Fright Night

Well, there's no doubt that Shemp Howard had some large shoes to fill in the wake of Curly, but "Fright Night" in my eyes shows that Shemp was definitely the right man for the job in being the new "3rd stooge."

In fact, Shemp was so good, that it makes me wonder what the rest of the stooges career would have been like had they sought out comedians like Shemp, who had their own style instead of replacing him with guys who fit the Curly mold--short, fat and bald.

Getting back to this short, Shemp must have had a great time filming this one, seeing as how it revolved around his favorite sport of boxing. In fact, I believe Shemp himself said that this was his favorite of all his stooge films.

While "Fright Night" is not exactly perfect, I would say that the Shemp-era stooges got off to a great start and the roll would continue for several shorts after this one, and a few that were all- time classics.

8 stars

The boys are fight managers and their lone boxer is "Chopper" (who looks about 40, and as much a boxer as I am). After some early shenanigans they have Chopper do some sparring with Shemp (who isn't thrilled about doing this). To make matters worse, the pretty "Kitty" comes into the gym, Chopper is smitten and really wants to impress her...and Moe and Larry accidentally tie Shemp's right glove to the ropes.

What comes next is a massacre, but it's pretty funny. Afterward The Chopper leaves with the bimbo dame and hoods come into the gym. They represent "Big Mike" and tell the guys that their man is not going to win the upcoming fight against Gorilla Watson. "Why," they ask. "Because Big Mike said so." Then they leave and the boys don't know what to do. "We have every last cent we own bet on the Chopper," says Larry.

They decide to literally sweeten up their fighter, feeding him pies and cream puffs all day and letting him hang out with Kitty.

A few crazy things happen, the fight is called off and Big Mike and his hoods wind up chasing the Stooges all around a warehouse. In all, a decent episode.....entertaining but no big laughs. Maybe because I've seen these episodes many times for 50 years.

Shemp's appearance was his first in a long time, taking Curly's spot after the latter suffered a stroke, ending his career. I always liked Shemp, but Curly's shoes were impossible to fill.

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is one of My favorite Three Stooges shorts! This one is with Shemp! Dick Wessel performs good here as a gentleman and as rugged boxer. Tiny Brauer was great as the villain. Cy Schindell also was good. Also in this short is Claire Carleton, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Dave Harper, Sammy Stein, and Tom Kingston. There is another Three Stooges short with Shemp very similar like this one called Fling in the Ring. I strongly recommend both!

As good as Shemp is in his short-subject debut with the stooges, it seems to me that the writers and director were going easy on him in that he isn't given much to do. In fact, Moe and Larry don't have much to do, either.

Sure, Shemp has plenty of ring time in the beginning of the flick when he's sparring with Chopper. And he does his hilarious "I've got a little brother this big" bit. But throughout the movie, the action has the stooges merely reacting to what the other characters--Chopper, his girlfriend, and the thugs--are doing, rather than interacting with themselves. For me, it makes for an uninteresting show.

One exception is when Larry unknowingly bangs Moe on the head with a large piece, and then brags about it to him before Moe gets his revenge. This sort of slapstick is woefully missing from Fright Night.

And I always wondered why they named it Fright Night. No ghosts, no goblins, no mysterious houses--just a boxing match!

Shemp makes a welcomed return to The Three Stooges, though Curly's stroke was a terribly unfortunate incident. Shemp (with Moe) was one of the original 1922 Stooges (Shemp left in 1932) and here, in 1947, he shows that he still had it. "Fright Night" starts off somewhat slow but, from the night of the fight (just under halfway through the short) till the end, the short is a lot of fun, and Shemp's performance is hilarious. With his return, Shemp brought the Stooges to a more out-of-place human level, whereas Curly was pure animal. Shemp's gruff old uncle-like attitude made him much more accessible than Curly, and Shemp was also a much better actor (Curly always sounded like he was reading his lines). This short catches The Three Stooges returning to their original lineup, and the shorts were much better for it.