The Hot Scots

Larry, Moe, and Shemp are amateur detectives. They come to Scotland Yard to answer an ad for Yard work. It turns out to be real yard work as they are hired as gardeners. A paper is blown away from a detective's desk and the boys mistake it as an assignment for them.

The Scooby Doo factor is very high as the boys run from people pretending to be apparitions in a Scottish castle. The bad guys are using masks and fake paintings. Of course, this comes before the Scooby gang. One of the reasons why Scooby is successful is that it has elements of the Stooges. This is as good as a Shemp Stooges is going to get.

I like this one and this is one of My favorite ones with the Three Stooges! I think Christine McIntyre was as good always! All of the actors were good which included Herbert Evans, Charles Knight, Jimmy Logan, Theodore Lorch, and George Pembroke! I like the spooky theme of this one like some of the Three Stooges shorts! It has a good mystery to it! The Stooges especially Moe are hilarious in Hot Scots! One of the funniest parts in the short is when Moe and Christine McIntyre were dancing and she was giving the Earl's treasures to Theodore Lorch in disguise! One other part in it is when the Stooges introduce themselves to the Earl and Shemp is getting knocked on the head by Moe's cane! The Stooges Hot Scots is a hilarious spooky Three Stooges Short! Like some other spooky type Three Stooges shorts this is a great Three Stooges short to watch over again around Halloween time!

I wonder if McDonald's restaurant sponsored this film, if the business was around back then, because in one scene, they seem to call everything Mc-something!

This is a film where my favorite of all six stooges, Shemp can be seen at his funniest. Curly would be my favorite, but I think he's a little too silly. As the film begins, you see three men with beards, hats and pipes approach the desk of the top man at Scotland yard. The man asks, "What can I do for you gentlemen?" Moe answers, "Before we answer that, I want to prove we're not gentlemen!" The three men peel the fake facial hair off and Moe helps Shemp peel some of his. This reminds me of the Curly Stooges film with they went to Egypt in search of the mummy of King Rootin-tootin. They first appeared in an American museum disguised much the same way, except they wore false faces on the backs of their heads. (You must have seen it to know what I'm talking about.) Anyway, after getting their assignment in a way they never expected, the fun really begins. They go to Glenheather Castle in Scotland and run into three criminals, one is the lovely Christine McIntyre, who may very well be the best soprano I've ever heard. She doesn't sing in this short though (darn!). A really funny part is when they meet her before they knew she was one of the crooks and the owner of the castle. Larry (or McLarry) asked her, "And what might your name be, lass?" She replied, "Perhaps you've heard it. It's Lorna Doone." Shemp (or McShemp) extends his hand to shake and says, "Hi, Lorna. How ya doone?" Moe or (McMoe) raps him on that hand with his cane. This is one of my very favorite Shemp Stooge films. You may want to grab some Mcnuggets and Mcfries for this one!

This is one of the very best Stooges shorts with Shemp. I had to write this to correct a reviewer who wrote, "I would like to try out Ted Lorch's great line, 'The E-r-r-r-r-r-el will see ye noo!'"

Ted Lorch ("McPherson") did not say that line; Charles Knight ("Angus") did, and he later ended the scene in which the Stooges are shown to their room with a very menacing, albeit obviously tongue-in-cheek, "If you need anything, just WAIL!" and then laughs (intentionally or unintentionally, we'll never know).

The title of this review comes from an early scene in which the Stooges are picking up the "missing papers" in Scotland Yard's back "yard." When he hands the apparent last piece of trash paper to Moe, he says, with a sigh of relief,"If there's another piece of paper in this yard, I'll eat it." Of course, at that exact moment,a gust of wind carries a piece of paper from the inspector's desk out his open office window, and, as it slowly floats downward into the yard, Moe cracks, "Here comes your lunch."

I also thought the Stooges' introduction of themselves to the Earl was hilarious. First Moe says,"He's MacLarry; he's MacShemp; and I'm MacMoe." Then they vigorously shake hands with each other while exclaiming,"Hiya, Mac. Hiya, Mac. Glad to MacMeet you."

It blows me away that Christine McIntryre never became what we now refer to as an "A-list celebrity." She had it all: She was gorgeous. She had marvelous comedic timing. And, of course, that angelic voice.

"The Hot Scots" was an excellent short from beginning to end. Shemp seems very open to abuse since he takes a lot of it in this one. The fright scenes are hilarious. Edward Bernds once again does a great job in directing. One of my favorite stooge exchanges is in this one. Also, the stooges being gardeners in the beginning was quite funny.

Grade: A+