Roast-Beef and Movies

While Columbia is the name associated with The Three Stooges, they were originally signed by the Tiffany of studios, MGM...along with their boss, Ted Healy. But MGM had absolutely no idea what to do with these four men and placed them in some very strange films. In the Gable/Crawford musical, "Dancing Lady", they appear in some minor roles....and seem absolutely nothing like the Stooges we are familiar with today. In fact, Larry played the pianist playing for the rehearsals of the play in this film. And, because they didn't know what to do with them, they even experimented by having Curly appear in a film without the Stooges or Ted Healy! And, he's billed by his real name...Jerry Howard.

"Roast-Beef and Movies" is a strange little short film. It's unusual not just because Jerry is solo, but the film is made in Two-Color Technicolor...a precursor to full color. However, the picture, like other two color methods (like Cinecolor) doesn't give the full spectrum of colors and everything looks orange-red and green! It was very innovative but produced a rather ugly film by standards of Three- Color Technicolor which was being developed around the time this film debuted. So, there are no Stooges and the color is ugly as can be.

The film consists of a guy who is a fast-talking guy with a HEAVY foreign accent--so heavy folks might have a hard time understanding Gus Parkyurkarkus (George Givot). He brings along his two assistants (one is Curly) and tries to convince the studio chief that he is a brilliant filmmaker. Then you see clips of a lot of crappy films (such as one that looks like it was done Busby Berkeley Style...if he was really drunk) and Givot puts on such a ridiculous accent...even though he was born in Omaha! I think folks back in the 1930s thought he was funny...well, folks in 2017 certainly WON'T! He's tiresome to say the least....and sadly Curly is given very little to do. On his WORST day, Curly would have been 1000 times funnier...and he's essentially wasted.

My verdict is that this is a terrible film...but one Stooges fans and film historians might just wanna see. Without that connection, I'd score this one a 2...and with it...well, still a 2! It's bad and my 2 might just be generous as none of Givot's routine is funny in the least...and, sadly, it's supposed to be! The ending, by the way, is at least kinda funny!!

The premise is three (it would be three, ala The Three you-know-what) knock-abouts somehow wander into a film studio, overhear a film producer in a screening room say he will pay 100 grand for a better picture than his studio can produce, and produce three cans of film as their offer. There is NOTHING FUNNY about any of this. The dialogue is atrocious, pacing laborious, the acting... what acting??

Why in the world would the great Curly agree to participate in such a complete piece of garbage??? Perhaps being under contract with MGM he had no choice (?) Anything remotely 'funny' in this bore-fest is warmed-over gags stolen from The Three Stooges. Interesting only as a chance to see a stifled Curly in a Stooge-less setting.

Possibly the only outing for Curly of the Three Stooges fame in a credited role without at least one other stooge or Ted Healy, and his talents were wasted here. I had this short on in the background at first, and heard the voice of George Givot, thinking it was Desi Arnez at first with the fake accent. His line "Well, Hoooow you liiiike that?" Sounded like a catch phrase attempt, not sure if it took beyond this mess. The color tones were interesting, as we've only seen Curly in black and white otherwise. But it lacked that full technicolor look that films would soon adapt. The plot seemed very possible for a Stooges short, and made me wonder if there was an issue back then where Moe and Larry refused to work on this short, or was ,Curly trying to create his own team? There were scenes that George felt like a poor man's Moe, and the other under used stooge, Bobby Callahan was a poor sub for Larry. The uneven script and poor plotting showed how incredible the team working with the real Three Stooges were (or would become). The twist ending was again a typical plot twist from many Three Stooges shorts. An interesting piece of history, worth the view, if only to Curly, but nothing to pay for today. I saw it on a local tv station that airs public domain movies, but I would of been disappointed had I paid for this.

First off, I should point out that I am a fan of comedic shorts from this time period and after (especially The Three Stooges). This short however, I did not like.

This short follows three wanna-be filmmakers as they barge into the screening room at a major movie studio and convince the heads of the studio to watch their film.

The apparent main character, the filmmaker with a horrible Greek accent (I'm guessing it was supposed to be Greek) was annoying. I could barely understand a word he said, so if he was saying anything funny, I sure missed it.

There were a few attempts at slapstick-type humour, but they fell flat. It's unfortunate too, since Curly (here credited as Jerry Howard) is a comic genius, but is only a bit player in this short.

Most annoying though, would be the two dance sequences that are irrelevant. Why the head of the movie studio put up with these three wanna-be filmmakers is beyond me (but then you find out in an unfunny-climax, which I wont "ruin" for you).

Bottom line, this was very unfunny and quite annoying due to its irrelevant dance sequences, lack of humour, and horrible accents.

I've been a Stooges fan since like most of us, when I was a kid. Lately I've had interest in seeing some of the early stuff. This little feature can be found on the DVD for the movie Dancing Lady (also features the Stooges) and another short called Plane Nuts (again featuring the Stooges). Each feature is worth a look.

Roast Beef & Movies comes off as a pilot or idea for a different stooge group, and thank goodness it didn't fly, but that doesn't make this unwatchable, I do agree with the original review that the Greek accent is forced from the lead stooge George Givot, and they tried to establish a catch line "How'd Ya Like That" that might have been said by this guy during future shorts (He did a another short by that title as well). The other stooge was a fellow named Bob Callahan, he did a decent job.

A very young Curly is the draw here and makes this worth seeing if only to observe a glimpse of his future greatness. His voice is a little soft in this one much like "Nertsery Rhymes", I would highly recommend that one a well, if you can find it.

The dancer segments come off as strange but interesting, the troop is called the Albertina Rasch Dancers (they also appear in Plane Nuts), in each segment they show some nice close-ups of some of the dancers, beautiful young women. Amazing synchronized sequences for that era as well.

If you can find Dancing Lady on DVD check out the extras, well worth the price of admission for any Stooge fan.