I Can Hardly Wait

I Can Hardly Wait (1943)

**** (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly are trying to split a piece of ham and an egg. Poor Curly gets left with the ham bone and after trying to eat it gets a tooth ache. The rest of this short has Moe and Larry trying to figure out a way to pull it.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT is in my opinion one of the best of the Three Stooges shorts. The film has one terrific laugh after another and some of the best gags that you're going to see in any of their movies. There are so many great moments here but there's no question that the second portion is just pure madness. The boys are trying to get ready for bed but the tooth needs to come out. This leads to a variety of violent gags where Curly has to play the victim to Moe's over-the-top ways of pulling the tooth. The gag dealing with the three story bunk bed is pure classic. Even the first portion of the film dealing with them cooking manages to get some big laughs.

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.

Another insipid Bruckman script. There is a dream sequence in this , Bruckman could ruin a ...dream. Again most of the funny bits are what Bruckman stole, this time from Laurel and Hardy and from two different films. Curly's kerchief is EXACTLY the same as Stan's in Leave um Laughing, right down to the twisting. Other gags from that film and "Pardon Us."

Why is there a dream? Nothing happens in the dream that couldn't happen without it. The dream adds nothing. Bruckman does not understand the Stooge Universe, he thinks there has to be be a reason for what they do. He also just throws in bits of orphan dialog, having nothing to do with anything, just to have someone say something. Out of no where Larry says," Hold MY head up."

Brucky writes some general situations and expects the Stooges to make them funny. They do pretty well, but it's all disjointed. The whole dinner episode is just a joke, then another one, then another one. But they don't lead to the next one. Moe blatantly puts his hand on a slice of bread.Curly spreads mustard on Moe's hand. ( "Pardon me I thout you was a slice of ham. I never saw a slice of ham with fingers." What kind of joke writing is that? If he never saw a ham with fingers, why did he think it was ham?) Curly washes a piece of ham. A spiral cut loaf of bread leads to a yodel fest? You don't need a story writer for any of that.

Somehow the Stooges keep this from being totally unwatchable, but Bruckman's presence even screwed up the title. Originally called "Nothing But the Tooth," which is in line with other punning titles, somehow it got changed to "I Can Hardly Wait" because it's a line he wrote for Curly. It's such a great line he has Curly repeat it 3 or 4 times early in the flick.

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.

"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.