Restless Knights

This is one of those stooges films that starts off with a bang(the scenes with Walter Brennan playing the boys father, the wrestling match in the castle)then starts to run out of steam after about 8 minutes and doesn't pack as many ROFL moments to close out the short that it started with.

5/10

Although the setting for this Three Stooges short is unusual and the costumes and sets much better than usual, it's otherwise a very typical sort of film for these folks. It begins with Moe, Curly and Larry being told by their sickly father that they are actually of noble birth and they are to go to the Queen and offer their services to her as guards--much like the Musketeers. However, when these three idiots are wrestling about as entertainment for the Queen, they don't notice that she's been kidnapped. They are arrested and only avoid execution when they are sent to find her. What follows are lots of folks being bonked on the head and people being stabbed in the butts with swords. If this is your kind of thing, you'll love this short. Otherwise, it has a lot of energy but lacks good belly laughs.

In Medieval times, Larry, Curly, and Moe are the sons of a count. On his death bed, he tells them that they are of royal blood. The boys go seeking to reclaim their kingdom and become the Queen's guards.

Curly is just physically funny. While fighting with Moe, his fawning over the Queen is simply joyful idiocy. I love him when he does the most basic comedic moves. The Musketeers story is meaningless. This is a Stooges short after all. I really like the smaller Curly moments more than any big scenes.

As a DVD/VHS collector, the most notable aspect of this Stooges film is seeing famous movie actor Walter Brennan in an uncredited role as the Stooges father! He opens up the story with a deathbed story. Frankly, I wouldn't have known that was him if I hadn't seen his name listed in the credits here on IMDb. Looking at the movie for a second time, sure enough: it's a younger Brennan with a fake beard but the same somewhat-squeaky voice!

Anyway, this particular Three Stooges short, as someone else here pointed out, is set back in medieval times, but in all practical purposes could have been set in any time. Most of the film is comprised of several extended physical gags.

For example, there is a wrestling scene which is fairly long - just the boys showing the queen how the sport is (not) done. Most of the gags aren't all that great except for the ending when one of the Stooges is flung in the air onto the queen's throne.

The boys, by the way, call themselves "The Duke Of Mixture," "The Baron Of Brains" and "The Fife Of Drum." That sort of gives you an idea of the humor in this one: passable, but not laugh-out-loud humor..

This review is of the sixth consecutive Three Stooges short made by Columbia Pictures. As their previous short-Horses' Collars-was their first western spoof, this one is the first set in Medieval times. It seems their dying father (Walter Brennan in his second Stooges appearance) has revealed to his sons (Moe, Larry, and Curley as his name was spelled at the time) that they're of royal blood and assigns them to protect their queen. I'll stop there and just say that while there are plenty of highly amusing scenes here, very few of them are non-stop hilarious and the end is a bit abrupt. In fact, maybe they could have added 15 minutes to bring more of a logical story to term. Still, Restless Knights is enjoyable enough and for that, I recommend it. P.S. This isn't the first time he boys got a triple slap on film since their previous leader, Ted Healy, has done that several times before to them.