The Good Bad Egg

Joe DeRita is most famous for being the third Stooge during their full-length picture period of the late 1950s and into the mid-60s. His Stooge was nothing like the previous ones--Curly, Shemp or Joe Besser. Curly and Shemp both played weird idiots, Joe Besser a SUPER-annoying and bland guy and Curly Joe DeRita played the 'nice' Stooge.

I had no idea that before he joined the Stooges that Joe DeRita made some solo shorts with Columbia--the same company that made almost all the Three Stooges short films. I also was surprised to see that Emil Sitka also appeared in this film, as Sitka the final Stooge...but one that never made any Three Stooges films. Instead, he mostly was on hand for public appearances and television.

The story is told mostly as a flashback, as Joe explains to a friend why he suddenly has come to hate eggs. It seems that Joe has just married a lady...only to learn that she has a son she never told Joe about...and the boy is planning on coming along for the honeymoon. Talk about surprising your new husband!! to make it worse, the boy turns out to be a bit of a psychopath and a brat!

One of the big things that surprised me about this one was seeing DeRita with a very full set of hair. As a Stooge, his head was closely shaven....and here he's practically a hippie his hair is so long! The other I noticed was that unlike his later Stooge character, DeRita was actually FUNNY! In many ways, the film plays like an earlier Three Stooges film--such as one with Curly or Shemp. Surprisingly watchable....not exactly brilliant but the ending is very very satisfying.

Yes, this is a 1946 short subject featuring stooge-to-be Curly Joe DeRita. Most people will agree that DeRita added nothing to the Three Stooges and was only there because of a fleeting resemblance to Jerry "Curly" Howard. This film proves that he was never funny. DeRita is even sluggish here in his youth. He had a full head of hair, similar to Shemp Howard. He tries to imitate Lou Costello, but he just doesn't have it. As for the humor, it is the typical Jules White violence for the sake of not being boring comedy. The closing gag has Joe putting his "son" in a washing machine where lawn mower blades have replaced the agitator. Jules White at his grisliest!

I thought that this comedy short was quite amusing. Curly Joe DiRita did a stellar job as lead character. Good Bad Egg was fitting title, lead character mentioning dislike for eggs (and for chickens)! I can sympathize with him as eggs are OK with me IF prepared in way that they do not TASTE LIKE eggs! (I never was fond of sulfur, but the incredible edible egg CAN be prepared in various ways that one would not taste the sulfur.) The inventions were basically phony, first the dish washer that ruined the "wife's" best dishes, which she had worked ten years to obtain. Then the crazy inventor came up with a CLOTHES WASHER which was no good either. All in all, it was quite funny.