his head temporarily stuck inside a fishbowl, The Stooges' work is rudely interrupted by 3 gun-toting thugs who barge into the office and (mistaking The Stooges to be doctors) demand that they drop everything in order to remove a slug from Joe's shoulder.

Not being the sort to argue with anyone who's pointing pistols at them, The Three Stooges' silly shenanigans quickly shifts into high-gear when Joe gets dumped right out the window and Curly falls straight into a trough of liquid plaster, only to emerge as a walking statue once the plaster has completely hardened on him.

Yep. You can be sure that there are some genuine bell-laughs to be had in a Gem Of A Jam.

If you're a fan of The Three Stooges you won't be disappointed by this wild and wacky tale.

non-stop Stooging

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 23 June 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are three incompetent cleaners working the offices of Doctors Hart-Burns and Belcher. Gangsters come in after their boss got shoot by the cops. They mistake the Stooges for doctors. It's a very familiar mistaken identity premise. They get their gags in. It's non-stop and that's great. The hands bit is utterly stupid and Stoogely great.

Best of the Curly flicks.

[wishkah7 · 9 May 2002]

This is my all-time favorite Three Stooges episode with Curly. In this one, our heroes play janitors at a doctor's office and get mistaken for real doctors when gangsters arrive and ask them to help their wounded henchman. A lot of hilarious mishaps in this one, when Curly swallows a goldfish and Moe and Larry had to fish for it literally! Also, when they were 'operating' on the gangster, and when Curly falls into cement and Dudley Dickerson's screaming reaction! There's never a dull moment in this one! Shemp has always been my favorite Stooge, and Curly is my second.

But I do suggest you watch the uncensored version on video. Because whenever The Three Stooges are shown on AMC, they cut certain scenes out on account of 'violence', or it's 'racist', 'too-suggestive-that-kids-might-try-that'. Man, political correction sure has gone overboard. Either way, Gem of a Jam is the funniest Curly episode, catch it on video or on TV. My favorite Curly episode is 'Gem of a Jam', My favorite Shemp episode is 'Sing a Song of Six Pants', and my favorite Joe Besser episode is 'Guns a Poppin'. The Three Stooges are always fun to watch no matter what.

Good Three Stooges short! A classic!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 5 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!

Dudley Dickerson, Al Hill, Fred Kelsey, Al Thompson, and John Tyrrell are in this Three Stooges classic! I think this is arguably one of the best Three Stooges shorts. The beginning is hilarious when The Stooges are cleaning up the joint and the shoot out scenes the cops and robbers was good as well. I strongly recommend A Gem of a Jam!

A Gem Of A Comedy

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

"A Gem Of A Jam" was originally released back in 1943.

Anyway - As the story goes - While cleaning a medical office, janitors Curly, Larry and Moe are mistaken for doctors by three bank robbers who demand to be treated.

a mixed bag

[spiders-man2099 · 5/10 · 28 April 2003]

This short can basically be summed up in two halves: The first half, which is very funny & the 2nd half (at the point where the stooges decide to run from the cops & Curly gets covered in some kind of white goop) which isn't very funny at all. Dudley Dickerson, who plays a frightened janitor in this short, is always good for a few guffaws with his double takes & facial reactions whenever he's scared by something.

I rate this a 4.5/10

Nice Stooges Short

[Michael_Elliott · 7 March 2016]

A Gem of a Jam (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly are working as janitors in a doctor's office when a couple thugs bring their gangster boss in with a gunshot wound. The boy's are forced to perform an operation on him and naturally things don't go well.

A GEM OF A JAM isn't going to be mistaken as being a classics Stooges short but there are certainly enough laughs in it to make it worth watching. There are several creative moments on display here including towards the start of the picture when Curly accidentally swallows a fish so Moe has to try and catch it. Another funny bit as Curly once again being abused as he fills in for the gangster on the operating table. The short does lose some steam as it goes along but fans of the Stooges will certainly want to check it out.

Calling Drs. Moe, Larry, and Curly

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 20 April 2014]

How anyone can mistake Moe, Larry, and Curly for doctors when they're clearly the building janitors is beyond me in A Gem Of A Jam. The boys are doing a stooge like job as janitors at that.

Still while the boys are doing their thing and they do have some white coats on, three crooks break in, one of them wounded in the arm. The crooks at gunpoint ask them to take a bullet out of their pal. So they decide to take a whack at surgery and that should be taken literally.

After they dump their patient off a gurney, out of a window, and into a police car the other two start chasing the Stooges. Curly gets covered with white plaster and everyone, but his pals think he's a zombie.

Not as funny as some of the shorts, but the fans of Howard, Howard, and Fine will be pleased.

Funny and somewhat scary

[slymusic · 21 July 2005]

"A Gem of a Jam" is an enjoyable Three Stooges comedy directed by Del Lord. It may not be the best short the boys ever did, but I feel it has quite a fair number of great moments.

Among my favorite scenes in this short are the following (don't read on if you haven't seen it): Moe uses an x-ray fluoroscope (or, as Larry says, "flower-scopee") on Curly and notices a fish swimming inside Curly's stomach. So Moe grabs a line and some bait and goes to work. Shortly before that, Curly throws an electrically shocking device down Moe's back, causing him to jump around and yelp in pain. Larry and Curly figure him to be dancing and join in, as they had done in several other shorts. And finally, best of all, African-American supporting actor Dudley Dickerson is hilarious as the night watchman who is scared to death of Curly, who looks like a ghost when he accidentally trips into a tray and covers himself with plaster. He ends up scaring away Moe and Larry as well; they never recognize him!

It disturbs me to find so many talented African-Americans placed in unfair, stereotypical film roles back in those days, but we Stooge fans should all be grateful to Dudley Dickerson, who made the most out of his roles with the Stooges and often stole the show with his humorous bits of slapstick.

One of the weaker shorts with Curly

[csweetleaf2 · 20 August 2003]

I think that this short was the beginning of the decline for stooge director/writer Del Lord, who had a string of classic stooge shorts like A Plumbing We Will Go, Hoi Polloi, Cash and Carry, No Census No Feeling, Cactus Makes Perfect, They Stooge to Conga and Higher Than a Kite but his writing skills is mediocre at best, and I actually think that this was also the first stooge short which Hugh McCollum started producing on his own.

The boys appear to be doctors but they are janitors working the night shift and there's a funny scene when Curly swallows a goldfish and Moe and Larry try to catch the fish with a fishing pole and when one of the bad guys gets shot and they make the stooges operate and they wounded bad guy falls outside the window and the bad guys flee only to get caught at the end of the short.

The first half is hilarious but the second half loses its steam and I think that this short is one of Top 20 worst stooge shorts with Curly in it.