Cactus Makes Perfect

In February 1942's "Cactus Makes Perfect," the three pose as inventors whose novel apparatus finds gold in the ground. Former silent movie comedian Monte Collins plays the Stooges' mother, who forces the three slumbering boys to get out and market their device. They're hoodwinked into buying a defunct gold mine, where a couple of grizzly miners happen to be on the scene. Monte Collins as the mother has been called the Dan Aykroyd of his day. He was a comedian in his own right, but he found himself helping others garner the laughs, something he does here. The movie's title derives from the proverb "practice makes perfect."

Larry, Curly, and Moe are lazy bums still living with their mother. Curly has a crazy gold finder invention and the boys go to the city to sell it. They buy a gold claim off a con man on the street. They head out west and can only finds cans with their gold finder. Curly stumbles upon a lost mine.

The gold mine is fine. The cactus is fine. The gold coins don't make sense. All of that is functional but I prefer the mother much more. It would have interesting to have her hit the boys non-stop for fifteen minutes. It's weirdly funny to have a female Curly.

Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser short from The Three Stooges has the boys finally moving out of their mother's house. With Curly's gold finder in hand, the trio buy a gold mine out West and head there to make their riches. CACTUS MAKES PERFECT is middle ground Stooges at best as for the most part it's pretty forgettable, although there are a few funny jokes to be had. Still, I think this short is going to appeal to fans more than just your casual viewer and if you're new to the trio then it's probably best that you start somewhere else. I think the best jokes come towards the end when the Stooges find themselves at the bottom of the mine looking for the gold. This here leads to some pretty good violence with the boys constantly hitting one another with the tools and the final showdown in the vault contain a few laughs as well. The first part of the short is pretty hit and miss but the sequence with the Stooges in front of the mirror trying to get ready at the same time worked well. Ma Stooge was actually the highlight and especially some of her mannerisms, which of course got passed down to her boys.

This Three Stooges short isn't one of the more memorable ones, except it has the boys' mom in it. Who remembers what Curly, Larry and Moe's mom looked like? Not me, and I've seen this a few times over a 50-year period.

Actually, the answer is Monty Collins, an ugly guy in drag who plays "Ma Stooge." She/he looks more like "Ma Barker!" Outside of her-him, it's a lot of standard Stooge slapstick with the boys hitting each other and a ton of sound effects. Early on the trio squeezes into a tiny bathroom and Moe shaves Curly with a straight razor, which will make you wince a few times!

Vernon Dent, a regular in the series, plays a prospector with a beard. You may not recognize him, but his voice told me who it was.

This is an extremely entertaining short from the start... almost to the finish. The pace is brisk and the jokes and typical stooge mayhem abundant.

The only thing rotten about it is the ending. A stick of dynamite explodes and knocks the guys on their backs. Cue music and fade.

C'mon, guys--couldn't you come up with a better ending than that? Especially for such an otherwise great flick? It's one beef I have with so many of the stooge shows--for some reason the writers often could not come up with a satisfying ending. The boys get blown up. Or they get shot at. Or they simply run away. Take your pick--but they always leave the story behind.