What's the Matador?

One of my favorite Three Stooges films, with my favorite of all their villains. The bit where Delores hides the Stooges from her husband is classic, especially considering that neither she nor the Stooges are actually doing anything wrong. Jose's reaction when he discovers them in his bedroom still crack me up after many viewings. The climactic bullfight is also brilliant, and even though you can see "between the lines" how the filmmaker pulled off the effects without injuring the cast, that's part of the joke and the fun as far as I'm concerned.

In April 1942's "What's the Matador?" a play on the phrase 'What's the matter,' the Stooges play vaudeville entertainers whose schtick is dressing Curly as a bullfighter with Moe and Larry inside a bull's outfit. They squeeze a gig in Mexico, but encounter a jealous husband who catches his wife Delores (Suzanne Kaaren) flirting with the three travelers. The laughs pile on when the hubby arranges a real bull to enter the ring while the Stooges are performing their act, with Curly receiving the butt end of the prank. The film parlays on the popularity of Tyron Power's 1941 hit "Blood and Sand" about the bullfighting arena with Rita Hayworth.

"What's the Matador?" features a Mexican giving a longest set of directions captured on film delivered in Spanish, totally confusing the Stooges. In essence he tells them to take a series of left and right turns before he finishes with, "There you will find a river. Do me a favor: jump into the river and drown yourself!" This movie also includes a "comedy of manners" scenario commonly found in Restoration English theatre which typically takes place in a bedroom where hidden lovers of wives slink from the clutches of outraged husbands. Here, in the couple's bedroom where the husband is napping Delores hides the Stooges, who want to exchange the luggage Jose had accidentally grabbed at the bus station. Pandemonium ensues when he awakens, ending when Jose can only gawk at the three while each emerges separately from his hiding place and leaves.

"What's the Matador?" offers a rare time when Moe refers the trio as 'The Three Stooges' while sending a telegram. Also film reviewer Stuart Galbraith notices Curly's physical downfall, stating, "one can see the earliest signs of Curly's pre-stroke personality change. It's very subtle, and while he's still quite funny, one can see little changes in his screen persona, and about here he begins to age dramatically, with lines suddenly etched deep in his face."

Larry, Curly, and Moe come up with a new matador act. Their agency receives a call from Mexico City looking for a matador. The boys travel south but their suitcase gets switched. They track down their suitcase despite a series of misunderstandings.

Siesta is stupid and hilarious. Before that, I start with Curly getting hit by the secretary. It occurs to me that he needs to get hit more by his female co-stars. Their frustration with him would be a great running gag. This is basically divided into three acts which is very interesting. The final bullfighting act has Curly doing his thing. It ends with a great Curly bit and this is great.

What's the Matador? (1942)

*** (out of 4)

The Three Stooges play a comedy act who con their way into a job in Mexico. Once there they end up making a husband incredibly jealous when they come onto his wife. Finally the trio get to perform their act but the husband just happens to be in the crowd. It seems that WHAT'S THE MATADOR? is one of the least popular shorts that the Stooges made and I can understand why some might feel that way but I've always enjoyed this one. I think you can say that there really wasn't anything too original here and it seems that the writers must have thrown this one together quickly as they were wanting to leave on vacation or something because it actually clocks in a couple minutes shorter than most in the series. With that said, the boys running into a jealous husband has always been a subject matter that I've enjoyed in the series. I thought the first run-in with the husband was hilarious and things got even better when the boys find themselves in his bedroom constantly trying to hide from him. The second half of the short has Moe and Larry inside a bull costume with Curly playing the matador and of course a real bull gets in the ring. Fans of the Stooges should find some good laughs to be had.

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!

This is one of My favorite Three Stooges shorts with Curly! All Appearing in this short are Suzanne Kaaren, Harry Burns, Dorothy Appleby, Eddie Laughton, Cy Schindell, John Tyrrell, Bert Young, and Don Zelaya! This one is so hilarious! Curly has a great performance here and in My opinion its one of his best. There is another one similar like this with Joe Besser called Sappy Bullfighters and I strongly recommend both of these classic Three Stooges shorts!