Roast-Beef and Movies

Gus Parkyurkarkus (George Givot) and his team (Curly Howard, Bob Callahan) are starving filmmakers. They barge in on a film studio executive meeting. They show their really bad short film. Then they show a couple of dancing girl shorts which are edited from other movies as well as another bad Parkyurkarkus short which seems to be him commenting over a film clip.

This has Curly with two other guys. I don't recognize these two. It's not the Stooges, but it feels like a pale imitation. There is limited physical comedy and the writing isn't snappy. There are way too many clips from other movies. The twist ending comes out of nowhere. It's still nice to see Curly, but there is nothing else here.

Possibly the only outing for Curly of the Three Stooges fame in a credited role without at least one other stooge or Ted Healy, and his talents were wasted here. I had this short on in the background at first, and heard the voice of George Givot, thinking it was Desi Arnez at first with the fake accent. His line "Well, Hoooow you liiiike that?" Sounded like a catch phrase attempt, not sure if it took beyond this mess. The color tones were interesting, as we've only seen Curly in black and white otherwise. But it lacked that full technicolor look that films would soon adapt. The plot seemed very possible for a Stooges short, and made me wonder if there was an issue back then where Moe and Larry refused to work on this short, or was ,Curly trying to create his own team? There were scenes that George felt like a poor man's Moe, and the other under used stooge, Bobby Callahan was a poor sub for Larry. The uneven script and poor plotting showed how incredible the team working with the real Three Stooges were (or would become). The twist ending was again a typical plot twist from many Three Stooges shorts. An interesting piece of history, worth the view, if only to Curly, but nothing to pay for today. I saw it on a local tv station that airs public domain movies, but I would of been disappointed had I paid for this.

"Roast-Beef and Movies" (1934) is notable for being the only film wherein Jerry "Curly" Howard acts without at least one other Stooge also being involved. But he doesn't really do a lot here and seems woefully out of place. He's shown as being part of a trio, but he doesn't seem to belong with the other two guys at all.

The dance numbers (left over from other films) do little beyond dragging things out, and their presence here makes no sense. Remove these and what you have left is still a bit dumb, but probably not much worse than the typical comedy fare of the era.

Bottom line: If "Curly" wasn't involved, there would be no reason for anyone today to be watching or talking about this short.

This was a rarity found on the Dancing Lady DVD. It's a very lame short of interest only because it's the only one to feature Curly Howard of The Three Stooges without his brother Moe or Larry Fine. Instead, his co-horts are George Givot who seems to speak in a bogus Greek accent and is the leader and Bob Callahan who only lived a few years after this film. They're "producers" trying to impress a studio head. Oh, and I have to mention this is in two-strip Technicolor and includes a couple of musical numbers meant for other movies. Since they were both filmed in the early talkie era, the stillness of shots makes both numbers quite static except for some overhead shots and not very interesting to watch except for historical purposes. So, really, I can't recommend Roast-Beef and Movies except as a curiosity.

I've been a Stooges fan since like most of us, when I was a kid. Lately I've had interest in seeing some of the early stuff. This little feature can be found on the DVD for the movie Dancing Lady (also features the Stooges) and another short called Plane Nuts (again featuring the Stooges). Each feature is worth a look.

Roast Beef & Movies comes off as a pilot or idea for a different stooge group, and thank goodness it didn't fly, but that doesn't make this unwatchable, I do agree with the original review that the Greek accent is forced from the lead stooge George Givot, and they tried to establish a catch line "How'd Ya Like That" that might have been said by this guy during future shorts (He did a another short by that title as well). The other stooge was a fellow named Bob Callahan, he did a decent job.

A very young Curly is the draw here and makes this worth seeing if only to observe a glimpse of his future greatness. His voice is a little soft in this one much like "Nertsery Rhymes", I would highly recommend that one a well, if you can find it.

The dancer segments come off as strange but interesting, the troop is called the Albertina Rasch Dancers (they also appear in Plane Nuts), in each segment they show some nice close-ups of some of the dancers, beautiful young women. Amazing synchronized sequences for that era as well.

If you can find Dancing Lady on DVD check out the extras, well worth the price of admission for any Stooge fan.