Rockin' in the Rockies

A few months earlier the studio released the only feature film where The Three Stooges with Curly were the headliners in April 1945's "Rockin' in the Rockies." Not to be confused with the Stooges' earlier short film, 1940's "Rockin' Thru the Rockies," this full-length movie was shot in early December 1944, a few weeks after "Idiots Deluxe," but was released three months earlier than the short. For the feature film Columbia Pictures decided to depart from their highly popular Stooges shorts and assigned a totally different staff of writers along with director Vernon Keays, who never handled the three before. The results were disappointing to their faithful fans, prompting Columbia to think twice about headlining another Stooges feature film again. But once their short film series ended in the late 1950s, the studio, seeing the Stooges resurgence on television when their older episodes hit the airwaves, produced the successful 1959's "Have Rocket, Will Travel," setting the stage for a few new Stooges feature films in the early 1960s.

The failure of the musical "Rockin' in the Rockies" was mainly because of writers Johnny Grey and Benton Cheney's decision to cast Moe as a stranger separate from his usual sidekicks Larry and Curly, creating an awkward interchange between the three on the screen. Moe even appears without his trademark mop-top haircut, wearing his hair pushed back. "This flick is only a little over an hour long, yet it features even LESS Stooges action than a 20 minute short," complained film reviewer Mitch Lovell. Moe plays Shorty Williams, a shyster living in the house of his cousin Rusty (Jay Kirby). He bamboozles a pair of aspiring singers, June McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) and Betty Vale (Gladys Blake) along with the four band members of the Ranch Hands (The Hoosier Hotshots) and Curly and Larry to put up the money to mine for gold on the ranch's property.

Without Moe patented slapstick, Larry carries out the duties of doling the physicality on Curly. Stooges' biographer Jon Solomon noticed, "This leaves Larry as the toughie - not his best persona." The writers did have one particularly funny scene when Curly and Larry belly up to the saloon's bar. Curly orders a "Tin Roof" drink. The bartender is confused by what's in before Curly tells him. When it comes time to pay, Curly replies, "I don't pay for a Tin Roof... it's on the house!" After filming wrapped on "Rockin' in the Rockies," Moe, who noticed his brother's lack of energy and failing health, convinced Curly to get tested by doctors. He self-admitted to Santa Barbara, California's Cottage Hospital in late January 1945. The medical staff saw the actor suffered from obesity, had bleeding in the retina in both eyes accompanied by high blood pressure. Curly was told he needed rest, and lots of it.

I saw this film on TCM with a slightly different attitude. I recently viewed a DVD set called "SHOWTIME USA;" this was a compendium of circa 1950 low budget musicals from Lippert Productions. ROCKIES, though a Columbia film, share some of the same musical cast seen in the later Lippert movies (including a subliminal Snub Pollard appearance) and it's the musical element, so snidely dismissed here, that I find the most worthwhile! My God, you have Spade Cooley, the Hoosier Hotshots, the charming Mary Beth Hughes, etc. So even if it's musically not to your taste, it's still a valuable thing to have on film. For Stooge-centrics there's obviously way better Stooge stuff elsewhere, but this film definitely has its own merits.

Rockin in the Rockies (1945)

* (out of 4)

Incredibly bad film is certainly the worst thing I've seen The Three stooges in, although it's more like The Two Stooges here. Moe, acting as a solo, cons a bunch of people into looking for gold while some of them also have plans to make it on Broadway. This is an incredibly uneven film that never really seems to know what it wants to do. There's the stuff with Moe playing the con man yet this never goes anywhere and at times it takes a back seat the the Broadway stuff. Then, at times, the film forgets all about the con and centers on the music. I think I laughed a total of two times throughout this film and by the forty-minute mark I was ready to pull my eyes out. The music itself isn't that good so when you mix that with the lack of laughs then you're stuck with a really bad film. Larry and Curly are wasted playing the dumb ones. Now that Columbia has issued The Three Stooges shorts on DVD there's really no reason to pay this film any attention.

If you are looking for a comedy that has a substantial plot, this one isn't it.

If you are looking for a movie that features the Three Stooges doing their usual performance and patter, this one isn't it.

Rockin' In the Rockies is a typical Columbia House movie that showcases Columbia Records musical talent and offers a little bit of a plot as an excuse. In what can be described as a glorified MTV video, Moe Howard plays a would-be prospector (more of a con artist) who partners with Larry and Curly, two vagrants who wander into town and need jobs before the Sheriff throws them into jail. Enter Mary Beth Hughes and Gladys Blake as two failed saloon singers determined to leave the west for New York. Moe falls for Mary Beth and invites the girls back to the ranch. The singing group, the Hoosier Hotshots, play ranch hands and the Cappy Barra Boys and Spade Cooley make appearances as well.

Although the Three Stooges were an odd choice for casting (apparently Cary Grant wasn't available), Moe does a surprisingly good job as a character actor in this movie. Mary Beth Hughes is his primary comic foil, adding a hint of "war between the sexes" element to what is pretty much one of Columbia Picture's signature "screwball comedies." The movie will disappoint Stooge fans who expect the familiar routines and writing of either Felix Adler or Jules White, and those who despise country-western music will faint, but overall the movie qualifies as a pleasant serving of chewing gum for the mind.

I gave this a four purely out of its historical context. It was considered lost for many years until it popped up out of the blue on Showtime in the early nineties.

Moe is the straight man and Larry and Curly act as a duo. Spade Cooley has a couple of numbers. I guess it had something to do with working on a ranch. I'm not quite sure because the plot was so minimal nothing really sticks in my memory. I vaguely remember it being a western musical comedy. Even the Stooge's seem to be going through the motions. Overall there's nothing much really to recommend here.

If you're not a Stooge fan then don't bother. If you are a Stooge fan, then stick with the shorts.