No Dough Boys (1944) User Reviews

The 'Boys'' Are Still In Top Form

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

The boys are mistaken for three Japanese soldiers who had escaped from a submarine.

The Stooges had been dressed in Japanese military uniforms, posing for some kind of war pictures, and when their boss took off for lunch, so did they. The headlines in that day's newspaper warned citizens "to keep a sharp lookout" for the men. When the guys go to eat lunch, the owner-cook of the diner thinks they are the soldiers, so trouble ensues. The boys run off and then figure out why the guy acted like he did. They get a good laugh out of it. While they are laughing they lean up against a trap door and wind up in a house run by Nazis! (Only in these short stories.)

Anyway, the head Nazi (Vernon Dent, who else?) knows they are not the real "Japs" as they know them and he, along with three women, play along, making the Stooges perform an acrobatic act. That part takes up the bulk of the movie, and is only so-so in humor. The final few minutes are a lights-out mêlée between all the parties, including the real spies.

The best part of this Stooge film is the dialog, although today a lot of this stuff would be considering politically incorrect, especially against the Japanese. The boys may be a bit older but they sound and act as if they were still in their prime. Curly would be handicapped with strokes in a few years but he was in good shape here with all his physical gags.

Very funny

[Jim-500 · 8/10 · 31 October 2009]

It's WW II and the boys are actors posing as Japanese soldiers for a magazine ad. On a break from shooting they stumble into a Nazi hideout where the commandant is waiting for the arrival of three Japanese soldiers and thinks that the stooges are them. The boys end up getting the best of both the Germans and Japanese and save the world.

Obviously, this can be an uncomfortable short to watch, due to the boys' broad Japanese mannerisms and dialect. But in 1944, Japan was the enemy in real life, and was tirelessly mocked. Just as in The Yoke's on Me, the writers had no problem with portraying Japanese as unintelligent buffoons. (One difference that makes that movie less acceptable is that the characters in it were American citizens who had "escaped" from a relocation center.) I even recognized the same actor who was in both movies--the younger guy with the Shemp-styled haircut.

All that said, this is an hilarious short: fast paced with gags and plenty of stooge humor galore. Putting it in the context of the time, you can get a lot of laughs out of it.

Pratfalls and Spies

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 23 November 2012]

Only in the fact that this is a Three Stooges short could Moe, Larry, and Curly be mistaken for Japanese sailors. Not in this reality or any alternate could that happen.

But the boys have jobs and are in costume when they're surprised at the hostile attitude of a coffee shop owner in serving them. Then they realize what they're wearing as they flee.

And where do they flee to, Vernon Dent's house who if nothing else is a proud Nazi. Discretion, he doesn't believe in it as he proudly has a picture of Hitler hanging on the wall. He must not entertain much.

At least he's smart enough to know that the Boys aren't Japanese. But he and three women stall for time and try to vamp some information out of them. When vamping occurs in a Three Stooges short, that always guarantees laughs.

The rest of the short consists of the Boys doing an acrobatic act as the three Japanese had done that and making a holy hash out of it. Then the real sailors show up and it's a struggle with the Three Stooges in their for the United Nations.

A most dated short, but still has a lot of laughs.

No "Dough" Boys-- Curly's "on the loaf"...

[curly-17 · 4 June 2001]

Moe, Larry and Curly don't look like Doughboys (old slang for "American soldiers"), they are dressed as Japanese soldiers for a photo session. Grabbing a quick lunch at a diner, they stuff their mouths with bread, and sound like they are talking gibberish-- the owner mistakes them for Japanese spies. The Stooges run away, and wind up in a house with German spies. They are introduced to 3 beautiful German ladies: Miss Zweiback ("twice-baked bread"), Miss Schwarzbrot ("rye bread") and Miss Pumpernickel ("dark rye bread"). The Three Stooges quip that the ladies are "well bread" (well bred). Trying to convince them they are real Japanese soldiers, the Stooges do some "oriental" balancing acts, and fall down a lot. The real Japanese soldiers show up, and the Three Stooges knock everyone out in a hilarious fight scene. With the Three Stooges around, America is still safe for democracy.

yellow face and body double

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 14 January 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe dress as Japanese soldiers for a photo shoot. They have fifteen minutes for a quick lunch. News reports that three Japanese soldiers are on the loose. They fall through a trap door and happens upon a secret Nazi hideout.

The guys are doing yellow-face which is perfectly humorous for its time and during wartime against Japan. On top of that, the boys are almost making fun of yellow-face acting. The more disappointing part is the stunt double for Curly. His health issues don't allow him to do the tougher stunts but it's still disappointing. They should rewrite this to let Curly do less strenuous stunts and avoid the body double. This is a wartime Stooges propaganda and I'm sure it was popular with the soldiers.

Mediocre comedy propaganda short from the old days

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 April 2018]

"No Dough Boys" is a black-and-white comedy short film from 1944, so almost 75 years old now. It is another work by White and Adler together with the Three Stooges and if you see the year here, this is indeed from the days of World War II and the Stooges made some propaganda stuff. I must say it is not my favorite era from them. Jokes like punching somebody doing the Hitler salute and accidentally hitting somebody else this way are still the more harmless and more entertaining parts here during these 17 minutes. Moe is wearing a stache here from start to finish, which is clearly something you need to get used to while Curly is still on board and even if this is not from his final days, he does look pretty bad and unhealthy already, so I felt kinda bad for him watching this one. Maybe this could have been an issue he (/they) should have focused more instead of contributing to the already really unpleasant global political climate. Anyway, the story here is mediocre I would say, but the real reason this did not get remade like so many other Stooges works is the fact that this ia really time-relevant film, which would have made little impact, if not sense in the 1960s or so. And only makes sense today if we see it from the perspective of why it was made and during what time. This reference, however, is good enough to turn this into one of those works by the Stooges that are among their more known and less forgotten. I don't think it's good enough for a positive recommendation, so only check it out if you have seen and enjoyed a lot of other stuff from the trio. Thumbs-down from me.

Great Showcase

[Sargebri · 28 March 2003]

This is a great film to look at for a couple of reasons. One is the the acrobatic act, which the boys used to perform in their vaudeville days. The other is Moe's crazy dialect. This was definitely an underrated talent of Moe's and he really got a chance to showcase it in this short.

I'd like mine toasted, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

[csweetleaf2 · 1 April 2003]

I thought that each stooge did a great job masquarading as the Japanese and Vernon Dent did a good job as the German spy, the highlights were Curly getting his head stuck on the wall and a bird pecking on his head and the fight part when the lights go off and on, one of the stooges gags.

A good WWII short. 8/10 stars.

"No, Whacki! Naki!" "My mistaki!"

[slymusic · 12 September 2005]

"No Dough Boys" is a unique Three Stooges short in that the boys are seen in Japanese costumes and makeup throughout. Of course, this is integral to the story, as they initially pose for a commercial photographer but later wind up in a den of Nazi spies and are subsequently forced to pose as actual Japanese soldiers. As a painful result, there are those who may take offense to the Stooges' Japanese language stereotypes.

This short nonetheless has a number of very good moments which I shall now recap. As the Stooges' boss (John Tyrrell) talks on the phone, the boys make fun of the manner in which he speaks; he then tells them to shut up, but the guy on the other line thinks it was meant for HIM (this gag was done earlier, with John Tyrrell again, in the Stooge short "What's the Matador?" [1942]). Curly pretends to teach Celia (Christine McIntyre) ju jitsu, but she turns the tables on him by throwing his noggin through a wall. During the Stooges' phony acrobatics, which one Stooge author claimed to be way too long, Curly and Moe have a dispute over who is going to be "top man." And during the fight in the dark (a gag also used in such Stooge films as "Nutty but Nice" [1940], "Who Done It?" [1949], and "The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze" [1963]), Moe accidentally grabs Larry and beats him up; Larry's facial expression and grunts of pain are very funny.

To close, "No Dough Boys" may be at least somewhat offensive regarding the Stooges' Japanese portrayals. However, the film does not neglect to evoke some laughter.

A great WWII short

[holme-1 · 7 November 2001]

This is another great short from the stooges. The stooges look quite strange in this, especially Curly. I loved the fight scene and the acrobatics scene. Its still nice to see some Nazis get beaten around though. Overall, almost perfect, but there are better wartime shorts they did.

Grade: A

Decent Stooges Short

[Michael_Elliott · 13 September 2016]

No Dough Boys (1944)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three Stooges are on a photo shoot, which has then dressed up as Japanese soldiers. During a break they go to eat when they're mistaken as the real thing by the dinner owner. Soon afterwards they end up in the house of a German spy where all sorts of chaos follows.

NO DOUGH BOYS isn't the greatest Stooges short but it's decent enough to where fans should at least get a few laughs out of it. The first two segments dealing with the photo shoot and the restaurant are rather lame without too many laughs but things pick up during the finale where the boys end up running into the real Japanese soldiers who escaped a war ship.