"Spooks!" is a 16-minute black-and-white short film from 1953, so this one will have its 65th anniversary next year. If the names White and Adler don't tell you already what to expect here, then the names Howard² and Fine definitely should. This is another Three Stooges short movie, but despite the age it is far from one of their early ones. The days of War were long over already, so no anti-German propaganda in here and at that time Curly was also dead already and Shemp was his permanent replacement after his own untimely death. The story here with slight not too creepy horror elements was nothing too usual for the gang, but it worked very well I must say and had a bit of a cartoon touch to it. Moe, Larry and Shemp need to save a damsel in distress from a mad scientist, his assistant brute and a hairy gorilla. Lots of mayhem ensues, but also a funny scene here and there next to the usual overthetopness. I am generally not a huge Stooges fan, but I somewhat liked this one here. One of my favorites from the gang and looking at how many of their works I have seen, this means quite something. Oh yeah and I also realized how much Moe and Shemp resemble each other physically. All in all, I enjoyed the watch and I give this quarter of an hour a thumbs-up. Worth checking out.
10 Reviews
Better of the two 3 Stooges 3D shorts is best seen in 3D
dbborroughs9 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The Stooges play detectives hired by a rich man to find his missing daughter. They go to a run down (read haunted) house dressed as pie salesmen (I don't know) and search the house. In the basement a mad doctor, his assistant and a gorilla are holding the young woman captive. Its a thread bare plot which purely an excuse for haunted house mayhem and for things to be thrust at the camera. As with all 3-D films some of the effects work better than others with things like Moe's fingers, his foot or a thrown pen not working well, while pies (They are pie salesmen) and other objects fare better. For the most part this is the better of the two 3D shorts since there is at least some attempt at a plot. In all fairness this probably would have been better longer since the film never amounts to more than an excuse for mayhem. I've only seen this as a 3D film (I had this as an old 8MM high light reel) and I doubt this would work as anything other than a 3-D film. Worth a look for 3-D fans.
3 Stooges in 3D
SnoopyStyle15 October 2021
Larry, Moe, and Shemp are three amoral bumbling private detectives hired to find the missing Mary 'Bea' Bopper. They go disguised as pie salesmen and find her kidnapped by Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. The two mad scientists are working to exchange Mary's brain with a gorilla.
It's a Halloween 3 Stooges in 3D. It's got all silly 3D cheese throwing everything at the screen. There is something about the guys' ridiculous physical comedy that really works with cheesy 3D. I don't know how it actually looks though. It's black and white. I don't know if black and white can be turned into actual 3D. Nevertheless, this is lots of light fun.
It's a Halloween 3 Stooges in 3D. It's got all silly 3D cheese throwing everything at the screen. There is something about the guys' ridiculous physical comedy that really works with cheesy 3D. I don't know how it actually looks though. It's black and white. I don't know if black and white can be turned into actual 3D. Nevertheless, this is lots of light fun.
A spooky Stooges short!
slymusic21 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Jules White, "Spooks!" is a pretty good Three Stooges short starring Larry, Moe, and Shemp. As the title suggests, this film takes place in a haunted house full of spooks! The Stooges are amateur sleuths posing as pie salesmen in order to recover a pretty lady (Norma Randall) from the clutches of a mad scientist (Philip Van Zandt) and his assistant (Tom Kennedy), who abduct her for a brain transplant experiment. The Stooges decide to use their most common weapon against the two fiends: pie-throwing!
Highlights from "Spooks!" include the following. The Stooges encounter a bat with Shemp's face! At the end, the scientist's gorilla throws pies at the Stooges and the girl. When Shemp describes the gorilla to Moe and Larry, he calls it a "chimney-panzee" and says, "He looked just like my mother-in-law!" As the Stooges try to escape through a window, Moe gets bashed in the head twice.
"Spooks!" was the first of two Stooge shorts in 3-D! The only real problem with this format is that the slapstick, when directed toward the camera, is quite exaggerated when you watch the films in 2-D. On the other hand, the one shot of the scientist approaching the camera (representing the gorilla) and holding up his hypodermic needle directly in front of the lens is quite frightening indeed!
Highlights from "Spooks!" include the following. The Stooges encounter a bat with Shemp's face! At the end, the scientist's gorilla throws pies at the Stooges and the girl. When Shemp describes the gorilla to Moe and Larry, he calls it a "chimney-panzee" and says, "He looked just like my mother-in-law!" As the Stooges try to escape through a window, Moe gets bashed in the head twice.
"Spooks!" was the first of two Stooge shorts in 3-D! The only real problem with this format is that the slapstick, when directed toward the camera, is quite exaggerated when you watch the films in 2-D. On the other hand, the one shot of the scientist approaching the camera (representing the gorilla) and holding up his hypodermic needle directly in front of the lens is quite frightening indeed!
Shemp proves he's a hipster
tforbes-22 August 2003
This was a truly hilarious short, 3-D or no 3-D. There were so many visual gags, including the one where the bat is actually Shemp barking like Curly.
But one of the most notable things about this short is how Shemp shows himself as a hipster when he learns they are looking for Bea Bopper. He responds by saying such hip terms as "Hey man!" and "Cool, Daddy-O!" It begs the question: Who came first, James Dean or Shemp Howard? And I think I know the answer to this one! I almost think Shemp was a a '60s person before his time: A meek guy who had longish, limp hair, who used hip expressions!!! Oh, the things you learn in Stooge shorts!!! No wonder why these shorts are great!! Chalk up another classic for these three goofs!!
But one of the most notable things about this short is how Shemp shows himself as a hipster when he learns they are looking for Bea Bopper. He responds by saying such hip terms as "Hey man!" and "Cool, Daddy-O!" It begs the question: Who came first, James Dean or Shemp Howard? And I think I know the answer to this one! I almost think Shemp was a a '60s person before his time: A meek guy who had longish, limp hair, who used hip expressions!!! Oh, the things you learn in Stooge shorts!!! No wonder why these shorts are great!! Chalk up another classic for these three goofs!!
The Stooges attempt at 3-D
elisereid-2966626 January 2020
This *might* have been a great short, the materials are certainly there. But the attempt at making this a 3-D film slows it down. Whenever a scene showing off the effect comes up, the film stops dead cold. Was this entertaining when you saw it in a theater? Maybe, but when you watch it on TV, you're only aware of how it slows down the pace. All this is unfortunate because there are a lot of good gags and lines in the picture, which would have made it one of the better shorts of the Shemp era (indeed, perhaps of *any* era), but with the way it stops like that, it makes it uncomfortable to sit through.
I'll gouge your eyes out!
BlackSabbath7 March 2000
Stooges at their spookiest. Funny short has the boys trying to rescue a girl from the evil clutches of Dr. Jekyll. "Dr. Jekyll. We must hide." Says Shemp in a funny line. This episode has all the elements of a stooge classic. It has absolutely everything. Their is an ape. A pie fight between an ape. A mad doctor. A spooky location. Witty writing. 3-D action, pitchforks and fingers fly right towards your eyes. And a bat that does an impression of Curly.
This episode has to be seen to be believed. A Stooge gem that has always been overlooked. Catch this one if you can, or I'll gouge your eyes out! Whoo whooh whooh whooh whooh whooh!
This episode has to be seen to be believed. A Stooge gem that has always been overlooked. Catch this one if you can, or I'll gouge your eyes out! Whoo whooh whooh whooh whooh whooh!
Spooks!
Movie Nuttball8 March 2004
On a local Television station I saw this funny Three Stooges in true 3D! There was another one in 3D called Pardon My Backfire! Spooks! was really already in 3D like when Moe would do his stuff like kicking Shemp or when one of the bad guys did something it would come right into the screen! What I mean by true 3D is that it had the color like the famous colors! It was a cool experience!
Spooks! is a good one! Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy played their parts very good! The gorilla is funny! It has a very spook nature like some of the other Three Stooges shorts which like them, Spooks! is great to watch around Halloween time! Like the other 3D short, this too has the different introduction with the stooges doing it live instead of the usual intro! With the 3D experience or without it Spooks! is a very funny Three Stooges to short watch!
Spooks! is a good one! Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy played their parts very good! The gorilla is funny! It has a very spook nature like some of the other Three Stooges shorts which like them, Spooks! is great to watch around Halloween time! Like the other 3D short, this too has the different introduction with the stooges doing it live instead of the usual intro! With the 3D experience or without it Spooks! is a very funny Three Stooges to short watch!
Private Stooges
bkoganbing23 October 2010
Moe, Larry, and Shemp have decided to take up detective work and they get their first client when a man reports that his daughter has been abducted.
With the highly original disguise of people giving away free pies as a promotion in the neighborhood, the boys start knocking on doors hoping to locate the missing young lady, Norma Randall. A few well chosen screams give the idea that something is amiss at one location.
Spooks is a combination of the Bela Lugosi/Ritz Brothers film The Gorilla and Abbott&Costello Meet Frankenstein. A couple of scientists Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy are working on transferring the woman's brain into their body. Why they would want to do that to a pretty young thing like Randall shows how mad these scientists are. She's not happy and the gorilla is real resistant to the idea.
Don't forget about those pies, saved for the climax. Spooks is ripped off from those other classics, yet the Stooges bring their own unique brand of burlesque humor. It's even in 3-D.
With the highly original disguise of people giving away free pies as a promotion in the neighborhood, the boys start knocking on doors hoping to locate the missing young lady, Norma Randall. A few well chosen screams give the idea that something is amiss at one location.
Spooks is a combination of the Bela Lugosi/Ritz Brothers film The Gorilla and Abbott&Costello Meet Frankenstein. A couple of scientists Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy are working on transferring the woman's brain into their body. Why they would want to do that to a pretty young thing like Randall shows how mad these scientists are. She's not happy and the gorilla is real resistant to the idea.
Don't forget about those pies, saved for the climax. Spooks is ripped off from those other classics, yet the Stooges bring their own unique brand of burlesque humor. It's even in 3-D.
Part of the package
mmcgee28215 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is the continuing blog of the Blu ray 3D Mad Magician,which include this short.Back in 75 I had gotten the 8mm 50 foot version.This was the first time I saw the movie in 3D at home .I saw the full sound version in 3D on t.v. back in 82.This version ,the print, was so digitally cleaned up that it revealed the special effect techniques that the film maker did not want you to see.In the Anaglyph version,in the beginning title,you saw a black black ground and the three stooges heads floating to the camera and back.In the digital version their bodies wearing black sheets are revealed ,in three Dee ,and you see that they are walking up to the camera and walking back.I did not see this in that Anaglyph version.That is what I call clarity.It's a typical story about kidnapped girls and the boys being detectives, with mad scientist and gorilla added to and a 3D pie throwing .The scene where the mad scientist, played by Philip van Zandt, is chasing the boys with a needle.I did not realize until I saw this clear version that it was large one for the 3d effects It had the typical burlesque violence in a 3d coming out at you style.It was shot in Vitascope ,actually 1:85:1Presnted this way in it's ratio.Fun. 01/15/16
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