I Can Hardly Wait

The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry and Curly) are defense workers who have just come home after a long day at the plant. Oddly, the fact that they are working for the war effort is NOT explored in this film--it sure looked like it would be when the film started. I guess they just had this element in the story to make the film more patriotic and timely due to WWII. Soon, the real plot of the film is evident--Curly has a bad toothache and needs his tooth pulled. Considering that this is ALL the plot the film has and that about 80% of the film takes place in their house, the overall effect is amazingly claustrophobic and simple. Some on IMDb have said this is among their best. While I would agree that the gags work pretty well and it's enjoyable enough, the plot and locale prevent this from being a truly memorable film. Still, it does feature Curly, and this is always a big plus.

"I Can Hardly Wait" is one of the best Three Stooges short subjects ever. Lots and lots of laughs and slapstick comedy in this one. Moe, Larry, and Curly are perfect here, making me laugh out loud like they did in many of their other films. Oh no, the stooges sleeping in another triple bunk bed? I think anybody who has ever watched The Three Stooges automatically knows what's going to happen when a triple bunk bed is featured. I don't even have to say it. I'm sure everybody knows the final result. Hilarious.

This is without a doubt the funniest of the Curly shorts and probably my all-time favorite 3 Stooges short. The one liners that Moe throws off in this one are classic! The first time I saw this one it left me laughing my head off. Some of the abuse that Larry and Curly take in this one leaves the viewer wondering if they did not receive some real injuries. Stooge trivia books, though, said Moe perfected his hand slap on his fellow Stooges. There is one funny moment where you can tell a fall was taken by Curly Howard's stunt double (as was the case in many other features). If you have not seen this one look for it on cable or buy it on video. I guarantee you'll watch it time and time again as I have over the years.

As a kid, in general, the Three Stooges (four if you count Shemp, who had his great moments in spurts) were like the wise-old sages of everything that went with good comedy. Sometimes they went for satire (like their anti-Nazi shorts 'You Nazty Spy' and 'I'll Never Heil Again'), but for the most part just went for the best, repetitive things about going after one another. But what's also forgotten though is that, when done on repeat viewings (and this short in particular has been seen by me over 20 times in my lifetime), the dialog also rings of a certain wit that seems to go at something even smarter to compliment the physical stuff. It's stupid, of course, but it isn't dumb-stupid; my parents would often crack up just as much if not more. The Stooges had good writers, and a short like 'I Can Hardly Wait' is a bit of proof of that.

Moe, Larry and Curly basically break into a kitchen to get a late night snack for themselves (just cooking is hilarious, like with the bit of business with a certain missing ham), and during an attempt to eat a ham-bone, Curly gets a collision with his tooth. It then leads to his fellow Stooges having to devise ways to get the tooth out, which leads to a climax the following day at the dentist's office. It's one of the funniest of any Three Stooges climax, as the slapstick is sort of saved for more of the inspired, even intricate lunacy parts leading up to it (like Curly's reaction to Moe in the dentist's chair). I don't know if it's really the 'best' Stooges short, as it would be difficult to classify one as such. But it is one of the funniest, if only from a point of view of a certain sentimental attachment. It's goofy, but it doesn't pander to either adults or kids. In a way a short like this, among others, can be even better family entertainment than the tripe animated or new-slapstick films released in theaters. On top of this, it isn't even much dated- the idea behind a toothache is omnipresent, even if technology may have by now crept up to the dentist's office.

My favorite part, by the way, is the little song Curly sings as he cuts the bread- priceless.

Moe was in a particularly ornery mood as seen in the Three Stooges' previous film, August 1943's "I Can Hardly Wait." Writer Clyde Bruckman dipped into his treasure chest of Laurel and Hardy classics and found 1928's 'Leave 'Em Laughing,' which he changed to open with the three arguing during dinner time. Curly feels he's getting slighted by handed just egg shells and the bone in a slice of ham rather than hardboiled eggs and the ham meat. Biting into the bone cracks one of Curly's molars, sending him to the dentist. A mix-up at the dentist has Moe's tooth pulled out instead of Curly's. The film's title derives from Curly's repeated lamentations about his sore tooth during the night as Moe and Larry, in a triple-stacked bunk bed, try to get some sleep.

References on WW2 permeate throughout "I Can Hardly Wait," with the three as employees of the Heed Lock Airplane Corporation, a play on one of the United States' largest defense contractors, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Also, in a Curly dream sequence, Moe tells the dentist, Dr. A. Yank (Bud Jamison), after a sleepless night listening to Curly's painful complaints about his tooth, "Listen, doc, we're defense workers. If you wanna cut down on absenteeism, yank this guy's tooth! He won't let us sleep, he's sabotaging the war effort!" This short film uses one of the most minimalist sets in the Stooges' portfolio, with just a kitchen, a bedroom, and a dentist office. This harkens back to the comedy team's live vaudeville days where the three performed on the stage with just simple props and furniture.