Booby Dupes

While I don't expect comedic masterpieces from The Three Stooges, I do expect far better than you see in "Booby Dupes". Not only is it a bad remake of an excellent film (Laurel and Hardy's "Towed in a Hole"), but it has one glaring problem...it's not funny.

When the story begins, the trio are selling fish door to door. Curly comes up with the idea that if they catch the fish themselves, they'll get to keep all the money they earn. But they end up buying a small piece of junk boat and in the process they have an odd encounter with a plane that thinks they are Japanese!

As I said, this one isn't funny. And, to take an excellent Laurel and Hardy film and turn it into this is practically criminal. And, by the way, what's with the bizarre title and who came up with that?!

Long-time Three Stooges director Del Lord turned 50 when he finally got word he was ending his association with the comedy team to fulfill his cherished dream of directing feature films. After handling over three dozens of the Stooges' Columbia Pictures short films, Lord's final one with Curly was March 1945's "Booby Dupes." Ten years earlier, Lord was asked to direct March 1935's "Pop Goes the Easel," his first in a long line of his involvement with Stooges comedies. His imprint on refining the Stooges' schtick is incalculable, smoothing out their rough edges while having them deliver a constant stream of superb gags. The Ontario, Canadian Lord was introduced to movies as one of the Keystone Cops' drivers for fellow Canadian Mack Sennett's studio. Graduating to director, Lord specialized in filming car sequences, containing explosive and crashing automobiles. Several studios later, Lord's brilliant direction saw him specializing in Stooges' comedies, where he both scripted and directed the talented trio. Once he left Columbia's short film division to move over to its feature film unit, Lord's forte was in musicals and comedies. He did returned briefly to direct a handful of short films, including one with the Stooges, this time with Shemp, who replaced the ailing Curly.

"Booby Dupes" title derives on the Fleischer Studios' early 1930s cartoon character Betty Boop and her trademark singing 'boom-pop-a-doop.' The Stooges are fish salesmen who realize they can make more money by catching fish instead of buying through a middle man. They exchange their dilapidated car for a fragile boat. Once out to sea, the intrepid Stooges face a spiteful aggressive fish streaming water into Curly's face, and an United States Air Corps plane lobbing bombs at them thinking they're Japanese after seeing Moe waving a white rescue flag with a red paint spot in the middle. Del Lord, who also wrote the script, remembered the Laurel and Hardy 1932 short 'Towed in a Hole' with a similar plot. This was the last Stooges film to have the lady with the torch seen in the opening credits.

Booby Dupes (1945)

*** (out of 4)

The Stooges are trying their luck at selling fish but after a bunch of kittens eat their stock they realize that they're going to have to try something new. Curly comes up with an idea to cut out the middle man and instead catch the fish that they'll eventually sell. This leads the boys to buy a boat and things just don't go as planned.

BOOBY DUPES isn't the greatest films that the Stooges did but it certainly contains enough laughs to make it worth watching. The highlight of the film comes when Curly ends up doing battle against a fish who just isn't going to give up no matter what happens. There's also some good stuff at the start of the picture when the boy's car isn't working correctly. As I said, this here certainly isn't a classic Stooges short but there are enough laughs that make it work.

The Stooges' second release of 1945, BOOBY DUPES has the boys as three fish peddlers who decide to cut out the middleman by catching their own fish. They then go about purchasing fishermen uniforms and a boat. In traditional Stooge fashion, they run afoul of a jealous boyfriend (the venerable Vernon Dent), whose suit Curly has swiped, sink their boat, and get bombed by the air force, who mistakes the boys as Japanese navy men.

BOOBY DUPES has real potential, with all the typical Stooge elements, falling into place neatly. Casting Vernon Dent is always a safe bet, as he was easily the Stooges' best foil. However, his role in the short is not pivotal in advancing the plot. In fact, it could be deleted altogether. Plus, the opening scene when the Stooges are driving through the streets trying to sell their fresh fish, is a carbon copy of the same opening scene from their 1940 short, CUCKOO CAVALIERS. In that one, the boys look into owning a bar/saloon ('a beauty salune'), but end of getting a beauty salon. The results are better; not so in BOOBY DUPES. The short was filmed in late 1944, and the United States was heavily involved in World War II, and the Japanese were the biggest threat to the country. The final gag may disturb some modern-day viewers, as the boys are stranded in the middle of a huge river. They call for help, and when they spot a plane flying overhead, Moe tries to get their attention by waving a rag tied to their fishing pole. The rag has a huge blot of paint on it, resembling Japan's flag. Naturally, the plane overhead is a bomber, and proceeds to drop bombs on the Stooges' defenseless boat. Funny at the time, but a gag that did not age well.

That is not the say that BOOBY DUPES is bad. In fact, it remains one of the funniest of the later 'Curly' shorts. The scene in which the boys are trying to make heads or tails of their newly purchased boat is hysterical, with Moe on the receiving end of three very painful gags. Curly climbs into the boat (which is elevated when delivered), and promptly steps through the weak floor, squashing Moe, who is below the boat. Then, they boys switch place, as Moe climbs aboard to inspect the damage. Curly and Larry then nail a board over the hole, and end up nailing Moe's shoe the boat floor. Moe is about at his wits' end when he sees that the motor's propeller is loose. As he bends over to retrieve some tools, Curly and Larry activate the motor, and pieces of Moe's trousers go flying in the air. This scene is notable for the addition of a new CLANG sound effect that would be prominent for the remainder of the Stooges career. It can be heard when Moe clobbers Curly in the leg and face with a wrench after Curly steps on Moe.

What hurts BOOBY DUPES somewhat is Curly's lagging performance. He was only a few short weeks away from suffering a minor stroke, one that would hamper his last ten shorts and two features with the Stooges. Though Curly carries most scenes pretty well (the entire 'jealous boyfriend' scene revolves around Curly), he is starting to show signs of his slowing abilities. His falsetto voice sounds hoarse at times, and at age 40, seems more like 50. Though Curly would remain with brother Moe and friend Larry for 11 more films, BOOBY DUPES showed the beginnings of the beloved Stooge slowly losing his way.

Overall, BOOBY DUPES is a pleasant short, one that marked the end of the Stooges wartime films.

This short is pretty mixed because there are some scenes I liked and some that I didn't like. The scene in which the stooges fix the boat was great. The beginning was good too, but the fishing scene deducts the grade a bit, because it was done rather weakly and wasn't that funny. But there was a funny scene in which Larry tells Moe to shut up. It was funny because it was out of character for Larry to do that. The scene with Curly hiding from the boyfriend I really didn't like because it wandered from the plot and it was just filler because they couldn't think of anything else. Overall, I would say this is an okay short with some funny moments.

Grade: C