Blanca Nieves y los Tres Chiflados

I suppose The Three Stooges were getting a little fatigued by the time they did their work in SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES because they're less exuberant than usual, in fact you might even say their slapstick is much more restrained. But this is good because Fox never intended this to be a showcase for them--rather, it introduces Olympic Skating Champion Carol Heiss and features Edson Stroll doing a nice job as Prince Charming.

Walter Lang did the directing and he's given an A budget on which a lot was obviously spent on costumes and settings, so from a strictly pictorial viewpoint the film is pleasant to look at in stunning technicolor. Gorgeous PATRICIA MEDINA has fun with her role as the wicked Queen who disguises herself as an old hag.

Just to make sure Miss Heiss' ice-skating is not totally ignored, they've given her two big production numbers and both of them are skillfully filmed and performed in winter wonderland type of settings.

Fans of The Stooges may be disappointed, but actually this is not a bad re-telling of the fantasy using a totally different approach. The four songs are rather unmemorable but this is merely a pleasant enough diversion for young folks.

If you, like most of the critics, were expecting to see a comedy, forget it! The Stooges, in their only color film, tried to do it straight and I think they succeeded. They were starting to get a bit older at this time, and I think they wanted to show the world that they could act and carry off a beautiful fairy tale. Sure, there are some funny spots... but this is an adventure, with romance and fantasy thrown in for good measure. Carol Heiss and Patricia Medina are excellent as Snow White and the Queen/Witch. Nice wide screen photography, FX, and action. THIS IS A GOOD FILM!

It would seem that I agree with about half of the other reviewers of this film. It HAS been unfairly blasted by Stooges fans because the emphasis is on the fantasy and not on the slapstick humour of the much-beloved trio. Personally, although I enjoyed their antics as a child, I was never a fan of the Stooges and would never put them in the same class as Abbott and Costello, for example. Nevertheless, they prove in this film that they are not bad actors at all. The sets and opulent costumes boost this film considerably, as do the presence of the very dark, traditional elements of European folklore, and I think this movie would have been a GREAT fantasy film if there had been seven dwarfs in it! I would agree that Carol Heiss is not a very good actress, but the character of Snow White does not call for the use of great thespian skills. I think that Patricia Medina makes this movie: she is gorgeous and exudes delicious villainy as the Queen/Witch. She was the major draw for me when I watched this film as a child. Guy Rolfe, as Count Oga, is also very effective, and the siege on the castle well-mounted. Fantasy film fans are bound to like this better than Stooges fans.

No, this is not your usually Stooge fair. I grew watching them on Saturday afternoon. I was 9 years old when this movie came out. I thought this is going to the stupidest movie ever and ruin the Snow White story. I live in Central Florida where there was a drive-in movie every ten miles. We went to the movies once a week. I saw the movie and surprised that I liked it. I and my children like this movie. No it is not great Stooge comedy or great acting. I still like the movie and watch it from time to time. It is entertaining, pleasant, and no cursing. I like the skating sequences, they much to the movie and my enjoyment of it.

Based on IMDb ratings I would give a 5 Star rating.

Though nothing as memorable as the musical score from Walt Disney's animated Snow White comes out of this film, this children's story has one thing the other doesn't have. Well three things actually.

Instead of seven dwarfs to serve her exiled majesty in the forest, Snow White has Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe at her beck and call. Snow White And The Three Stooges was a film especially designed to make Olympic ice skating star Carol Heiss, the Sonia Henie for a new generation. It didn't quite work out that way for Heiss who got to show her stuff on the ice through an imaginary dream ice ballet. You can also plainly see that other than some establishing shots during that sequence it's not her less ice talented cast members in the ballet with her.

Of course the Three Stooges are up to their usual monkeyshines. In those last years of feature films with Curly Joe, it was a kinder and gentler Moe slapping the other two around. I well remember in the late Fifties when WPIX started running those old Stooge shorts from Columbia there were many complaints about how violent they were, that little kids were imitating Moe doing all kinds of nasty things to their littler brothers and sisters. I think Columbia had them tone it down a bit in those last years.

Edson Stroll who later served on the PT-73 with Ernest Borgnine and the rest of that crew in McHale's Navy makes a stalwart Prince Charming. And Patricia Medina and Guy Rolfe as the villains are feasting on all the scenery available, but it's those kind of parts and they both look very happy. As for Carol Heiss as Snow White, she was a great figure skater and might have in a few more films become competent as an actress as Sonia Henie did. But she preferred the ice to the soundstage and probably was happier for it.

Snow White And The Three Stooges is a nice charming filmed fairy tale and it's for Stooge fans of all ages.