Three Pests in a Mess (1945) User Reviews

The mannequin's killers !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 16 September 2019]

The three stooges made part of my youth time, my friends used watched it everyday as was the first time, in this episode Moe, Curly and Larry are trying to get a patent to a groundbreaking invention the fly trap, rejected by once until they get a thousand flies, they are mistaken of the lottery winner by nearby company self-called Cheatham's secretary played by the regular guest star Christina McIntyire, after they discovery all mistakes starts a chase, they killed a mannequin and trying to rid off when the police office appears, they running to a cemetery to hide, another fabulous episode from my heroes until now!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1973 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD-R / Rating: 7

Decent enough Stooges short

[abbazabakyleman-98834 · 6/10 · 13 March 2019]

By 1944, the studio budgets for Columbia's short-subjects department were skyrocketing and most of the shorts were made rather cheaply and some were remakes of previous entries. Despite being directed by the great Del Lord, you can tell that he really tried to inject a lot of visual gags in the short. As for the plot, it's very silly, but it flows along nicely with great supporting performances by Christine McIntyre, Vernon Dent, and Snub Pollard.

Funny Stooges Short

[Michael_Elliott · 13 September 2016]

Three Pests in a Mess (1945)

*** (out of 4)

The Three Stooges are trying to get their fly killer a patent but they soon realize that they'll need to kill a large number to break even. Soon after they end up with a blonde who thinks they're talking about cash and before long the trio believe they've killed a man. They rush to a cemetery to try and bury him when they run into more trouble.

THREE PESTS IN A MESS is certainly a step up compared to the previous two shorts that boys put out. This one here starts off a tad bit slow but things quickly pick up once the action begins. There are a few very funny scenes here including one involving Moe and some ink. This leads to a blackface joke that some might find offense but I thought it was pretty funny. The stuff in the cemetery isn't anything we haven't seen countless times before but it was still funny.

One of best Three Stooges shorts!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 12 March 2003]

This is one of Curly's last short subjects but it is very good.I feel its a good one to watch around Halloween time as well!Christine McIntyre was very good and Vernon Dent was too!The thing with the dummy was great!This is a good one to check out!

Flawed, but Undeniably Fun

[aka-45316 · 9/10 · 11 May 2020]

Having been wanting to review this short for quite some time, I really must say that, similar to "Uncivil Warriors", there was a slight plot hole that I can't help but be unable to overlook.

The plot hole is this:

After the Stooges try to stuff the "body" into a barrel, a cop approaches them and, thinking that it's trash, tells them to take it somewhere else, only to later discover the dummy and think that it's an actual body.

The prime problem was that it never showed how the Stooges got away from the cop after he started chasing them. That, and it was easy to tell that Curly dubbed a piece of dialogue at the last minute in the moment he was taking the body out.

Other than that, though, this short was another that I found to be nonstop fun!

Taking the chairs of both writer and director, Del Lord definitely didn't stop making himself known as one of the best Three Stooges filmmakers around. The comedy throughout the short was literally nonstop hilarious and fun, and the way Lord was able to make a ridiculous concept so entertaining was astounding. Despite how unbelievable a person mistaking a dummy for an actual body would obviously seem, the premise worked perfectly as a Stooges short.

The performances of the cast were great as well. Despite Curly not maintaining the same kind of splendor he had before, he still gave quite an energetic and funny performance. Plus, it was nice to see Moe and Larry have equal time to shine, and the trio's commitment to their material and their ability to deeply be into what they're doing hardly ceased itself from amazing me.

In the end, "Three Pests in a Mess" was another fun-filled member of the Three Stooges filmography that was absolutely hilarious and entertaining. Additionally, it's one of the very best shorts of the fourth volume set, even with the slight flaw in the plot being clear as day.

3 Silly, Little Pests In A Messy-Messy Mess

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 11 September 2020]

Up until the time when Curly, Larry, and Moe arrived at the Ever Rest Pet Cemetery, I thought that "Three Pests In A Mess" was turning out to be a very entertaining and equally comical Stooges' short.

Yeah. Before all of the goofy cemetery business. this enjoyable episode was really moving along at a nice, brisk and humorous pace.

But, unfortunately, "Three Pests In a Mess" ended up losing a lot of its steam and falling flat on its face at about the half-way point in its zany story-telling.

From inventors to assassins!

[slymusic · 14 September 2009]

Written and directed by Del Lord, "Three Pests in a Mess" is a very good Three Stooges short starring Moe, Larry, and Curly. The boys are mistaken for three men with a winning sweepstakes ticket worth $100,000. This leads them to a pet cemetery where they try to bury a mannequin that Curly unintentionally shot with a rifle (thinking the mannequin is a real person). Interesting plot, eh?

I won't tell you EVERYTHING, but here are some of my favorite scenes from this short. Listen to the Stooges explain their Rube Goldberg-type flycatcher invention to an unimpressed patent man (Victor Travers). Upon encountering a "skeleton", Larry dives underneath a shack. Larry does his Al Jolson "Mammie" bit when he sees Moe's face covered in black ink. At the end, when the Stooges encounter all three spooky characters emerging from a huge hole in the ground, they jump out of their shoes and run away.

"Three Pests in a Mess" features the youthful Christine McIntyre in a very juicy supporting role. Usually she is such a delight to see in these Stooge films, but I wonder if she overacts her role in this one. You be the judge.

Wild and all over the place

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 28 May 2016]

The title "Three Pests in a Mess" is already fairly explicit telling us about the chaos the Stooges end up in. But they are not really the bad guys by any means, there are far worse characters in here. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I liked this short film. It is in black-and-white, has sound and runs for 16 minutes like basically all the many other Stooges short films. A whole lot of slapstick in here, but it was rarely funny. Maybe my main problem with this one is also that I just don#t find their punching humour funny at all and this one here has really a lot of it from start to finish. And if that wasn't bad enough already, then there also is the problem that the story is not even in the slightest realistic. But this is an issue I have with many short films from the gang. If you read this review, you will probably realize that I am not the greatest Stooges fan for sure. People who like them more than I do may actually enjoy this one. I give it a thumbs down though.

One of the worst.

[crusefamily · 13 October 2001]

THREE PESTS IN A MESS could've match up it's plot line better. The first half of the short is great, but the second half is bad because it may be inappropriate to general audiences. Secondly, the second half of the short wanders away from the plot of the first half. Don't even bother to watch.

Grade: D+