Spook Louder

The 3 Stooges (no matter what the trio consisted of) were some of the most gifted actors/comedians ever to hit the silver screen and this short is all the proof I need. Related in flashback, the Stooges are travelling salesmen who are rejected by one homeowner after another until they finally come across a spooky inventor's mansion who enlists them to keep an eye on the place while he steps out. No sooner do the Stooges agree when a group of spies break in disguised as frightening spooks. Each hair-raising (and hilarious) encounter the Stooges experience tops the other and the action hits its peak with its explosive, bomb-throwing (and pie throwing) finale. Fans take note: Curly is also at his funniest in this short particularly when he takes down the morse code message (Moe: "What'd it say?" Curly: "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh...."). Another Stooges short guaranteed to have their fans rolling in the aisles!

The Stooges land in a haunted house where ghosts are throwing pies! This has got to be the most insane comedy they have ever done! I have watched this for years as a kid, and now as an adult I am still laughing as it is sooo outrageous! Lew Kelly as the nutty professor (Dunkfeather!) tells a reporter the weird tale of how "strange things" were happening in his house. The bad guys, all dressed in Halloween costumes, make it more hilarious as Moe, Larry and Curly are scared out of their wits in almost every scene. Curly steals the show (doesn't he always?) thinking a balloon on a string attached to his coat is a mad ghoul. The face on the balloon is a hoot! There's a lot of running around and yelling and it's so much fun to watch. WATCH OUT FOR THE FLYING PIES!!! Recommended for Stooge addicts, and you will be addicted! Get the dvd box set.

Scriptwriters for the Three Stooges dug deep in their memory holes to dig up comedy skits of the past to give the comedy team material to work with. Early film historians can trace some of the Stooges' brilliant routines from past movies. A prime example is April 1943's "Spook Louder," set in an old dark house where the boys are scared every second by disguised enemy spies dressed in Halloween costumes intent on capturing a top scientist's 'Death Ray.' Film reviewer Dave Sindelar notes, "The Stooges had a way of packing a whole movie's worth of gags into a seventeen minute short, and this one is great fun." One of the key mysteries in "Spook Louder" is why and who is throwing pies at the Stooges and the professor who relates the tale to a reporter of the trio's adventures. Diligent research reveals the answer to the mysterious pie throwing can be traced to the 1931 Mack Sennett comedy, 'The Great Pie Mystery,' with Harry Gribbon and May Boley. Writer Clyde Bruckman, who had a habit of modifying older movie gags for the Stooges, was credited for adopting the pie-in-the-face gag into the story of their night in the inventor's house. Coincidentally, Del Lord directed both the Sennett film and "Spook Louder." The Stooges open "Spook Louder" as weight reduction machine salesmen who knock on the door on the house of an inventor who's planning to drum up interest of his a 'death-ray' machine to government officials in Washington, D. C. His butler answering the door is played by actor Charles Middleton in his only Stooges' film. Fans of the "Flash Gordon" serials will recognize him as Ming the Merciless. Meanwhile the inventor is acted by Ted Torch, who played the High Priest in the same Flash Gordon serial. The inventor asks the three to housesit for the weekend while he's away in D. C. That evening, three spies, intent on stealing the machine, go about scaring the Stooges. Writer Bruckman sketched the gag showing Curly unknowingly tethered to a balloon with a face drawn on it. The balloon, hooked onto the back of his sweater, frightens everyone he meets, a skit taken from Harry Langdon's 1929 comedy film "The Big Kick." The movie is also the first to show Moe's hair rising when scared.

The Stooges are hired by a wacky professor to watch his mansion. He apparently is working on a death ray and is worried the Japanese* want to steal it. As soon as he leaves, all sorts of weirdness happen in the place...with someone trying to scare them off by dressing like a skeleton and more. And, oddly, throughout the film pies come flying from out of nowhere! It's all very goofy and silly...which is exactly what most Three Stooges fans love. While it is far from being an intellectual film, it does have its moments.

By the way, if you do watch this one, note the butler. He's played by Charles Middleton--the same tall guy who was Ming the Merciless in the Buck Rogers serials.

*First, the US was at war with the Germans, Japanese and Italians....so why worry just about the Japanese? Second, politically correct sorts won't like the use of the term 'Japs'...which is used repeatedly.

Spook Louder!Its a great one to watch around Halloween time.I love what happens in the house.The clocks and noises in the house are very funny.I think this is a great one and its so good to watch over and over and over again!