Merry Mavericks (1951) User Reviews

Two Stories In One, With Lots Of Familiar Jokes But Still Entertaining

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 25 February 2008]

This one took a different twist at the end, even though the movie as a whole had very familiar Three Stooges gags in it. (By 1951, our boys were nearing the end, as we knew them with Curly or Shemp.) It was a like a two-parter; the first part dealing the Stooges being cowboys and the second part being a horror-type movie.

Out west, we have the same saloon jokes and scenes and the handsome-but- inept townie who thinks he's the Lone Ranger but is all wannabe. (Jock Mahoney reprises the role he did in an earlier Stooges film in which he was "The Arizona Kid.")

Then, with five minutes to go, we get the always-familiar (but always fun) guys- dressed up-in-scary costumes-chasing-the Stooges- around-several rooms angle. For me, it's the latter that I enjoyed best. For some reason, I never get tired of seeing the guys get spooked by spooks and all the slapstick that goes with it.

Early in the story, we see The Stooges as vagrants. There is actually a "wanted poster" on them: 50 cents each or three-for-a-dollar! They escape out west to a town called Peaceful Gulch and are mistaken for lawman. (Don't ask.)

"What's the West coming to?"

[slymusic · 13 February 2008]

"Merry Mavericks" is a very good Three Stooges comedy Western directed by Edward Bernds. Shemp, Larry, and Moe are vagrants who arrive at the noisy town of Peaceful Gulch, where they are mistaken for marshals (when Moe says, "We aim to do a little cleanin' up around here," he means the dirty saloon, but the gang of outlaws thinks he means the town). They are later hired to guard a mine payroll hidden inside an old abandoned house.

There aren't many highlights in this short, but here are a couple. Moe attempts a little "Curly shuffle" while dancing with the unattractive broad (Marian Martin) at the saloon; his spur then stabs one of the outlaws (Don Harvey) in the rear end, causing a bit of a scuffle. And the lengthy chase sequence at the abandoned house is fairly wild.

With a supporting cast that features Emil Sitka as a jailer, Al Thompson as a bartender, and George Chesebro as a henchman, "Merry Mavericks" is a Stooge Western worth seeing, if not exactly the best Western the boys ever tackled. There's even a little BLOOD in the end, which is quite an extreme rarity in the Stooge films.

Great Three Stooges Shemp short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 4 October 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!

This is a very good Three Stooges western short with Shemp. It has a good spooky theme to it! Don C. Harvey performs really well here. Also appearing in this short is Marion Martin, Emil Sitka, Paul Campbell, George Chesebro, Slim Gaut, John Merton, Victor Travers, and Blackie Whiteford! This is a very good one and is hilarious! Strongly recommended!

Heading west for adventure...

[simeon_flake · 4/10 · 28 July 2013]

Pretty much the only bad film Edward Bernds directed during the Shemp years and boy is it bad. Things start off well enough with the stooges looking at their wanted poster & deciding to head west, particularly enjoyed Larry and Shemp falling asleep while Moe describes the settings of the open west.

But things quickly go downhill from that point as the short turns into a semi-remake of the Curly short "Phony Express" with elements of "The Hot Scots" thrown in to boot. Also noteworthy is that the supporting cast for this short seems very second rate compared to the regulars we would expect to see in this kind of short: Kenneth McDonald, Christine McIntyre, Jock O' Mahoney. I guess they had other engagements that prevented them from starring in this short.

And yes, it does seem ironic to me that Bernds offers his worst stooge short directly after Jules White releases one of his best, if not the best, "Scrambled Brains."

the best of times, the worst of times

[jack_leiber · 1/10 · 15 April 2003]

Jules White, a man often criticized for his weak directing efforts during the "Shemp" era, directs arguably his best short of said era "Scrambled Brains", and in an ironic sort of way, Ed Bernds who's often praised for his classic Shemp shorts, follows up with his "worst". I never was a fan of alot of these 'spur & saddle' films anyway. Terrible effort, but Bernds redeems himself with the next one "The Tooth Will Out".

1/10