Crash Goes the Hash

An excellent, hilarious short. The writing and direction was superb, as well as the performances. Symona Boniface is hilarious as Mrs. Van Bustle (she was always typecast as a rich socialite, but always did a great job carrying that role). Vernon Dent is great as usual as the Stooges boss, and Bud Jamison gives in a great last performance in a Stooge short (he died shortly afterwards due to diabetes) as the butler.

There is no real ending - just hilarious slapstick between the Stooges, and it has them at their best. The funniest part is Larry - pay attention to him in the background, while Curly and Moe are beating each other up. His reactions and expressions are funnier than the focused action going in the actual scene.

One of the Stooges' best shorts.

Newspaper editor Fuller Bull calls in his reporters. He's angry that they can't get the story while the Star Press reporters always scoop them. He mistakes Larry, Curly, and Moe for Star Press reporters. In reality, they're Star Cleaning & Pressing Co workers. Whether it's "Don't you know what bonus is?" or "You remind me of The Three Stooges." The dialogue seems to be better written. Curly Howard is simply magic. This one has big laughs from start to finish. It's also a great mix of word play, the usual physical humor, some surprises, and an interesting story.

Don't you just love it when the Stooges totally trash a high-society party? That's just one of the many crazy scenes in this one. This particular Three Stooges film might have more gags per minute than any of the many they made. It's unbelievable; non-stop lunacy, led by Curly's antics, for 17-and-a-half minutes.

It may have been near the end of the great Curly's career but he was never more energetic and full of all his physical slapstick and silliness as he was here. He did about physical bit he was famous for, from the snapping fingers on his face, to slapping his head, to all the step dances. I was exhausted after watching this guy. He was fantastic.

Symona Boniface was perfect as the rich socialite Mrs. Van Bustle. If you can't recall what this woman looks like, try to think of Margaret Dumont, the Marx Brothers foil. That's her quote at the top of this review.

Another actor who always was playing either a butler (as in here) or a crook in the Stooges films was Bud Jamison. He was hilarious in many Three Stooges efforts.

All the boys - including the now-very baggy-eyed Moe - seemed to be at the top of their game in this feature. All of them do what they do best, and many times over here in this story in which the boys pretend to be newsmen out to get a scoop.

I have no idea how many gags were in here, there were so many. This is simply great stuff: one of the Three Stooges' best films.The underrated Larry also made me laugh a number of times, with just the look on his face. I don't want to leave him out.

P.S. I never seem to get tired of the bird-in-the-bird sight gags, which the Stooges used many times. They always make me laugh out loud. Here, a parrot winds up inside a turkey.

If I had to pick a favorite stooge film, this would be it. Nonstop chuckles from the start to finish. And I also believe this to be the first time the stooges use the timeless "bird walkin' inside a turkey" gag, that would be hilariously reused in another classic "Three Dark Horses".

10/10

Crash Goes the Hash (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Here's an often hilarious short, which finds the Three Stooges being hired as reporters and their job is to sneak into the home of a rich woman and snap a picture of the Prince who is rumored to be about to propose. Of course, with Moe, Larry and Curly nothing is going to go right.

I'm a little surprised that this short doesn't have a much better reputation because it contains non-stop laughs from the opening sequence to the final seconds. There's really not a minute that goes by that doesn't feature at least one laugh and there are several very big ones scattered throughout the running time. One of the most hilarious sequences comes with the boy's cook a turkey, which comes back to life when a real bird gets inside it. Another terrific joke deals with Curly "picking up" some ice. Fans of the series will certainly love this one.