Gents Without Cents

This is a wonderful example of the boys in their prime. It's quite different from most of their shorts in that it has a healthy amount of straight vaudeville and variety numbers, as opposed to an intricate storyline. They're down-on-their-luck actors who get a lucky break and end up going to Broadway. It was a hackneyed plot, even in 1944.

What makes this special is seeing the boys' authentic vaudeville routines showing that they not only could bonk each other around but also sing and dance. Their harmonies are handsome and their movements deft. Vaudeville is a lost art form and it took tireless, multi-talented people to pull it off. Speaking of talent, the addition of the dance team Flo, Mary, and Shirley provides even more life to the short, with their amazing acrobatics (and good looks). And this is one of the few stooge shorts where the ending actually makes sense and ties in with the rest of the story.

One needs to remember that in 1944, the world was at war, and a lot was needed to keep the morale up at home. This short is an example of that: singing, dancing, acting, and jokes aplenty make this a wonderful way to document how the country was feeling back then. And if you can relax and allow the stooges to showcase more examples of their creativity than just slapstick, you'll have an enjoyable ride.

"Gents Without Cents" is another funny Three Stooges short film featuring the Three Stooges at their very best. The Three Stooges were at their best when Moe, Larry, and Curly were together (I never cared much for the films featuring Shemp or any of the other stooges that starred opposite Moe and Larry). Curly was the real deal in these Three Stooges short subjects, and "Gents Without Cents" is living proof of that. Here, the stooges play actors who act like burlesque comedians trying to find a job. They do find a job, along with three female dancers (and gymnasts), and are forced to put on a show. Uh oh, did Curly just say Niagara Falls?

"Gents Without Cents" on the surface may seem like another Stooge comedy for an indiscriminating audience, but underneath it emerges as one of their finest comedies of the World War II period.

The Stooges play entertainers trying to get a booking with promoter Manny Weeks (John Tyrrell). They meet up with three ladies who also have an act. Can they all convince Manny to give them a shot in his show?

"Gents Without Cents" includes two classic Stooge routines. The first is when they audition in Manny Weeks' office. They do their "rat-tat-toodle-toodle-day-day" song and show that they were capable of more than slapstick. Second, the film features their all-time classic "Niagara Falls" routine.

It is interesting to note that "Gents Without Cents" was filmed without the "Niagara Falls" routine. The scene with their "Niagara" performance was meant for the 1943 Columbia feature "Good Luck Mr. Yates" but was edited out of the final print. Luckily, the scene was saved and was inserted into "Gents Without Cents" seamlessly when the rest of the short was filmed in mid-1944.

It is wonderful to see Curly in great form here, handling his lines and scenes with precision. When the Stooges made another "variety" film in 1946, "Rhythm and Weep," Curly had had a stroke and the results were not the same.

"Gents Without Cents" stands out among a crop of generally weak 1944 Stooge shorts. 10 out of 10.

One of the better stooge shorts from a period when the quality and budget of their films was declining, "Gents without Cents" will forever be immortalized for the boy's rendition of the old vaudeville staple "Slowly I Turned" (a.k.a. "Niagra Falls"). Here they collectively essay a role that most reflects what they really were -- seasoned comic players who managed somehow to bring verve and added dimension to timeworn and/or second-rate material. Their performance of this old skit is definitive.

Incidentally, I have always wondered if it was strictly coincidental that Abbott and Costello revived "Slowly I Turned" in the same year, 1944, for their MGM romp "Lost in a Harum". I don't know the answer, but it would certainly please Moe Howard (who intensely disliked Abbott and Costello) to know that the version in "Gents without Cents" is considerably better than Bud and Lou's.

Gents Without Cents (1944)

** (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly are practicing their act when the people above them keep making stuff from the ceiling fall. The boys go up there for a fight but are happy when they see that it's three women doing a dance act. Soon the six are trying to get on a talent show.

GENTS WITHOUT CENTS has to be the least entertaining Stooges short up to this point. Throughout the running time there are a few slaps, punches and eye-pokes but there's really not too many scenes that even attempt for laughs. The majority of the running time is devoted to a "show" that the boys put on and there certainly aren't any laughs here. Then you've got the girl's act, which is the most entertaining thing here.