Scrambled Brains

One of the greatest Three Stooges 2-reelers. Hell, one of the best comedies by anybody. Shemp is a very sick man, suffering from nerves, hallucinations & who knows what else. Moe & Larry can't afford to keep him in a sanitarium, so they have to bring him home to cure him.

Of course, the fact that Shemp suffers from hallucinations leads to some very hysterical moments, the best of them being that he envisions this homely nurse (to put it mildly) as a shapely blonde who he intends to marry. And there's a piano playing session that doesn't end well. Some other funny bits include Shemp's reactions to swallowing his liquid medicine, Emil Sitka as the screwy doctor who examines Shemp and of course, the immortal phone booth scene with Vernon Dent.

How anyone can watch this short & not laugh is beyond me, Shemp fan or not. Funny is funny and "Scrambled" delivers big time. A definite 10 stars.

Although were not told specifically why a recently released Shemp was temporarily institutionalized, it may have been the accumulation of his many years of receiving physical and mental abuse by Moe, this however sets the stage for one of the best Stooges short of the Shemp era (approx. 1947-1955).

Shemp carries this short with a variety of gags, many of which don't appear to be rehashed as by 1951 the creative juices in the writing department were running a little dry.

One exception being Shemp viewing some things a little different from Moe and Larry so to speak, but this time it involves the attractiveness of his love interest (not whether she is a real girl or a big bird) and a couple extra pair of hands. BTW, Shemp can play a mean piano especially when getting a helping hand or two.

This short is NOT a remake of any other Shemp or Curly short which undoubtedly contributes to its uniqueness. Vernon Dent and Emil Sitka provide great foils for the boys. If your a Stooge fan, do not miss this one!

Even back in the 1950's, socialized medicine was an issue, especially psychiatric medicine. Here we have poor Shemp, institutionalized in a sanitarium, and Moe and Larry are forced to withdraw him because they can no longer afford the hospitalization. Ah, the pathos! Apparently though, they can still afford Shemp's medication, as we see him popping pills like crazy in the opening reel. Whether this medicine has side effects, or is just plain ineffective, we don't know, but we do know Shemp hallucinates like mad. He imagines Babe London, his nurse, as a shapely blonde. Of course Babe, blacked-out teeth and all, is no dummy. She's not about to let a great catch like Shemp get away, hallucinations or not. Just the same, it's best she's not in the scene when Shemp imagines he's grown two extra hands whilst pounding away a lively jazz tune on a piano. By the way, the look on Shemp's face, just before realizing he has four hands, is priceless. It doesn't last, though. He goes into utter hysterics, pounding Larry's and Moe's heads while ranting like a lunatic. Yeesh! The best part of the short is when Vernon Dent, bedecked in a ten gallon hat, interacts with the Stooges in the usual way, in a phone booth, no less. He's Babe's father who has arrived in town for the impending nuptials. The final scene gives us round two of the Vernon Dent-Stooges fracas, where we see that Babe inherited her strong and independent will from her great uncle Jack when she grabs Shemp out of the fracas, hoists him over her shoulder, and hums the wedding march. She may not be much for looks, but she knows what she wants and she takes it! I know there's an allegory here in all this, but I haven't figured it out yet. Do you want a deep, complicated, thought-provoking Stooges short? Brother, this is it.

Even if you don't agree with the summary line, it's hard to argue the greatness of this 2 reeler. Shemp, suffering with hallucinations & delirium falls in love with Babe London(never has there been a more ironic name). The first reaction shot of Moe and Larry seeing Babe is a 4 star moment within itself. More hilarious mayhem ensues at home, Shemp can't swallow his pills then has an adventure with a piano playing session. The granddaddy of all comedy moments is the phone booth scene where the stooges get jammed in the phone booth with Vernon Dent. It's truely priceless. If you're sitting around waiting for AMC to get this short, don't bother. Run out to the video store and snap this baby up.

Shemp is mostly the showcase for this bizarre outing who is suffering severely from hallunications, so much so that he thinks his ugly nurse Nora (Babe London, a successor to Dee Green, who always played ugly characters in the Shemp shorts) is a beautiful angel. The great supporting performances by Emil Sitka as a near-sighted German doctor and Vernon Dent as Nora's hot-headed father adds a lot of belly laughs to a typical Jules White-directed short.