Rhythm and Weep

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.

"Rhythm and Weep" begins with the Stooges being thrown out of a theatre for having the worst act on the circuit, while the theatre manager suggests they commit suicide...so they agree! Funny stuff, huh? They decide to jump off the ledge of a building. But there encounter three beautiful dancers who are also planning on killing themselves. A laff riot so far! Also on the roof is a man who claims to be a filthy rich Broadway producer who can't find a cast, which leads to their salvation. But anyone who can't figure out the punchline the first time the "producer" laughs maniacally should watch Westerns instead. This short shows Curly at his sickest; his timing is gone, and he is virtually incapable of performing the slightest comedy shtick. As a result, most of what would have been Curly business is shifted to Larry. The three dancers are fine, despite the club-footed choreography, but the short over-all has the appalling stink of one of those "Lets-Put-On-A-Show" wartime "Our Gang" comedies. If you love the Stooges, avoid this one like the plague.

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.

Curly, Moe and Larry are 3 unemployed actors looking for work. After they are thrown out of the 26th theatre, they decide to take the bouncer's advice to "climb the tallest building and jump off!" Before they do, Curly decides to have a big cream pie, "so I can di-gest right." Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Moe splats the pie in his face, and the Stooges go to the top of a tall building. There, the Stooges meet 3 beautiful girls with a dancing act. They are Hilda, Wilda, and Tilda. The boys pair off, and kiss the girls-- they decide not to leap. Then the Stooges and the girls do a hilarious dance number when someone starts playing the piano. The pianist turns out to be a potential sponsor, and asks them if they are musicians. Larry says, "Oh sure-- I play in 5 flats, and get thrown out of all of them." This short has more dance (with the girls doing ballet, and the Stooges in drag) and less slapstick than their 1930s films. The Stooges also do a skit about the Army, perhaps leftover from their WW II material. This short marks the screen debut of beautiful Nita Bieber (the "watch my figure" girl)-- her next appearance was in the Bowery Boys movie "News Hounds" (1947).

Rhythm and Weep was a good stooge short during the 1945-46 era when Curly's health was declining, this wasn't one of Curly's better acting shorts of the era but Moe, Larry, the piano player and the girls did a great job, the best part is when Curly falls off of the building and when Moe constantly gets smacked in the face by Larry and Curly's instruments and when the piano player doubles their salary, they find out that he's a mental patient from the cuckoo's nest, if you love the Three Stooges, then you'll like Rhythm and Weep but I wouldn't recommend this short if you're expecting a great performance by Curly but he was definitely better than If a Body Meets a Body, Bird in the Head and especially Three Loan Wolves.

8/10 stars