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One of my favorites. By this point the Three Stooges it hit their stride. One of the funniest of all time

I know that if I had a sensitive mission involving obtaining some enemy secrets at wartime, I'd entrust that mission to none other than the team of Howard, Howard, and Fine to get the job done. It's agreed they're the best men for the job.

That's what the Three Stooges have to do in Uncivil Warriors, get some battle plans from the Confederate headquarters which is in an old plantation house. Of course Moe, Larry, and Curly especially Curly aren't exactly housebroken yet to mix in that society.

Funniest scene is them eating a cake where feathers have been stuffed into the batter mix. Seeing these three coughing up enough feathers for an indoor blizzard will really tickle the old funny bone.

"Uncivil Warriors" is one of the funniest shorts that the 3 Stooges have ever done. Though "Men In Black" was nominated for an Oscar in the Short Subject category, this film could have been nominated as well in 1935. The Three Stooges displayed their greatest comedic energy between 1934 and 1937, and "Uncivil Warriors" is a gem among all of their films. The funniest scene is when the boys are masquerading as Confederate officers and Curly has to dress up as an officer's wife. But when the boys have to "produce" a child to keep up the masquerade and the child is black, that is hysterical. That was a joke that was very brave to do in 1935 - the same year that Southern theater owners didn't want their audiences to see a dance number between Shirley Temple and Bill "Bo Jangles" Robinson. Much respect goes to director Del Lord - for letting the Stooges go to the comedic edge of the universe. Also, much respect goes to actor Bud Jamison, one of the best straight men in comedy at that time. Had Jamison not passed away in 1944, he would have been very much a part of the Stooges legend. Now that television is editing all of the Stooges films for commercial time, it is better to get all of your favorite Stooges films on VHS or DVD.

Uncivil Warriors (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three Stooges are fighting for the North in the Civil War but go undercover to spy on the South. This is a short that actually looks better than anything else. The period piece actually looks very realistic with the costumes but there are a few laughs as well. The highlight has to be the scene where the boys eat a cake, which just happens to make them cough up feathers.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which includes over 20 classic shorts, all digitally remastered.

This is certainly one of the better Stooges vehicles I've watched so far, arguably lifted by its Civil War setting: the boys are Union secret agents(!) sent on a mission behind enemy lines. While the level of invention isn't up to that seen in Buster Keaton's similar THE GENERAL (1927) – and it would be unrealistic to expect it to be – it's still a reasonably sustained comical piece.

The trio's typical slapfest routine is, together with the aid of impersonation and mimicry, utilized as a means of confusing the Confederates and retrieve the information they were assigned to procure (which is summarily destroyed by Curley when he rolls the paper – used by Moe to write it all down – to make a cigarette!). The ending sees The Stooges fired out of an enemy cannon and landing on the superior officers from their own lines!