Beer Barrel Polecats

When I first watched this short, I actually was enjoying the new footage and when I saw the reused footage, I was quite dissapointed and when I saw reused footage from another episode, I was even more dissapointed and I think this short is only worth for the first 5-6 minutes and I understand that Curly was ill during this time and I think that Curly was more sick than usual in this short although Curly seemed more healthier in the next two shorts 'Uncivil Warbirds' and 'Three TroubleDoers' although his condition went even more downhill in the two shorts after that.

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

One of the most hilarious Three Stooges shorts is Beer Barrel Polecats. In this short are Vernon Dent, Robert Williams, Lynton Brent, Eddie Laughton, Joe Palma, Al Thompson, and Blackie Whiteford. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent and Brent. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one to all!

Beer Barrel Polecats (1946)

** (out of 4)

Curly, Moe and Larry buy a book on how to make beer so the three put their brains together and brew a batch. Things don't go as planned and soon the three are in jail after Curly tries to sell to an undercover cop.

BEER BARREL POLECATS is perhaps the weakest Stooges short up to this point in their careers. This was filmed after Curly had suffered a number of strokes so I'm going to guess that this played a part in the final product. There just isn't too much going on in this film and there certainly aren't enough laughs to make it worth sitting through a second time. The first portion of the film contains a few minor laughs as the beer making process is a disaster but the scenes in jail are all rather weak and they don't contain a single laugh.

As other reviewers have already pointed out, the insertion of archival footage from previous mid-40s Curly shorts is what proves to be the downfall of this particular episode--which is something of a shame, since I found a lot of the new scenes to be quite hilarious; particularly the opening scenes with the stooges making their homemade brew (I'm sorry Moe, the crock skidded).

Of course, the stock footage was probably a combination of events, stemming from Curly's obviously declining health & the old thrift master Jules White showing an early affinity for saving a few dollars (something that came into greater prominence in the '50s).

This is a humourous Three Stooges short. Do not take lessons in making beer from the Three Stooges. The short drags in parts and is not funny in parts. Watch it if you haven't anything better to do. The Stooges were starting to show their age in the 1940's, and this is one of the better one's from that time.