Slippery Silks

(IMO) - The well-known team of Howard, Fine, and Howard (that's Curly, Larry, and Moe) have got to be 3 of the zaniest stooges, ever, in all of movie-comedy history, bar none.

And, here in "Slippery Silks" (among all of the insults, eye-pokes, face slaps, and belly wallops) the Three Stooges find themselves unexpectedly promoted (through the wackiest circumstances) from being artistic woodworkers to that of high-fashion designers of women's clothing.... (Well - La-de-da!)

And, of course, in this surprisingly sudden career transition you can be 100% sure that the Three Stooges are gonna cause all sorts of hilarious mayhem, and whatnot, that is guaranteed to tickle more than just your funny-bone. Oh - Yes - Indeed!

The story begins with the police looking for the boys. No, it's not because they broke any laws but they've inherited a women's fashion shop...and they're trying to notify them. In the meantime, you see that the Stooges are carpenters...and they've just destroyed a $50,000 ancient Chinese box! When the police catch them, they think they're going to jail...but it's just about the inheritance.

Now that they are the proud owners of a very upscale ladies shop, the trio naturally blow it because all they understand is carpentry...and how to be idiots. See how all this degenerates into a huge fight involving mostly cream puffs...and an occasional pie.

This is pretty lowbrow...even for the Stooges. I am not saying it's bad but sometimes slapstick takes the place of laughs or plot...especially the last five minutes or so of the short. Not among their best nor worst comedy shorts.

By the way, the perception by many is that in the old days (particularly silent films days) that pie fights were relatively common. This really isn't the case and only a few films featured this gag.

The last entry in the Columbia 2-Disc Set of Three Stooges shorts is a standard affair, watchable but not exactly a classic (to be honest, very few of these, if any, were!). The boys cause havoc at a shop selling rare items, then discover they've inherited an atelier; the funniest bit is the climax, with the exhibition of their surreal models – dressed in clothes resembling furniture (complete with drawers wherein to keep their cosmetics)!

These shorts are essentially pleasant and certainly harmless – but they're not in any way on the same plane as their contemporaries Laurel & Hardy; one film of theirs I'd love to rewatch, however, is WE WANT OUR MUMMY (1939) – which I used to watch as a kid (my father owned a copy on Super 8!)...

December 1936's "Slippery Silks," the Stooges perform their first pie throwing sequence. Technically, however, their first 'tossing substance in the face" routine is seen in their earlier 1935's "Pop Goes the Easel," where the boys throw sculptor's clay at everyone. In their latest incarnation, the three are carpenters designing and building unique furniture. They soon learn they've inherited a fancy dress boutique from their uncle right after they've destroyed a customer's valuable antique Chinese miniature cabinet. Once ensconced in the new boutique, they're asked to hold a fashion show where the models display the latest in Parisian fashion. Included in the presentation are a couple of dresses designed by Larry that look like cabinets. The show is interrupted by the owner of the valuable Chinese antique the Stooges had destroyed, setting off the hysterically humorous cream puff and pie fight.

Moe Howard claimed he was the only one who threw all the pastries into the actors' faces since, he bragged, he was the most accurate thrower on the set. Over 100 cream puffs were thrown, Moe recalled. But the studio ran out of pastries, so "they had to scrape every ounce of cream off the floor, along with the dirt and sawdust, to finish the short." (Possibly a slight exaggeration on Moe's part). He stated during an interview on the Mike Douglas TV show the "studio auditors claimed I had saved them tens of thousands of dollars with my accuracy in the pie throw." The elder Moe demonstrated his pie-throwing technique to Douglas and his guest Ted Knight while the audiences howled at the antics taking place before the cameras.

Slippery Silks (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three Stooges inherit a rich silk shop but of course they manage to screw it up. The second half of this short, taking place in the silk shop, is rather unfunny, although we're treated to another food fight. The first half has the boys in a wood shop causing all sorts of damage and this is here all the laughs are to be found. Curley falling into the nails and all the gags with the glue are among the highlights.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 shorts, all digitally remastered and looking better than ever.