Rhythm and Weep

This latter-day Curly short showcases mostly dancing routines and not very much slapstick. Curly is visibly wooden and sickly due to his declining health. He does get a pie in the face and takes a few hits, but that's about it. The closing sequence where the Stooges perform an army physical skit is decent, though.

This is a fair short, with Curly Howard having a good week, despite his health problems during this time. The highlight of this is Ruth White in her first feature. Her dancing is good and she proved to be a good asset to three stooges shorts. Ruth got to work with Curly , Shemp and Joe Besser. She is in the best short that Joe did with the Stooges " A Merry Mixup". Ruth became a well respected character actress on Broadway before her untimely death of cancer in 1969. Ruth was quite a talent and she shined brightly in the Stooges shorts she did with the boys ( given the material she had to work with ) And she went on to display her talents in films as well.

It's the 26th theater that Larry, Curly, and Moe have been thrown out of. The manager tells them to jump off a tall building and they decide to do just that. On the roof, they meet three dancing girls, Wilda, Tilda, and Hilda, with the same idea. They fall in love and then someone starts playing a piano nearby. It's millionaire Mr. Walsh who hires the six performers for his show. This starts a little dark. The story moves a little rough. This is one of those Stooges shorts which rely on some dancing. It's not my favorite aspect of their flicks. This is still pretty good with a late stage Curly.

"Rhythm and Weep" is one of the dozen or so Stooge entries from 1945-46 that shows Curly was not a well man. His actions are noticeably slower, as well as his speech. With this said, however, he looks and sounds better in this film than in others made during this time ("Monkey Businessmen" and "Three Loan Wolves" are examples of this).

This film is a sort-of reworking of "Gents Without Cents" from 1944. Dejected at being thrown out as performers from a theater, the boys decide to commit suicide. On top of a building they meet three beautiful dancers, who also want to off themselves for not finding work. Before they can jump, they meet a millionaire musical producer (Jack Norton) who will bankroll them into his newest production.

The film limps along with protracted musical numbers with the girls. The only highlights of the film are the Army service exam and Larry's classic line, "This I like! And I get paid for it, too!" It's also interesting to see character actor Jack Norton in a role where he doesn't play a drunk! This aside, however, the short is only memorable for being one of Curly's last performances. 5 out of 10.

Okay, with 7 other reviews, why add another one. Because for this Stooge fan, a word I never remotely associated with their work popped into my head while watching Rhythm. In my little book, this is indeed a 'charming' entry—from the wink-and-nod playing to the camera to the absolutely beautiful three girl dancers. But I especially like that sequence on the ledge where the three boys and three girls sweetly find each other more enticing than a leap off the edge, and then celebrate with a charming little dance.

Also, the typical Stooge slapstick is nicely integrated into the girls' dance numbers, especially the hep-cat number. I suspect there's more music and less knock-about because of Curly's declining health. But whatever the reason, the writers and casting director manage to compensate in charmingly unexpected fashion.