#33 - VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY (1938)

[Lunkhead]

Violent is the Word for Curly

Review written by DangerkittyToTheRescue

This short opens up with Moe, Larry and Curly as gas station attendant trainees. The boys just don’t know a thing about “Super Service” and quickly blow up an old Rolls carrying three foreign professors. The stooges race away in an ice cream truck that accidentally ended up with some of the professors’ luggage which is a coincidence as the boys needed a fresh change of clothes. Dressed up in professor’s caps and gowns, the boys are mistaken by the administrators at Mildew Girls College as their new instructors.

Our stooge professors teach the girls how to "Swing the Alphabet" and any stooge fan will tell you, once you hear that song, you’ll never forget it. Afterwards the girls get instructed on the finer points of playing basketball. Unbeknownst to all, the real professors are out for revenge and fill the ball with nitroglycerine hoping to blow the Stooges into smithereens. The plan backfires and the short definitely ends in a bang.

Two of my favorite scenes are where Curly is getting BBQed and where the girls take off singing like the Lennon Sisters.

[Lunkhead]

Great one!

Our stooge professors teach the girls how to "Swing the Alphabet" and any stooge fan will tell you, once you hear that song, you’ll never forget it.

So true - listen to it here => Alphabet Song

Curly's daughter, Janie, has mentioned this is her favorite stooge short.

[moe-jo]

It's such a great song that I once considered forgetting my alphabet for a whole day of school and relearning it when I got home from school with the song.

Larry's violin solo at the end is really good, too. He's a really good violinist and I applaud him for that.

[Lunkhead]

In the old Nintendo version of The Three Stooges game, the Alphabet Song is heard playing in the background of a couple segments. I think when you're doctors racing through the hallway. It's just an electronic version of the song, but was still fun to hear there. I forget if they used it on the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced version - I don't think they did.

[moe-jo]

I've never played it, so don't ask me. Are you a gamer, Lunk?

[Lunkhead]

I used to play on the older systems. Not much on the new stuff though.

[moe-jo]

play the Wii. It is AWESOME!

[Xenorama]

one of my faves- "Curly's a dope!". with 19 or so on the new set, this should be one of 'em!

David

[moe-jo]

what's going on in the pictures on the poster?

[Lunkhead]

They look like production photos. On the left, they're giving super service at the gas station. On the right, the the girl students are piled on top of the stooges (with Moe holding the basketball).

[moe-jo]

When I first saw the photo on the left, I thought the girls were giving the guys head massages, and I thought to myself, "Was that kind of thing even allowed in the movies back then?" Now I'm thinking, "Moe's not tall enough to play basketball!" Well, I mean, he could probably make a lay-up or an easy 2, but never a 3-pointer.

[Steve]

Two of my favorite scenes are where Curly is getting BBQed and where the girls take off singing like the Lemon Sisters.

Surely, you mean the Lennon Sisters?

I played "The Alphabet Song for my wife this morning and she absolutely LOVED it! She's a sucker for novelty songs, especially when they have nonsensical wordplay like that one does. I'm slowly converting her to the Stooge Way!

As for the rest of the short, I think that whole scene in the classroom is great, as is the blowing up of the professors. The first half merely okay.

I always thought the girls sang, "Girls, he's a dope".

[Lunkhead]

Surely, you mean the Lennon Sisters?

Oops. Thanks for pointing that out, Steve. I'm certain that's what DK meant, but we both missed it. I just fixed it.

I played "The Alphabet Song for my wife this morning and she absolutely LOVED it! She's a sucker for novelty songs, especially when they have nonsensical wordplay like that one does. I'm slowly converting her to the Stooge Way!

There ya go!

[Xenorama]

i love this short. i listened close, and it sure sounds like "Curly's a dope" to me. the shorts on the second set are a bit out of order, it seems, since this one is on the first disc, whereas "Three Missing Links", "Mutts to You" and "Flat Foot Stooges" all round out 1938 on the second disc.

not that it's a big deal, really.

David

[jka12002]

i was going to post something about the alphabet song.

If Curly is supposed to be a professor AND not once does he says his name, how do the girls automaticaly know his name?

i sense a plot mistake here