Fiddlers Three (1948) User Reviews

Cole-Slaw Vania...

[simeon_flake · 7/10 · 18 January 2019]

So, was Larry right about the boys never having an "original" set? Or the part about Columbia squeezing out every nickel for the stooges whenever a good set from an A-feature was leftover?

Seems about right, given that 3 shorts in a row were filmed to make "Fiddlers" and the rest of the medieval shorts--if "Hot Scots," counts as dark and gothic?

Anyway, familiarity definitely describes this one perfect: Old Vernon as the Royal King, pretty girl as the princess and the stooges, just their funny characters. Not as brilliant as "Squareheads," but I guess it doesn't have to be...

Stoogery

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 1 January 2019]

Court magicians want to get married. Not until the princess is married first. This leads to the usual frantic stuff we are used to with the Stooges as they do what they can to get their way. There are bonks and clunks and eye pokes and all the other stuff. This is a cut above some of their others ad the plot is interesting.

magic box

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 25 August 2020]

In the small kingdom of Coleslaw-vania, Shemp, Larry, and Moe are fiddlers entertaining old King Cole. The King permits the Stooges to marry after Princess Alisha gets married in the spring. Murgitroyd, the evil court magician, kidnaps the princess planning to marry and rule the kingdom himself.

The big setup is the magic box and that's loads of fun. It's a little different but it could use some work. Also, the magician needs a better outfit. It's slapdash and cheap. The guys obviously grabbed a bunch of stuff from the bargain bin and slapped together a story. I would like them to do more with the magic box idea. Instead of simply being scared, they should be fighting each other for space and laughing at each other getting stabbed.

Good short

[holme-1 · 26 October 2001]

This is a good short, but it is a little too much like "Squareheads Of The Round Table" which was a classic. The "Nursery rhymes" scenes were good, especially the Simple Simon one! I find the remake a little better, but this is also good.

Grade: B

Good Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 7 March 2005]

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!

One of the most different Three Stooges shorts is Fiddlers Three. In this short are Vernon Dent, Virginia Hunter, Philip Van Zandt, Joe Palma, Cy Schindell, and Al Thompson. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent and Van Zandt. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one!

A Childish Entry

[Shep-4 · 5/10 · 23 July 2014]

I've been watching the Three Stooges collection in order of production, and this entry, in their 14th year, is the first one that felt like it was made for kids. Even the talented Vernon Dent couldn't add anything significant to the one-dimensional role of King Cole. The "nursery rhymes" section is cutesy filler (although the boys do get to show off their harmonizing). The chase scene is infantile. Finally we get some laughs when the boys hide in the magician's box. Unfortunately, the plot is all too reminiscent of the episode right before, "Squareheads of the Round Table". You should see every Three Stooges short ever made, but feel free to close one eye during this one!

Richard, the Stooges and "Fiddlers Three"

[pirate1_power · 19 July 2001]

This is my seventh consecutive commentary here on the Internet Movie Database --- and it presents a viewpoint I have held for many years, though until now I have not publicly shared it. That viewpoint is, simply, that the eternal, undying magic of laughter has never been more graphically depicted than in the opening sequence of the Three Stooges 1948 short, "Fiddlers Three." For a full three and a half minutes, we are introduced to the individual members of the dramatis personae, as they giggle themselves silly beyond their normal limits. "Fiddlers Three," after all, is the Stooges' salute to Mother Goose and her world; naturally, Shemp, Larry and Moe take on the title roles, with longtime Stooge regular Vernon Dent taking the Royal Throne as none other than His Merry Majesty himself, Old King Cole. The King's verbal Royal Proclamation, "Why, there's nothing so good for the soul as a hearty laugh! Everybody laugh!" is as much an invitation to those of us sitting in the dark as it is a command to those gathered in His Majesty's Throne Room. Thus, we cannot help but laugh as loud and as long and as hard and as well as we wish right along with our merry cast of characters. In "Fiddlers Three," Princess Alicia (Virginia Hunter) is betrothed to Prince Gallant the Third of Rhododendron. This is not good news for the bullying Mergatroyd the Magician (Phil van Zandt), whose own ambition is to seize power in the Kingdom of Coleslaw-vania. In revenge, he abducts the Princess; before long, it's up to the Stooges to stop him before things get a bit too stupid. There is one hot (and, alas, uncredited) babe in the ensemble [Hubba hubba!]; by tale's end, she's got all the guys following her all around --- even the King himself. (Weird, huh?) Anyway, I've always had the idea of writing a novelization of "Fiddlers Three" in the back of my head; in fact --- and I hope C3 Entertainment's lawyers won't be angry when I say this ---I have been toying with the notion of doing an entire website about this one Three Stooges short. Regardless, this is one of the all-time Stooge great shorts --- if for no other reason that it reminds us how wonderful it is to laugh...... long and hard and well. That said, long live His Merry Majesty, Old King Cole. Oh yeah: and let's hear it for his Fiddlers Three, OK? Thanks.

Stooges from the Ages

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 9 January 2018]

"Fiddlers Three" is an American 17-minute cartoon from 1948, so this one has its 70th anniversary this year. It was directed by Jules White and written by Felix Adler and this should tell you perhaps already that here we have another Three Stooges short film. It is after World War II and Shemp had filled in already for Curly and it is a non-political work from themp. Now princesses and magicians are not really something you see too often in the Stooges (short) films, so this one is a bit different to what they usually look like. Also there is a surprisingly great deal of music included in the film's first half here and while Larry's talent with the violin is undeniable, this is also a bit of a rarity. But the comedy especially as well as the love element are typical for Stooges works I guess, so if you love some of their other stuff, then you will love this one too I guess. Or at least like it. In my opinion, this is one that suffers especially from lack of colors as colors really would have helped the visual side here with all the costumes etc. This film got remade a few years later briefly before Shemp's surprising death. But I wonder why as it really wasn't that good I must say. No need for a recommendation though as this is nowhere near the most famous and popular Three Stooges works and you probably have seen a few films with the trio already when considering seeing this one. I think I give it a thumbs-down though and even if I am far from the greatest Stooges fan I have seen several works from them that I enjoyed more. This one here felt pretty forgettable.

"There's nothing so good for the soul as a hearty laugh!"

[slymusic · 20 November 2006]

"Fiddlers Three" is an excellent Three Stooges comedy directed by Jules White. In the kingdom of Coleslaw-vania, Larry, Moe, and Shemp are fiddlers and jesters for Old King Cole, perhaps the friendliest and jolliest king who ever lived. Listening to Larry play his violin, as well as the Stooges vocalizing in three-part harmony, is quite a treat indeed! Two supporting actors in this short deserve special attention as well. First is the versatile Vernon Dent, who does a masterful portrayal of the merry King Cole. (In the Stooge short released just before this one, titled "Squareheads of the Round Table" [1948], Dent plays a king whose personality is quite the opposite of King Cole's!) And second is Phil Van Zandt, who is quite adept at villainous roles in Stooge films and gives an excellent portrayal of the sinister Mergatroyd the Magician in "Fiddlers Three."

Highlights: Larry, Moe, and Shemp elicit loud laughter from the king as they act out a few nursery rhymes; particularly funny is their version of "Simple Simon Met a Pie Man." Several mishaps occur while the Stooge occupy the blacksmith's shop: Larry gets knocked unconscious, Shemp accidentally sits on a pile of burning horseshoes, and the Stooges' mule kicks all three of them, causing them to eventually crash into the cellar below. The Stooges wind up inside Mergatroyd's trick box, where they get stabbed with swords and saws; after a brief struggle, Mergatroyd pulls one of his saws out of the box and discovers a pair of boxer shorts on the other end! And finally, at the beginning of this short, Old King Cole orders all of his constituents to laugh out loud, righteously pointing out that laughter is the music of the soul. It is my sincere hope that everyone who watches "Fiddlers Three" will remember that lesson for life!