The Yoke's on Me (1944) User Reviews

Another funny Three Stooges short

[rbverhoef · 8/10 · 13 December 2003]

Moe, Larry and Curly are supposed to go in the army but they return after two days. Their father makes them work on a farm. We also learn that some Japanese guys have escaped and of course they are near the farm.

The Three Stooges have made another fine piece of comedy with this short. Especially Curly has some great moments. Terrific.

Interesting short

[holme-1 · 10 November 2001]

Many people may hate this short only because there is some political incorrectness. But I'm a type of person who does not base reviews on political correctness and I think it is silly to do so. Now lets get to my review. In my opinion, this was quite a funny short, Curly's dance makes this short worth watching! I also remember watching this one at age 9 and loving it. I love the "goose" conversation the stooges have, it is hilarious. The only negative part of this short is when Curly tries to kill a goose(previously done with a duck in "A Ducking They Did Go")which is an old gag. Still a short worth adding to your collection.

Grade: A-

Great Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 28 June 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!

I have always liked this Three Stooges short. Its cool, its funny, and its really a different one! One thing Larry is quite different in this one. The dance that Curly does after he plucks the ostrich is hilarious! Also another funny scene is when he goes after the duck. The pumpkin scenes are also great! This is a great Three Stooges short!

History lesson, Stooge style

[jimtinder · 2/10 · 9 March 2005]

"The Yoke's on Me" is undoubtedly the most controversial film in the Stooges' 23 years of shorts. The reason is understandable; by today's standards, this film can be considered racist. For this reason, it is rarely shown, if ever, on television.

Let me just state that, for the record, the Japanese seen in the film were not soldiers; they were Japanese-Americans sent to a relocation center during World War II. They were treated and shown as the evil enemy in this film. By all accounts - including the US government, who made an apology and reparations in the 1980s - Japanese-Americans during World War II were as loyal and hardworking as any American. Their imprisonment during this time is a dark blot in American history.

There are some Stooge laughs in this film, but the memories of how Japanese-Americans were treated during this time sullies the entertainment value. Let's not confuse the loyal Japanese-Americans with their representation in this film as evildoers. Loyal Japanese-Americans and the World War II-era evil empire of Japan are not synonymous. 2 out of 10.

Yeesh.

[WoodrowTruesmith · 2/10 · 21 March 2006]

I saw this as a kid, before it had been yanked from the rotation, and even then it left a bad taste in my mouth. There were some competently worked out gags, but making slapstick villains out of American citizens who'd been interned in camps strictly due to their race was amazingly tasteless.

Moe himself might have wanted this one buried. He was a liberal guy. In his autobiography he told of visiting a town in the segregated South, where he saw a black man get off the sidewalk to avoid passing too close. Moe stepped into the street to show it wasn't a problem, and the man then got back on the curb. Then off again. Finally, the man told Moe nervously that if Moe didn't stop trying to share the sidewalk with him, he might get them both lynched.

Another thing: There are exploding ostrich eggs but no oxen in the film, so the title should actually be (if anyone cares) "The Yolk's on Me."

"propaganda for dinner"

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 20 February 2020]

Ma and pa are proud that their sons Larry, Curly, and Moe have joined the armed forces. They are annoyed when their boys return after getting rejected. The boys try to regain their parents' respect by buying a rundown farm and working for the war effort. Some Japs escaped from a relocation center. An ostrich ran away from a circus.

This is a fine Stooges short until the Japs show up. One must remember that this is wartime propaganda. That means belittling the Japanese and even stuffing them with bad teeth. It is ugly. It cannot be ignored even if it is understandable for its times. It colors the whole thing and its off-putting nature sucks out all the fun.

"Mahatma Gander?"

[slymusic · 23 May 2005]

"The Yoke's on Me," in my opinion, is not one of the better Three Stooges shorts. There are some funny gags, but the major disappointment about this short is its racial content. It places Japanese-Americans in a dim light, and I would like to believe that Japanese-Americans are treated with much more respect today than they were in 1944 as depicted in this short. "The Yoke's on Me" has been blacklisted among television stations, but it has been released on Columbia TriStar Home Video.

I feel that some of the better scenes in this short are ones that do not feature the Japanese-Americans. At the Stooges' farm, Curly makes some childish remarks about geese and Larry has an amusing facial expression during Curly's way-too-long fan dance. And at the film's opening, the Stooges harmonize "The Farmer in the Dell," accompanied by a fresh round of tomatoes!

So "The Yoke's on Me" may not be considered by many to be a good Stooge short. But despite its blatant racism, it has its funny moments. And here is one final interesting sidelight: in Larry Fine's later years when he lived at the Motion Picture Country Home, he obtained a copy of "The Yoke's on Me" in his personal collection of Stooge films, when he wanted to watch "the good stuff," as he called them.

Not much to recommend it anyway

[Jim-500 · 5/10 · 28 October 2009]

Obviously this is a difficult flick to watch because of the treatment that Japanese-Americans receive at the hands of the writers. That said, it can serve as an historical document, showing just how Americans felt about the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. It's easy now to see--with 21st century eyes--how wrong and unjust the relocation camps were; back then, however, much of the country did not have such clarity.

But even without the racist content, this flick isn't that good anyway. The story meanders--the stooges get kicked out their home by their parents, they buy a house, and then they carve some pumpkins. We see a few assorted gags here and there, but nothing much memorable.

I did detect the first signs of Curly's failing health in this short. His energy is high, but I could hear a few lines in which his voice faltered just a bit and wasn't as strong and precise as normal. (Of course, he may have just been tired.)

I Honestly Would Not Have Known They Were Not POW's

[verbusen · 5/10 · 13 April 2014]

This is standard late term Stooges fare. Not incredibly funny but entertaining still. That this is considered the most controversial Stooges short is what is surprising to me. If they had said the Japanese were POW's this would have been forgotten but I guess the Sheriff says they came from an relocation camp so yeah it's not good, but all I'm saying is, you have to really be paying attention or read about the controversy to catch it. They look like POW's, they are all men of military age, not women or kids. And THIS is the most controversial? With all the episodes with blacks as eyes bugged out servants? Hm. Whatever. It's a mediocre episode and you want to feel for Curly as he is really slowing down, poor guy was worked to death. It's a let down as a Stooges episode and also a let down as being controversial in my book. I was hoping for something really really bad in this and it's just not there. 5 out of 10.

Disappointing Stooges Short

[Michael_Elliott · 30 August 2016]

The Yoke's on Me (1944)

** (out of 4)

After being rejected by the Army and Navy, brothers Moe, Larry and Curly return home where their father makes them by a farm so that they can work. It turns out the farm isn't in the greatest shape but soon some escaped Japanese men meet them.

THE YOKE'S ON ME is one of the lesser Stooges short as there's really not too many funny moments in it. The film starts off on a pretty weak note as there's not a single laugh to be had with the father. From here there are a few minor jokes but there's not a single classic Stooges moment. If I had to pick a highlight it would be the scene dealing with the disappearing jack-o-lanterns. While it could be said there was never an awful short from the boys, this one here is certainly disappointing.

Very political Stooges short lacks the comedic esprit

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 January 2018]

"The Yoke's on Me" is an American 16-minute live action short film from the days of World War II. This one was directed by 4-time Oscar nominee Jules White (at that point 2-time) and written by Buster Keaton regular Clyde Bruckman. These two, especially White worked with the Three Stooges on many occasions. Their effort here will have its 75th anniversary next year and it is probably worth seeing for the impact on politics on film as the depiction of and fight against Japanese really isn't subtle at all. Then again, subtlety has never been the Stooges' great forte. The Germans get their share early on too with a pretty horrible play on words "Goostapo" and actually including a goose in this film doesn't make it any better. If you see this one and the ostrich later on, you will understand why the Stooges almost never included animals in their (short) films as they really added almost nothing story- or comedy-wise. I thought this was a fairly forgettable movie. Fine was underused as always and Curly with mediocre material in the center of it all. This one is from his later years already and you could see from his physicality that his healöth wasn't in the best shape, even if he was trying his best. Neither was this film as a whole, which had several reasons I guess. Even the fact that there were no forgettable supporting characters in it and that it is almost exclusively the Stooges with the exception of the very end cannot save it. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Different but a great stooge short

[csweetleaf2 · 20 August 2003]

I'll never forget the first time when I watch this stooge short when I was like 13 or 14 on TBS and that was the only time that I've ever seen this short on television and unfortunately they didn't play this short on Family Channel or AMC but to say the least, I have this short on tape.

The boys are discharged from the army and their father tells the boys that they'll be working on a farm and they buy the farm for $1000 and their car (which is a piece of junk) and the same thing goes to the farm and the only livestock they got is a bird and a ostrich, there's a funny scene when Curly steps on a loose board and it hits Moe right in the face, later on the guy they bought the farm is stopped by the police to tell them that a bunch of Japs escaped from a relocation center and after the cop is done talking to him, the car wouldn't start and he actually mutters 'b@$!ard' (a cuss word on a 1940's stooge short).

Then the stooges witness an ostrich eating blasting powder and Curly tears up the feathers and starts a fan dance and later on they start cleaning out the pumpkins and the Japs show and they put their heads inside of a pumpkin, SICK!! And the stooges blow up the Japanese with the ostrichs egg which had blasting powder in it.

I don't understand that why people come down really hard on this short, I actually think that this is one of the best stooge shorts of all time, I also can't believe that one viewer stated that he likes the awful Joe Besser short Sweet and Hot (which I believe was their worst short) better than this stooge classic.

I give this short 9/10.

The WORST short the Stooges ever made by far!

[kcschip · 1/10 · 13 July 2022]

The Yoke's on Me is by far the worst 3 Stooges short. Much worst than False Alarms, Cuckoo on a Choo Choo, or any of the Joe Besser shorts. I dare anyone to tell me where the belly laughs are in this thing. Heck, I'd settle for being shown where there's anything that an intelligent person over the age of 4 would laugh at.

Terrible WW2 era Nazi puns & cheap racist material are the focus.

When the funniest thing is having an extremely fake looking goose bite Curly's nose you know the short is terrible.

The only reason to view this short is to witness just how awful it is. I dare anyone to me tell where the laughs are in this thing. The goose bite is the only part that is even mildly amusing. And at best that will make you smirk. Truly awful start to finish.

Cuckoo on a Choo Choo gets the bum wrap by many for being the worst Stooges short. That's not true at all. This short's the worst by far and that is considering how bad the 2 "horse" shorts done with Joe Besser.

Watch the Yoke's on Me just once if you're curious then regret having wasted that 15 minutes of your life...

In A Manner Most Alarming, the Stooges Take Up Farming

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 29 August 2011]

It's hard to judge The Yoke's On Me from a historical perspective. There are some really funny gags in this film as the Three Stooges take up farming to do their bit for the war. But the mistaken policy of those Relocation Centers for Japanese-Americans make this one really hard to swallow. Of course blaming Howard, Howard, and Fine is just ridiculous. They never had any kind of choice of the material they did over at Columbia Pictures.

While the Stooges are learning the rudiments of agriculture with gags later in abundance in The Egg And I and Green Acres, some Japanese who were interned in a Midwest Relocation Center escaped. No doubt resenting being uprooted from their homes and who knows maybe wanting to enlist in the Japanese American Regiment that was portrayed in Go For Broke and had Senator Daniel K. Inouye among its casualties. Still they are classified the enemy and are captured in Stooge style. The title refers to some ostrich eggs with some real power behind them and one that hits Curly with predictable results.

When you realize the history the gags just don't have the same laughs in them.