Vernon Dent Movies

The fourth of Oscar-winning short-subject director Youngson's comedy compilations (the earlier ones were Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy was King, and Days of Thrills and Laughter) is, amazingly, almost as full and fresh as those earlier efforts, containing highlights from such silent comedy classics as Chaplin's Floorwalker, Easy Street, Pawnshop and, best of all, Rink; Buster Keaton's Balloonatic and Daydreams; Harry Langdon's Smile Please, and the prototypical Laurel and Hardy team-up, Lucky Dog. Youngson's choice of material is unquestionably fine, and equally satisfying is the quality of the film clips, courtesy of archivist Paul Guffanti. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A remake with stock footage of the earlier Hokus Pokus (1949), this Three Stooges comedy once again featured Vernon Dent as the Great Svengarlic, a crook who hypnotizes the three dumbbells into helping him commit bank robbery. Filmed for this version were a couple of scenes featuring Columbia starlets Barbara Bartay, Beverly Thomas, and Bonnie Menjum. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Containing a wealth of stock footage from the earlier Fuelin' Around (1949), this Three Stooges two-reeler features a gang of spies who mistake Larry for the inventor of a top secret rocket fuel. Christine McIntyre, who had retired from films in 1954, Philip Van Zandt, and Jock Mahoney all appeared in the stock footage, while new scenes were filmed featuring Gene Roth, Connie Cezan, Evelyn Lovequist, and Andre Pola. Producer/director Jules White should have stuck with the comedy's working title: "They Gassed Wrong." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A remake of the Three Stooges' earlier Squareheads of the Round Table, this two-reel comedy features the boys as troubadours attempting to save Princess Elaine (Christine McIntyre) from a fate worse than death. Miss McIntyre, who had retired by 1954, and Jock Mahoney as the romantic leads appeared courtesy of stock footage. New footage featured Ruth Godfrey. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A remake, with stock footage, of the earlier Fiddlers Three (1948), this Three Stooges comedy short features the boys as court musicians attempting to prevent an evil potentate (Vernon Dent via stock footage) from marrying a lovely princess (Virginia Hunter, again via stock footage). Added cast members for this augmented release include Theila Darin (aka Diana Darrin), Norma Randall, and Joe Palma. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Three Stooges chase a safe-cracker (Kenneth MacDonald) to Las Vegas in this two-reel comedy, which mainly consists of footage from Hold That Lion, including Cury Howard's cameo. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This Three Stooges comedy was a remake of the 1938 short Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb, with Shemp in Curly's role. The boys are having breakfast while Shemp is working on a ditty to enter in a radio contest. Moe puts Shemp's glue on his pancakes and seals his mouth shut. While dealing with this insanity, Shemp gets a call from the "Mystery Motor Jackpot Contest," and wins fifty thousand dollars when the announcer mistakes his shout of "my bunion aches!" as "Bunyon 8" -- the correct answer. So the boys dress to the nines and check in at the Hotel Costa Plenty (just like in the 1938 film). The manager proudly points out the five thousand dollar Ming vase, and the bed that goes back to Henry VIII -- it's clear that before the boys are done, both items will be decimated. After the Stooges have done their damage, the manager shows up with a registered letter. It's the contest money which, after taxes, amounts to $4.85. The boys try to hide this news from the manager, who is growing ever more suspicious. Meanwhile, in a room down the hall, three girls have heard about the contest winners and want a piece of the action. But every time they try to knock on the Stooges' door, the guys think it's the hotel manager and the girls are greeted with buckets of water. Finally the ladies fed up and money or no, they bean the boys with three empty champagne bottles. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Though it doesn't borrow any footage, this Columbia short is essentially a remake of The Three Stooges' 1936 short, Ants in the Pantry. A caterer is throwing a fancy-dress party in hopes of drumming up business for her desserts when the Stooges appear at the window. They're exterminators who can't seem to drum up any work, so they decide to infest the home with moths, ants, and mice. When the hostess finds the pests, she's panic-stricken, until the Stooges show up on her front door. She puts them in tuxedoes and admonishes them to keep their work a secret from the guests. Many of the gags are the same as in the previous feature -- the Stooges' cats wind up in the piano and cause a racket when a guest tries to play a number, a mouse flies from a guest to a Stooge and back again, and so on. Vernon Dent is the one here who winds up wildly dancing because a mouse has crawled down his back, and the Stooges join him with their fancy footwork. There are a few new gags, and a new ending -- a massive pie fight in which just about everyone at the party gets hit. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

A sequel to West of Dodge City (1947), this below-average Charles Starrett oater reveals that rather than drowning, nefarious Henry Hardison (Fred F. Sears) is still very much alive and engaged in blackmailing his brother, Judge Anthony Dillon (Luther Crockett). Enter the Durango Kid, alias Steve Ramsey (Starrett), who is in Bonanza Town looking for $30,000 stolen from a bank in Dodge City. Also present, needless to say, is bumbling Smiley Burnette, who once again perform a few of his own compositions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This Columbia short subject starts out with a familiar Three Stooges scenario; the boys have just been fired from their latest job and are being tossed out on their cans. They go from working at the Dainty Dolly Dish Co. to being dishwashers for the Vesuvius Ravioli Company. Predictably they're fired again, and they've made the chef so furious that he chases them down the street with a meat cleaver. To escape him, the boys wind up in some strange offices run by Vernon Dent. It turns out to be a dentistry college of sorts, which hands out diplomas after a week of training and a five-dollar tuition. The Stooges only have four dollars, but they're accepted into the program anyhow. A week later, they emerge as the worst students of the bunch (the vicious-looking dentures Shemp creates have a life of their own), and the school's head suggests that they begin their practice far, far away. They take him up on his suggestion and wind up in the Western town of Coyote Pass. Their first patient is subjected to the torture of a jackhammer-like drill and they haven't finished with him when a tough cowboy walks in. He tosses the first guy out and threatens the Stooges with his gun if they hit a nerve. To be on the safe side, they gas him and while he's asleep they carefully read through the instruction manual. Unfortunately, it's a manual for amateur carpentry. Nevertheless, they manage to extract the cowboy's tooth -- only it's the wrong one. The angry cowboy aims his gun at the boys, who head for the hills. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this Shemp Howard-era Three Stooges short is rather plot-heavy, it has some particularly funny gags. The boys are termite exterminators who are mistaken for publicity flacks while they're spraying offices at the B.O. movie studio. When the studio head promises them a big bonus if they think up a good stunt for his newest star, Dolly Duval (Christine McIntyre), they suggest that she suddenly disappear. But it's an extremely overused scam -- neither the police captain (Vernon Dent) nor the newspaper reporter believe it. A gang of crooks, however, really do kidnap Dolly and demand ransom. The Stooges arrive at the hotel with money and guns acquired from the prop room. This becomes all-too apparent when they try to shoot the thugs, and Larry's gun shoots out a "bang!" flag, and Moe's turns out to be a water pistol. In the hallway, however, Shemp manages to knock one crook unconscious. While Moe and Larry are being tied up, Shemp finds Dolly in a garment bag in the closet and changes places with her. She frees the Stooges, and Larry acosts the police captain, who is sitting down for a card game with some associates. He pelts the the card players with food to get their attention and they chase after him as he heads for the crooks. Shemp, meanwhile, has wandered out onto the ledge in the garment bag but when he cuts his way out, he panics and falls. While he hangs by a phone from a tenth floor window, Moe and Dolly throw him a rope. The crooks attack and their leader gets his foot tangled in the rope. Dolly and Moe knock out the other two. The police captain and his men arrive and Moe and Larry try to pull Shemp up. But he stops on a balcony where a young woman is sunbathing and the sudden slack sends his pals flying into the bathtub. With nothing better to do, they decide to start soaping up, even though Larry complains that "It isn't Saturday night." ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Everybody is a comic in this Three Stooges picture. The killer Dillon clan are shooting up a Western town and Nell (Christine McIntyre) sends her handsome, but clumsy oaf of a sweetheart, Elmer, off to get help. Help comes in the form of the Stooges, who are playing a trio of cavalrymen so incompetent that their frustrated sergeant sends them on the mission only because he believes they won't return alive. The boys dress up as desperadoes and enter the town's saloon, doing their best to appear tough. While ordering drinks, Shemp asks for a milkshake "made with sour milk!" Their lack of prowess in all things Western is immediately apparent, and on top of that, the gang's leader (Kenneth MacDonald) figures out they are spies. The Stooges attempt a different kind of disguise. This time they're waiters, but their fake mustaches give them away in almost record time. Eventually they do emerge victorious over the bad guys, but it's only with Nell's help (she's upstairs, cold-cocking every bad guy who has the misfortune to enter her room), and Shemp's winning battle with two of the bad men and a stick of dynamite. Elmer shows up eventually and when he tells Nell that cowboys don't settle down, she beans him with a piece of crockery. This knocks some sense into him, ending the picture on something of a romantic note. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Shemp fans rejoice! This home video release collects three classic Three Stooges comedies with Shemp Howard starring alongside Moe Howard and Larry Fine. Hot Scots finds the boys traveling to Scotland, where they hope to become crime fighters with Scotland Yard. They have to settle for work as gardeners, but that doesn't stop them from guarding the castle of the esteemed Earl of Glenheather. In Fuelin' Around, the Stooges are laying carpet at the home of Professor Sneed, a rocket scientist working on a secret government project, when Armenian spies break in and take Larry hostage, convinced that he's Sneed (and making a liar of everyone who ever said, "That Larry -- you can tell he's no rocket scientist!"). And Larry, Moe, and Shemp travel to the South Seas in Hula-La-La, in which a movie studio needs to hire three dance instructors for an upcoming musical set in the tropics -- the studio ends up with the Stooges instead. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide