Symona Boniface Movies
Her pompous Grande Dame ego constantly deflated by having a pie hurled in her face, brunette American comedy actress Symona Boniface became for the Three Stooges what Margaret Dumont was for the Marx Brothers. Surprisingly, Boniface had been a noted stage actress and playwright before the 1929 stock market crash wiped her out financially. Moving to Hollywood, she toiled in anonymity doing bit parts and extra work until signing a stock contract with Columbia Pictures in 1935. A major addition to the studio's thriving short subject department, Boniface popped up in two-reelers all over the place but is today mostly associated with the Stooges, who regularly flattened her haughty demeanor. The quintessential Boniface characters were the snobbish Mrs. Van Bustle of Crash Goes the Hash (1944) and the conceited dowager Mrs. Smythe-Smythe in 1947's Half-Wits Holiday, the latter featuring her being furiously pelted with pies dropped from the ceiling. A talented but much overlooked part of the Stooges legacy, Symona Boniface died less than three years later at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA, but continued, eerily, to figure prominently in Stooges shorts through the middle of the decade due to the generous doses of stock footage added to keep mounting costs down. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1951
Al Goddard, (Alan Ladd) special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). Posing as a crook, Goddard gains the confidence of the murderers' boss Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a scheme to defraud the post office of one million dollars. Once they've tumbled to the deception, the crooks take Goddard and the nun prisoner, leading to a fight to the finish in a lonely industrial district. Appointment with Danger tends to draw chuckles rather than shivers nowadays, thanks to the casting of future Dragnet co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as the murderers -- and as icing to the cake, viewers are treated to a scene in which Webb bumps off Morgan! As a whole, the film, the last of Alan Ladd's series of film noir, is uneven and generally unsuccessful. However, it contains some crisp, tough dialogue and some terrific action sequences which make it worthwhile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, (more)
- 1950
Between Midnight and Dawn is a solid, no-frills detective drama from the Columbia studio mills. Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien star as police officers Barnes and Purvis, who tool around in their prowl car in the wee hours of the morning. Vengeful gangster Ritchie Garris (Donald Buka) would like nothing better than to get Barnes and Purvis out of his hair, especially after breaking out of jail. In a thrill-packed climax, Garris makes a desperate escape using a little kid as a shield, while Purvis tries to second-guess the homicidal gangster. As Kate Mallory, Gale Storm has little to do except serve as the bone of romantic contention between the two male protagonists. Curiously, Storm doesn't get to sing, though supporting actress Gale Robbins does--three times, in fact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1950
Buster Crabbe stars in this Columbia serial about a modern-day "Flying Dutchman" ghost ship. Costarring are Tristram Coffin, Lois Hall), and Symona Boniface as "The Lotus Lady." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Lois Hall, (more)
- 1950
Decked out with leftover sets and stock footage from 1946's Bandit of Sherwood Forest, Columbia's Rogues of Sherwood Forest stars John Derek as the son of legendary do-gooder Robin Hood. When King John (George Macready) revives his old cycle of taxation and repression, Robin Jr. summons forth his father's Merry Men and inaugurates a rebel movement. Aiding the younger Robin in his fight for rights is Lady Marianne (Diana Lynn), who exhibits a lot more leg and decolletage than was customary in 13th-century England. Prominent among the Merry Men is Little John, played by Alan Hale Sr., who'd previously essayed the same role in the 1922 and 1938 filmizations of Robin Hood. Attractively lensed in Technicolor, Rogues of Sherwood Forest seems far more expensive and ambitious than it really was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Derek, Diana Lynn, (more)
Glenn Ford is top-billed in Man From Colorado, though he's anything but a hero. Ford plays a seriously disturbed Civil War vet who kills because he enjoys killing. William Holden, Ford's army buddy, tries to stem Ford's homicidal tendencies. When Ford is appointed the "hanging" judge of a Colorado town, Holden signs on as his deputy. The final break between the two onetime friends comes when Holden casts his lot with a group of disgruntled miners whom Ford has disenfranchised. A fistfight in a burning building brings the no-nonsense Man From Colorado to a brutal conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, William Holden, (more)
- 1949
This Shemp Howard-era Three Stooges short borrows quite a bit (both plot- and footage-wise) from 1940's A Plumbing We Will Go, made in the Curly days. The story opens with a wealthy couple throwing a party to celebrate the acquisition of a $50,000-dollar Van Brocklin painting. But there's a leak in the basement, so the wife calls the Day and Nite Plumbers. When Moe, who is reading a book called How to Be a Plumber, picks up the phone, you know the couple is in for a load of trouble. Those who have seen A Plumbing We Will Go know what happens next -- Moe toils in the basement while Shemp cages himself in a labyrinth of pipes in the bathroom and Larry digs up half the lawn in an attempt to turn off the water. The cook is in the kitchen, watching in horror as the stove and a lighting fixture gush water. But there's a new twist -- a couple of guests (Christine McIntyre and Kenneth MacDonald) are thieves who steal the Van Brocklin. The Stooges, surprisingly, are the first ones to identify the robbers and they capture the crooks and retrieve the painting. When the grateful hostess offers them a reward, Shemp says, "We don't want no reward! It'll put us in a higher tax bracket!" ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard unleash their unique blend of comic chaos in this collection of three vintage Three Stooges short subjects. In Heavenly Daze, Shemp dies and meets his maker, who informs him that if he wants to get into heaven, he must first get con men Moe and Larry to clean up their act -- at the moment, they're selling a bogus fountain pen that they claim can write through whipped cream (and who wouldn't need a pen that can do that?). The Stooges are moving men in The Ghost Talks, and as they haul furniture out of an old house, they're shocked when a suit of armor comes to life. It seems that the spirit of its owner, Sir Tom, still walks, and would like a reunion with his old friend, the beauteous Lady Godiva. Hocus Pocus finds the Stooges falling under the spell of stage hypnotist the Great Svengarlic; he convinces them to do a high-wire routine from a 20-story building, but the boys are plenty startled when the spell is broken mid-way through their walk. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Filmed in 1946 but held over until January of 1947, Half-Wits Holiday proved a rather sad occasion for the Three Stooges. A remake of the earlier Hoi Polloi, in which a professor wages that he can turn the three dimwits into perfect gentlemen. Sadly, Curly Howard, who had been ailing all year, suffered a stroke on the last day of filming. Supporting actor Emil Sitka, who made his debut with the team in this film, remembered: "No one -- including Moe, Larry, and Jules White -- ever told us how serious his condition was. It was only after the picture had been completed that I found out he took ill." Producer/director White managed to finish the last scene -- the inevitable pie-fight featuring the Stooges' main victim Symona Boniface (as Mrs. Smythe-Smythe) -- by dividing the action between Moe Howard and Larry Fine and inserting reaction shots of the various bystanders. Curly Howard never returned to the series as a member of the team -- he later agreed to a couple of cameos while visiting his former workplace -- and was replaced by brother Shemp. Perhaps the most beloved Stooge, Jerome "Curly" Howard died at the young age of 48 in 1952. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
In this typical Vera Vague 2-reel comedy, the scatterbrained Vera mistakes a stage magician, Bluebeard the Great (Barton Yarborough), for a murderer.The "victim," as it turns out, was merely a dummy and part of the act. Not one of the Columbia short subject department's better efforts, Hiss and Yell was nevertheless nominated for an Academy Award in the short subject category, the second Vera Vague farce so honored. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
The postwar housing shortage played a large role in this Three Stooges two-reeler, which cast the boys as returning G.I.s who cannot marry their fiancées (Judy Malcolm, Ethelreda Leopold, and Doris Houck) until they find proper living quarters. Despite the fact that popular Stooges veterans Ethelreda Leopold and Symona Boniface both returned to the series after an absence, G.I. Wanna Go Home had little more than a typically clever title to recommend it. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
A little over a year after this Three Stooges short was made, Curly Howard would suffer a stroke and go into retirement. But even though he was often ill during this period, he still did some of the best work of his career. He's in top form for this comedy, a favorite among Stooge fanatics. The Stooges are not-very-handy handymen who decide they'd rather play around in a recording studio than fix a radiator. An aspiring singer (Christine McIntyre) has just recorded "The Voices of Spring," and Curly does a fine job of lip synching to the record. He's overheard by a society matron who is looking for a singer for her "Krispy Krunchy" program; after the Stooges dub Curly "Señorita Cucaracha," he gets the job. He goes over to the matron's home that night to perform with his accompanists -- "Señor Mucho" (Larry Fine) and "Señor Gusto" (Moe Howard). When one of the performers from the radio station tries to sing, the boys shoot cherries into his mouth so that he chokes. The performer gets back at them by unplugging the record player during Curly's performance. However, the "Voices of Spring" singer is at the party and she helps them out. The ruse is discovered and the young singer's talent wins the approval of her father. The Stooges, meanwhile, are chased off in a shower of records. This was the second Stooges short to be directed by Edward Bernds, but the first to be released -- Curly was ill and performed poorly in A Bird in the Head, the initial short. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The usual modus operandi for Hollywood "through the years" sagas was to gradually age its young actors in the course of the film. In Mrs. Parkington, 35-year-old Greer Garson appears in old-lady makeup for virtually the entire 124-minute running time, even though this filmization of Louis Bromfield's best-selling novel covers the years 1875 through 1938. Eightyish widow Mrs. Susie Parkington (Garson) gathers together all of her grown children in an effort to bail out son-in-law Amory Stilham (Edward Arnold), who's gotten in Dutch through crooked financial deals. As the children and grandchildren bicker over the "impossibility" of giving up any part of their inheritance, Mrs. Parkington's mind wanders back to her marriage to wealthy mine owner Maj. Augustus Parkington (Walter Pidgeon) and her own efforts, as an unlearned Nevada serving girl, to fit into proper Manhattan society. Augustus' ex-love Aspasia Conti (Agnes Moorehead, in a surprisingly sexy role) is engaged to teach Susie the in and outs of which fork to use and how low to curtsy. Shut out by the "400," Susie is avenged by her husband, who wheels and deals to ruin the snobs financially. Later on, he assuages his anger by conducting several extramarital affairs, before perishing in one of those convenient movie auto accidents. Just how all these incidents strengthen Mrs. Parkington's resolve to rescue her wastrel son-in-law is a mystery that even two viewings of this overlong soap opera may not solve. Incidentally, Greer Garson isn't the only one who is prematurely aged in Mrs. Parkington; keep an eye out for 27-year-old Hans Conried, convincingly playing a doddering musician. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1944
Lost in a Harem is arguably the best of Abbott & Costello's trio of MGM films; it's certainly the silliest, with any number of nonsensical plot twists and sidesplitting gags. This time, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play Pete and Harvey, two American magicians stranded in a mythical Arabian Nights kingdom with songstress Hazel Moon (Marilyn Maxwell). Our heroes and heroine become involved with the trials and tribulations of Prince Ramo (John Conte), who hopes to rightfully reclaim his throne from his evil usurping uncle Nimativ (Douglas Dumbrille). Alas, the villain is armed with a pair of hypnotic rings with which he forces everyone to do his bidding: his most anti-social act is to kidnap and hypnotize the entire Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra! Pete, Harvey, Ramo and Hazel risk death at every turn to thwart Nimativ, encountering a giant guard (Lock Martin, later to play the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still), a gibbering lunatic (Murray Leonard) and a bevy of harem beauties along the way. The film's sets and costumes, as well as the more elaborate musical numbers, are "borrowed" from the recently completed MGM superproduction Kismet. While the plot is for the birds, Lost in a Harem is saved by the fast-and-furious antics of Abbott and Costello. And as a bonus, this is the film in which Bud and Lou, accompanied by Murray Leonard, perform those deathless burlesque classics "Slowly I Turned" and "Mike's Place." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1944
While not among their very best, this Three Stooges short is loaded with funny moments. Fuller Bull (Vernon Dent), managing editor of the Daily News, has just fired all his reporters because they have no information on the immanent wedding of Prince Shaam of Ubeedarn to the widowed socialite, Mrs. Van Bustle. Instead he hires three men who he believes to be reporters from the Star -- they're actually the Stooges, who work for Star Cleaners and Pressers. But no matter -- the boys make their way into the Van Bustle home by posing as a chef and two butlers. The head butler (Bud Jamison) is amused by their antics at first, but then they make a disaster out of dinner, thinking canapés means a can-a-peas, and a parrot flies into the turkey, which seemingly comes to life (a gag used several times in Stooges films). They also discover that the Prince is a phony, in league with the head butler to rob the widow. After knocking the thieving pair unconscious, the Stooges bring an exclusive scoop back to the Daily News. Mrs. Van Bustle is so grateful that she decides she'll marry Curly. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1943
John Garfield was borrowed from Warner Bros. by RKO Radio for the tense espionage melodrama The Fallen Sparrow. Garfield is cast as Kit, an idealistic Spanish Civil War veteran who survives two torturous years in a fascist prison. Upon returning to New York, Kit is pounced upon by Nazi agents, who hope to learn the valuable secrets that Kit would not reveal to his captors during his ordeal. Among the methods of persuasion utilized by the Nazis is the beautiful Toni (Maureen O'Hara in a masterpiece of against-type casting). But Kit is made of stronger stuff than the spies are used to, and eventually he is able to beat them at their own game. Walter Slezak costars as the mellifluous-but-deadly Dr. Skaas. The Fallen Sparrow was based on the best-selling novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1943
In this entry in the "Lone Wolf" series, the sleuth and former jewel thief, the Lone Wolf finds himself accused of killing a blackmailer in front of the three women he was harassing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
$Jules White, the head of the short subjects department at Columbia, steered quite a few Three Stooges comedies into propaganda territory during World War II. While not as forcefully patriotic as some of the others, this quirky short (directed by Del Lord) takes a few potshots at the Japanese. It opens in the offices of special investigator J.O. Dunkfeather, who is being interviewed by a high-strung young reporter. Dunkfeather proceeds to tell him the story of three traveling salesmen -- Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard, of course -- who wind up working as caretakers for Graves, an inventor, after they have no luck peddling their "Miracle Reducing Machine." Graves has to go to Washington with his Death Ray, and he leaves his spooky mansion in the hands of the salesmen. He warns them to be on the lookout for "Jap" spies, who show up as soon as he leaves. As disguises, the spies (who, incidentally, don't look at all Japanese) are wearing Halloween costumes and this is enough to terrorize the Stooges for the rest of the film. There's also another baffling dilemma -- pies come seemingly out of nowhere and hit various people in the face. The reporter anxiously demands to know who was throwing the pies -- he seems to care more about this than the fact that the Stooges manage to stop the spies (which is pretty miraculous, considering the boys' perennial ineptitude). Finally Dunkfeather admits he was the culprit... and promptly is slammed in the face with a pie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Weighing themselves on a penny machine, the Our Gang kids receive a fortune card predicting that they will receive "unexpected riches." Acting upon this, the kids decide to dig for buried treasure, using a fradulent map provided by one of their wise-guy acquaintances. Though the treasure hunt comes a-cropper, the fortune card's prediction comes true in an unexpected fashion. Originally released on November 28, 1942, the one-reel Unexpected Riches represented Spanky McFarland's final Our Gang appearance, ending an incredible ten-year run with the comedy series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Bobby Blake, (more)
- 1941
When wealthy Mrs. Bullion informs her husband, Ajax that they are adopting a "little refugee" -- a common event amongst society people during World War II -- he is less than thrilled. But a trip to the dentist changes his perspective. Instead of getting his tooth pulled by his regular guy, Dr. I. Yankum, he winds up with three building janitors -- none other than The Three Stooges -- working on his mouth. Later, when he finds them hiding out in his car, he decides to take them home to Mrs. Bullion as not one, but three, long-awaited refugee children. But Bullion doesn't realize what he's in for -- Johnnie (Moe Howard), Frankie (Curly Howard) and Mabel (Larry Fine) steal his cigars and play craps with the butler. Mrs. Bullion throws a party to introduce the little darlings to her friends, but the festivities are interrupted when her furious husband chases the Stooges from the house with an ax. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1941
The Three Stooges are tree surgeons in this comic short. An irascible old man is driving both his wife and his nurse up a wall. But instead of being concerned about his own illness, he's worried about his tree, a rare "puglis persimmon." The Stooges, also known as the Elite Painless Tree Surgeons ("the biggest Grafters in town"), show up, force the nurse out of the room, and get to work. The wife and nurse believe the Stooges are real surgeons and they panic when they hear that Moe is determined to "saw off a limb." Actually, the tree isn't really in need of surgery -- it's just lonely. The only female puglis persimmon, however, is located on the South Sea island of Rhum Boogie. The old man offers the boys ten thousand dollars to bring it back, so they head for the island. Once they get there, they discover Rhum Boogie is infested with cannibals -- and unless Curly marries the chief's ugly sister, they will be the next meal. The guys manage to get away, but the little boat they escape in promptly sinks. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1941
The Three Stooges play ice delivery men in this comic short. It's a hot day, and they've been cooling off in the back of the truck; in fact, Curly has gotten his head stuck inside a block of ice. After the other two Stooges free him, he bowls a strike with another block of ice and some milk bottles. Finally he is put into service carrying some ice up a long, long flight of stairs (no, they're not the same stairs used in Laurel and Hardy's short, The Music Box, but they seem to be located in the same area of Los Angeles -- the Silverlake district). By the time Curly reaches the top, the ice block has melted into an ice cube. As a solution the boys bring the ice box down the stairs and load it up at the bottom -- a good idea except that near the top the filled cabinet goes barreling down the steps and smashes into a man (Vernon Dent) holding a cake. Up at the house, the Stooges annoy the cook into quitting, and the dismayed matron has no one to fix dinner for her husband's birthday party. The well-meaning Stooges volunteer their services, with the predictably disastrous results. The finale is a fresh cake, which the boys have pumped full of gas because it fell. With a huge blast it explodes, sending the Stooges back down the long, long flight of stairs. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moe Howard, Larry Fine, (more)
- 1941
Hard-working Columbia starlets Mary Ainslee, Dorothy Appleby, and Ethelreda Leopold take center stage in this Three Stooges comedy, one of the year's best two-reelers. They play society girls, who, to get their hands on an inheritance, marry three death row inmates (guess who?). When the boys are pardoned by the governor, the devious debutantes think up any manner of ways to get rid of their irritating new spouses. Soon, the pies are flying. In fact, the pie throwing sequence of this film later wound up in Pest Man Wins (1952), one of the Stooges best later shorts.In the Sweet Pie and Pie marked the final Stooges short of supporting actor Richard Fiske, who joined the Army. Sadly, Fiske was lost in battle in France in 1944. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1940
At the start of this comic short, the Three Stooges are unemployed. They've been sleeping in the awning of a swap shop and are rudely awakened when the shop owner unrolls it. After turning the store into a disaster area, the trio run away. They escape to city hall and exit as census takers. Excited over their four-cents-per-head fee, they get working. One place they invade is a mansion during a party. Curly, who has been flirting with the maid in the kitchen, mixes the punch and sweetens it with alum, which he mistakes for powdered sugar. Meanwhile, Moe and Larry somehow get collared by the hostess into playing bridge. When the card players drink the alum-saturated punch, their mouths shrivel up, which makes bidding very difficult. Curly and the maid get into a spat and the hostess, who is in the wrong place at the wrong time, winds up with a dress soaked with punch. The Stooges dash off and find a stadium full of spectators watching a football game. The potential income from all these surveys is very appealing, so the boys sneak into the stadium and start off by trying to survey the players. This doesn't go over very well with the team, and after the Stooges have disrupted the game, the players chase them out of the stadium and into the street. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In Early Arizona was western star Bill Elliot's first effort for Columbia Pictures. Not yet "Wild Bill" Elliot (as he would later be billed), the actor is cast as Whit Gordon, who rides into Tombstone Arizona to help keep the peace. Elliot is appointed sheriff, making him the particular target of every fast gun in the territory. Though clearly based on the career of Wyatt Earp film is careful not to violate the copyright on Earp's life story, which then was held by 20th Century-Fox. In fact, contrary to previous published reports, the name "Wyatt Earp" is not mentioned at all in In Early Arizona; only the designation of Tombstone itself was in the public domain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Gulliver, Harry Woods, (more)
- 1937
German director Joe May brought a decidedly Teutonic ambience to his American film Confession--no surprise, since the film was based on the 1935 German production Mazurka. Kay Francis plays a onetime singer who confesses to the murder of her pianist, Basil Rathbone. In flashback, we learn that Rathbone had been responsible for the breakup of Francis's marriage. Years later, Rathbone came back into her life, this time with the intention of seducing Ms. Francis' grown daughter (Jane Bryan). In a variation of Madame X, Francis was stuck with the dilemma of deflecting Rathbone from his "mission"--and of keeping her true identity secret from her daughter. Prior to Mazurka, the Hans Rameau story upon which Confession was based had been filmed as a silent picture starring Gloria Swanson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, (more)
