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One particular Three Stooges film found itself banned on many syndicated television stations in the late 1970s reasoning it jarred the sensibilities of the Japanese people. The short movie in question was May 1944's "The Yoke's on Me," released at the height of World War Two. Those bothered by the closing segment felt it ridiculed Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in federal relocation camps in the Western states during the war. The final sequence of the Stooges' 79th Columbia Pictures short film depict escapees from a nearby confinement facility intruding in the trio's recently-purchased farmstead.

One stereotype held by some Americans on the Japanese during the war is they all shared the distinction of having buck teeth. The actors playing the escapees all sport elongated front teeth, further enflaming a number of executives at the TV networks and stations to take the action of blacklisting the episode, a practice which remains to this day. However, "The Yoke's on Me" has been available on videotape and other home media for the public to see. The Jules White-directed and Clyde Bruckman-written script opens with the Stooges ineligible for the draft because of Curly's water on the knee. Spurred on by their parents, played by the acting couple Robert and Eva McKenzie, both stage and movie actors dating back to the silent era, the Stooges buy a farm from an anxious owner waiting to find a sucker to unload his dilapidated homestead. The Stooges elicit bellyful of laughs as they bumble around the farm, discovering the livestock promised in the sale is scant. They did find a domesticated ostrich which provides Curly feathers for his memorable 'fan-dance' routine. And they stumble upon plenty of pumpkins, prompting them to carve several into Halloween Jack-O'-Lanterns. The pumpkins make their way onto the heads of the escapees, causing all sorts of chaos.

Moe, Larry and Curly are supposed to go in the army but they return after two days. Their father makes them work on a farm. We also learn that some Japanese guys have escaped and of course they are near the farm.

The Three Stooges have made another fine piece of comedy with this short. Especially Curly has some great moments. Terrific.

I'll never forget the first time when I watch this stooge short when I was like 13 or 14 on TBS and that was the only time that I've ever seen this short on television and unfortunately they didn't play this short on Family Channel or AMC but to say the least, I have this short on tape.

The boys are discharged from the army and their father tells the boys that they'll be working on a farm and they buy the farm for $1000 and their car (which is a piece of junk) and the same thing goes to the farm and the only livestock they got is a bird and a ostrich, there's a funny scene when Curly steps on a loose board and it hits Moe right in the face, later on the guy they bought the farm is stopped by the police to tell them that a bunch of Japs escaped from a relocation center and after the cop is done talking to him, the car wouldn't start and he actually mutters 'b@$!ard' (a cuss word on a 1940's stooge short).

Then the stooges witness an ostrich eating blasting powder and Curly tears up the feathers and starts a fan dance and later on they start cleaning out the pumpkins and the Japs show and they put their heads inside of a pumpkin, SICK!! And the stooges blow up the Japanese with the ostrichs egg which had blasting powder in it.

I don't understand that why people come down really hard on this short, I actually think that this is one of the best stooge shorts of all time, I also can't believe that one viewer stated that he likes the awful Joe Besser short Sweet and Hot (which I believe was their worst short) better than this stooge classic.

I give this short 9/10.

Many people may hate this short only because there is some political incorrectness. But I'm a type of person who does not base reviews on political correctness and I think it is silly to do so. Now lets get to my review. In my opinion, this was quite a funny short, Curly's dance makes this short worth watching! I also remember watching this one at age 9 and loving it. I love the "goose" conversation the stooges have, it is hilarious. The only negative part of this short is when Curly tries to kill a goose(previously done with a duck in "A Ducking They Did Go")which is an old gag. Still a short worth adding to your collection.

Grade: A-

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

I have always liked this Three Stooges short. Its cool, its funny, and its really a different one! One thing Larry is quite different in this one. The dance that Curly does after he plucks the ostrich is hilarious! Also another funny scene is when he goes after the duck. The pumpkin scenes are also great! This is a great Three Stooges short!

"The Yoke's on Me" is undoubtedly the most controversial film in the Stooges' 23 years of shorts. The reason is understandable; by today's standards, this film can be considered racist. For this reason, it is rarely shown, if ever, on television.

Let me just state that, for the record, the Japanese seen in the film were not soldiers; they were Japanese-Americans sent to a relocation center during World War II. They were treated and shown as the evil enemy in this film. By all accounts - including the US government, who made an apology and reparations in the 1980s - Japanese-Americans during World War II were as loyal and hardworking as any American. Their imprisonment during this time is a dark blot in American history.

There are some Stooge laughs in this film, but the memories of how Japanese-Americans were treated during this time sullies the entertainment value. Let's not confuse the loyal Japanese-Americans with their representation in this film as evildoers. Loyal Japanese-Americans and the World War II-era evil empire of Japan are not synonymous. 2 out of 10.

I saw this as a kid, before it had been yanked from the rotation, and even then it left a bad taste in my mouth. There were some competently worked out gags, but making slapstick villains out of American citizens who'd been interned in camps strictly due to their race was amazingly tasteless.

Moe himself might have wanted this one buried. He was a liberal guy. In his autobiography he told of visiting a town in the segregated South, where he saw a black man get off the sidewalk to avoid passing too close. Moe stepped into the street to show it wasn't a problem, and the man then got back on the curb. Then off again. Finally, the man told Moe nervously that if Moe didn't stop trying to share the sidewalk with him, he might get them both lynched.

Another thing: There are exploding ostrich eggs but no oxen in the film, so the title should actually be (if anyone cares) "The Yolk's on Me."

Obviously this is a difficult flick to watch because of the treatment that Japanese-Americans receive at the hands of the writers. That said, it can serve as an historical document, showing just how Americans felt about the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. It's easy now to see--with 21st century eyes--how wrong and unjust the relocation camps were; back then, however, much of the country did not have such clarity.

But even without the racist content, this flick isn't that good anyway. The story meanders--the stooges get kicked out their home by their parents, they buy a house, and then they carve some pumpkins. We see a few assorted gags here and there, but nothing much memorable.

I did detect the first signs of Curly's failing health in this short. His energy is high, but I could hear a few lines in which his voice faltered just a bit and wasn't as strong and precise as normal. (Of course, he may have just been tired.)

Ma and pa are proud that their sons Larry, Curly, and Moe have joined the armed forces. They are annoyed when their boys return after getting rejected. The boys try to regain their parents' respect by buying a rundown farm and working for the war effort. Some Japs escaped from a relocation center. An ostrich ran away from a circus.

This is a fine Stooges short until the Japs show up. One must remember that this is wartime propaganda. That means belittling the Japanese and even stuffing them with bad teeth. It is ugly. It cannot be ignored even if it is understandable for its times. It colors the whole thing and its off-putting nature sucks out all the fun.

The Yoke's on Me (1944)

** (out of 4)

After being rejected by the Army and Navy, brothers Moe, Larry and Curly return home where their father makes them by a farm so that they can work. It turns out the farm isn't in the greatest shape but soon some escaped Japanese men meet them.

THE YOKE'S ON ME is one of the lesser Stooges short as there's really not too many funny moments in it. The film starts off on a pretty weak note as there's not a single laugh to be had with the father. From here there are a few minor jokes but there's not a single classic Stooges moment. If I had to pick a highlight it would be the scene dealing with the disappearing jack-o-lanterns. While it could be said there was never an awful short from the boys, this one here is certainly disappointing.

It's hard to judge The Yoke's On Me from a historical perspective. There are some really funny gags in this film as the Three Stooges take up farming to do their bit for the war. But the mistaken policy of those Relocation Centers for Japanese-Americans make this one really hard to swallow. Of course blaming Howard, Howard, and Fine is just ridiculous. They never had any kind of choice of the material they did over at Columbia Pictures.

While the Stooges are learning the rudiments of agriculture with gags later in abundance in The Egg And I and Green Acres, some Japanese who were interned in a Midwest Relocation Center escaped. No doubt resenting being uprooted from their homes and who knows maybe wanting to enlist in the Japanese American Regiment that was portrayed in Go For Broke and had Senator Daniel K. Inouye among its casualties. Still they are classified the enemy and are captured in Stooge style. The title refers to some ostrich eggs with some real power behind them and one that hits Curly with predictable results.

When you realize the history the gags just don't have the same laughs in them.