G.I. Wanna Home

In G. I. Wanna Home," the Stooges are honorably discharge soldiers, and are looking forward to marrying their sweethearts and living in a comfortable home. Felix Adler's script capitalizes on the housing crunch thousands of returning service members faced after World War Two. Jules White again was in the director's chair minimizing Curly's dialogue and scenes while lengthening Larry and Moe's collaboration. Larry took Curly's place when he climbs a tree to fetch a bird's nest full of eggs, The Stooges, frustrated they can't find any reasonable housing, had set up an outdoor household in a nearby field before a farmer plows the whole thing down.

"G. I. Wanna Home" illustrates how far Curly's health had disintegrated from the time he was perfectly on top of his game in the 1930s and early 1940s. He's tasked with cleaning and peeling potatoes, a trademark stunt in the kitchen he had adeptly handled in the past. Here, Curly is slow, seemingly going through the motions with the potatoes. He does show some spark during the March 1946 filming when he's hitched hauling a car carrying Moe and Larry and their fiancees along with all their furniture. Curly suddenly stops and says, "If I'm going to work like a horse, I'm gonna eat like one." He proceeds to whip out a huge Dagwood sandwich and munches ravenously on it. And he does excel in the final scene where the Stooges find a tiny one-room apartment cramming all six into the confined space. Naturally Curly climbs up to the top bunk with Larry and Moe below him before it collapses. He's hilarious as they all struggle to extract themselves out of the catastrophic situation. Such scenes gave hope to Moe and Larry that Curly could get back his genius he was well-known for.

I love this stooge short. The only sad thing about this one is Curly's condition was declining at the time, and Moe had to help him with most of his lines. When Curly was filming "Half Wit's Holiday" (his 97th short), he suffered a stroke and wasn't even seen in the last part of the film. This is something that really made me mad. It would've been better if they wouldn't have replaced "Hoi Polloi" with "Half Wit's Holiday" and just made "Three Little Pirates" his last stooge short. It must have been hard for Moe and Larry to film the last part of "Half Wit's Holiday", especially for Moe, because for those of you that don't know, Curly is Moe's younger brother. *Hats off to Jerome Lester Horwitz (Curly)*

Larry, Curly, and Moe have been discharged from the military and are returning home to marry their girlfriends. They find the girls crying after being thrown out onto the streets. The guys can't find a place to rent and end up laying out their furniture in an empty lot.

I like a lot of this. I like the imaginary home in the yard. The boys are fine but it's not their best effort. More can be done with the girls. I like crossing the threshold but the girls disappear after stepping into the other room. They just vanish. I was also expecting something funnier about the house. The triple bunkbeds are fun but what about the other room? It could be funnier if the other room opens up to something wacky. The ending is lacking in finale. There is another two minutes to finish off the premise.

This is one of Curly's last Stooges shorts, and it's more than evident by watching this that he was very, very ill. He had lost a lot of weight, his reflexes were slow, his speech was halting and he didn't have the spark and mischievousness that his fans had come to expect. He was in such poor health that it was actually discomforting to watch Moe and Larry slap him, kick him, and do all the things to him that were funny in his previous shorts, but due to his ill health it looked uncomfortably like they were beating up a helpless old man. The plot, about three ex-GIs coming home from World War II and discovering that they don't have a place to live and can't find anyplace that will take them, is somewhat topical--there actually was a severe housing shortage immediately following WW II--but the short itself is stiff and stilted, mainly due, I think, to Curly's slowed-down reactions due to his health. The "old" Curly comes to life for a minute or two when he is preparing "dinner" for the three of them in the backyard they're living in, but otherwise this short is the beginning of the end of Curly's career, and it's sad to watch.

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!

I think this Three Stooges short is a very good one and really is an underrated one in My opinion. Judy Malcolm, Ethelreda Leopold, and Doris Houck are in it. Also there are appearances by Symona Boniface and Al Thompson. The Stooges are very good in this one. Curly is very different and very funny as well. There are many hilarious things in this one. If you are a Three Stooges fan watch this one!