Restless Knights

Although the setting for this Three Stooges short is unusual and the costumes and sets much better than usual, it's otherwise a very typical sort of film for these folks. It begins with Moe, Curly and Larry being told by their sickly father that they are actually of noble birth and they are to go to the Queen and offer their services to her as guards--much like the Musketeers. However, when these three idiots are wrestling about as entertainment for the Queen, they don't notice that she's been kidnapped. They are arrested and only avoid execution when they are sent to find her. What follows are lots of folks being bonked on the head and people being stabbed in the butts with swords. If this is your kind of thing, you'll love this short. Otherwise, it has a lot of energy but lacks good belly laughs.

A medieval setting is the time and place for this Three Stooges comedy, not one of their best but still worth seeing. Moe, Larry and Curley as musketeers must come to the rescue of a young Queen who is abducted. The Stooges engage each other in a bizarre wrestling sequence, which is probably the standout sequence of this short. A recent re-visitation of RESTLESS KNIGHTS left me appreciating it more than I previously have. When attempting to rate so many similar Stooge films such as these, it's often difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. As a side note, Walter Brennan appears early on as the Stooges' dying father. **1/2 out of ****

As a DVD/VHS collector, the most notable aspect of this Stooges film is seeing famous movie actor Walter Brennan in an uncredited role as the Stooges father! He opens up the story with a deathbed story. Frankly, I wouldn't have known that was him if I hadn't seen his name listed in the credits here on IMDb. Looking at the movie for a second time, sure enough: it's a younger Brennan with a fake beard but the same somewhat-squeaky voice!

Anyway, this particular Three Stooges short, as someone else here pointed out, is set back in medieval times, but in all practical purposes could have been set in any time. Most of the film is comprised of several extended physical gags.

For example, there is a wrestling scene which is fairly long - just the boys showing the queen how the sport is (not) done. Most of the gags aren't all that great except for the ending when one of the Stooges is flung in the air onto the queen's throne.

The boys, by the way, call themselves "The Duke Of Mixture," "The Baron Of Brains" and "The Fife Of Drum." That sort of gives you an idea of the humor in this one: passable, but not laugh-out-loud humor..

Restless Knights (1935)

** (out of 4)

After hearing about a plot to assassinate the Queen, the Three Stooges becomes knights but trouble follows. I think this is one of the weakest shorts that feature the original group of Stooges. I think the writing is pretty lazy, which leads to extended scenes that just aren't very funny. The wrestling matches are deadly dull and pretty much kills everything that follows. Even the slapstick humor is pretty dull.

Now available in Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 classic shorts.

The Three Stooges offer themselves as musketeers at the service of the Queen of France, whose Captain of the Guards is, unsurprisingly, planning to usurp the throne. After a bright start featuring Walter Brennan as The Stooges' dying father, this soon degenerates into a lengthy but unfunny wrestling bout among the boys; luckily, it picks up again when the Queen is abducted eventually, and much of the action in the second half involves the stars contriving to get rid of her captors.

Even though little is actually done with the medieval setting, it is nevertheless interesting as a spoof of many a costume piece/swashbuckler of its day – especially "The Three Musketeers"; for the record, director Lamont would helm many an Abbott & Costello vehicle during the coming decade.