Half Shot Shooters

This kind of story happened in at least three of The Three Stooges short, and all of them are pretty funny. This wasn't as good as the others until the last five minutes when it takes a strange turn with a big cannon, and then finishes strong.

The basic storyline - see if this sounds familiar - is the boys are in the army, are lazy slobs and then get picked on my a gruff sergeant. They are discharged (or the war is over), the boys immediately get revenge on the sergeant when they find out he has no power over them anymore. Later, through a mistake, they re-up into the army and now face that same sergeant, who is out to kill them, at this point.

Here, it's 1918 and World War I is raging. We see real footage of soldiers on the battlefield, running and shooting. Then we see the Three Stooges snoring away in a foxhole. The sergeant gives them the business. The same day, it's announced the war is over and on their way out the door, the Stooges really do a number on the Sarge, beating the crap out of him.

There are parts of this comedy, I might say, that almost shocked me in that some of it wasn't slapstick, but almost downright meanness and torture. The violence goes past the normal laughs. For example, in one scene the Sargent has the boys put their heads underwater and then fires a pistol in the water, deafening the boys. That is nasty. It reminded of a brutal scene in the film noir, "The Big Combo."

Anyway, fast-forward to 1935. It's the Depression and the boys are desperate for work. (They haven't aged a bit, by the way.) Because they are kind of ignorant and never read signs, they wind up re-enlisting....and, of course, the same sergeant is there! What happens afterward is a bit of a surprise. The gag turns out to be something else besides the animosity between the Stooges and the Sarge, but the boys' misuse of a huge cannon during a supposed practice session. The Stooges wind up blowing up houses, chimneys and finally, a ship in our own Navy! Those scenes with the cannon are very funny and ends this comedic short on a high note.

Half Shot Shooters (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Seventeen years after the end of WW1, the Three stooges find themselves poor and hungry so they accidentally sign up for the Army to cause more trouble. There are a few gags here that work but most of them miss. One of the best gags has Curley pulling his shoe up and another has the three firing off a canon, which hits their Admirel's boat.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 shorts, all digitally remastered and looking better than since they were originally released.

Begins in final day of wwi leave after attacking sgt can't find work...join army again.

Artillary...shoot at flagship instead of target ship very dark ending.

"Half Shot Shooters" begins on the final day of WWI. While the war is STILL going on around them, the Stooges try to catch up on some sleep. And, when they are awoken by the Sergeant and told the war is over, lots of slapping ensues. In the next scene, as they are now home and discharged, they take their vengeance out on their hated Sergeant. But when they can't find work and accidentally re-signup for the army, guess who they'll be reporting to? Yep, their old Sergeant...and wow does he get his revenge in one of the darkest endings I can recall from a Three Stooges film.

This one only has a few laughs and I can't help think that the writers were not particularly inspired when they wrote this. It should have been a very funny short...instead it's an okay short with a dark ending. But this ending is so dark and weird, I recommend you see it...just to see how the story ends.

This army comedy, a favorite milieu with star comedians, is one of the better Three Stooges shorts I've watched. Its plot – starting in WWI and then moving on to the present (1935, in this case) – anticipates one of Laurel & Hardy's best feature-films, BLOCKHEADS (1938). The boys are layabouts during the war (they even manage to sleep through combat!) who fall foul of their sergeant; years later, we find them as tramps willing to do any work. They're eventually directed to an office building which, unbeknownst to them, is the city's army recruiting post: there they meet again their old sergeant, who's naturally keen to get even with them! During the film's surreal climax, where they're assigned to cannon-fire practice, The Stooges contrive to sink a visiting Admiral's ship and demolish a number of buildings in the vicinity – for which they're soon facing the firing squad…only the weapon turns out to be the cannon itself and the executor of the sentence is none other than their vindictive sergeant!

Since my childhood The Three Stooges was in my Life and l grew up watching the show until now....in this episode our friends are in World War I sleeping behind the walls when the war is over,a mad Sergeant catch they and beats on them...after discharge they made a revenge...in 1935 unaware they are on Army again...you can guess who they meet again???....The Three Stooges Forever!