Three Smart Saps

Three Stooges observers rank Curly as the best dancer of any of the actors appearing as a stooge. He exhibited his exceptional agility on the dance floor in July 1942's "Three Smart Saps," the 64th short film for the trio. What's remarkable about Curly's dexterity is his left leg was thinner from a bullet than his right leg. He shot himself in the left ankle when he was thirteen, and the injury plagued him for the rest of his life. The teenager was cleaning his rifle when the gun went off, prompting his older brother Moe to rush him to the hospital, saving not only his leg but his life. He walked with a slight limp because of his thinner left leg. He learned to hide the defect by exaggerating his walk on the set. Determined to develop the muscles on the leg, he danced regularly at the Triangle Ballroom in Queens, New York, near his family's home, where he would occasionally see future actor George Raft dancing alongside him.

Curly's famous dance sequence in "Three Smart Saps," a title gleaned from the 1936 musical "Three Smart Girls" starring Diana Durbin, was part of an undercover investigation by the Stooges. They had discovered their fiancees' father, a warden at the penitentiary, jailed by the mob. After several attempts to get themselves embedded in jail, the three simply walked in and found the future father in a cell. He tells them about the mobsters converting the prison to a hotel with a nightclub and gambling casino, and hands them a camera to film the evidence. Securing formal clothes to gain entry to the nightclub, the Stooges begin scoping the joint before actress Barbara Slater asks Curly if he rumbas. "Only when I take bicarbonate," answers Curly. "Yuk. Yuk. Let's dance anyway." The nearly six-foot Slater towered over Curly, but he made up for the discrepancy by gyrating in step with the music. In a later Charlie Chaplin movie, 1947's "Monsieur Verdoux," Barbara Slater used her height advantage by playing a florist who eavesdrops on Chaplin's character as he phones his next victim. While dancing Curly's attire begins to separate in the seams. He seeks stitching help from Larry, who, in a rare moment in Stooges' filmography, gets drunk behind the curtain guzzling a hidden stash of liquor. Scriptwriter Clyde Bruckman, later sued by comedian Harold Lloyd for stealing one of his movie ideas, was at it again in "Three Smart Saps" by writing the dancing seam-unraveling skit which was similar to Lloyd's 1925 silent "The Freshman."

Three Smart Saps (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly arrive at the home of three daughters who they plan to marry but they learn the wedding has been called off because their warden father is now behind bars like a criminal. In order to marry them the boys must break into prison and try to get the girl's father out of trouble.

If you're a fan of the Stooges then there's no question that you're going to find enough good laughs here to stay entertained. The film has a lot of quality moments with the majority of them coming in the first half as the boys try to get themselves arrested. The certain highlight of the movie comes when Larry and Curly try to throw some large rocks through a window not knowing that it's actually unbreakable. Of course Moe has to pay for it. The second half of the film has the Stooges inside the prison where there's a funny dance going on and of course all sorts of slap-happy violence follows.

The Stooges are excited because in five minutes they are going to be married. Upon entering the house of the three ladies, who must all be sisters, they find the girls weeping. They have to call off the wedding because they just found out their father was framed and put in jail. He used to be the warden but the tables, unfairly, were turned. Their plan is to get arrested so they get inside the jail and rescue the ladies' father, or at least get evidence of the corruption.

This really wasn't a very funny Stooges short, but there were a few good lines and so I'll quote two from Curly and make a few other observations.

"We're not ordinary people; we're morons." "My, you are a most unusual dancer. Thank you. I come from a family of dancers. My father died dancing....on the end of a rope."

I did enjoy Moe's pronunciation of "fiancee;" the baseball-type pennants on the dance hall wall that say "Joliet," "Alcatraz," "Sing Sing" and "Leavenworth," Moe calling a guy in a tuxedo "pelican."

I never realized how short all three of these guys were until they were on the dance floor. Even all the women were taller than them!

This is one of the more significant Stooges shorts, due to the hilarious and famous unique dance sequence, primarily focusing on Curly and the gorgeous former model, Barbara Slater. The sequence involves an extremely silly Rhumba number, which is comical in and of itself. During the takes, Barbara Slater looks like she's going to crack up at Curly's antics, so many of the shots appear to have been cut early (I'm assuming she did). This was a common problem for Curly's female co-stars, most notably, Christine McIntyre. The rest of the short is typical Clyde Bruckman fare, with a great cameo played by Bud Jameson. Ironically, there were very few Stooges shorts to feature dance numbers. This one was one of the best.

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!

One of the most different Three Stooges shorts is Three Smart Saps. In this short are Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, John Tyrrell, Eddie Laughton, and Victor Travers. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent and Jamison. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one to all!