We Want Our Mummy

The Three Stooges capitalized on the rejuvenation of horror movies by appearing in their first scary movie, February 1939's "We Want Our Mummy," directed by Del Lord. This time the Stooges are employed as private detectives who are hired to locate a kidnapped college professor, who knows the whereabouts of Egyptian King Rootentooten. Hiring a cab, the Stooges travel to a remote desert spot in Egypt where they've traced the professor, only to come across the tomb of the ancient pharaoh. The thieves are lurking nearby, which, in order to escape, the trio decide to dress Curly as the mummy. As the gang leader searches the prone Stooge who's mummified under wraps, he comes across a newspaper. It's headlined "Yanks win World Series" detailing the New York Yankees sweeping the Chicago Cubs in the 1938 series, a rare acknowledgement in a Stooges' film of an actual sporting event. "Can you beat that!" says the gangster, to which Curly replies, "Yeah, and I won five bucks," blowing his cover.

"We Want Our Mummy" marked the first time in a Stooges film where a bad guy is disguised as a monster. This is also the first time Curly is heard chattering his teeth in a metallic sound as well as shaking like a dog after coming out of water-this from a well inside the tomb.

We Want Our Mummy (1939)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Classic Three Stooges short has the boys playing detectives who are given the case of going to Egypt and locating the mummy known as King Rootin-Tootin. A museum will pay $5000 for him but what the boys don't know is that there is a curse with it. This here is pure madness and ranks as one of the best Stooge shorts out there. Everything people love about the Stooges can be had in this short as we get a great storyline, classic laughs and some terrific dialogue. There are many highlights here but one classic scene has Curly accidentally smashing the mummy and having to be wrapped up himself to try and fool some bad guys. Another great moment is when Moe looks through a telescope to see the desert but he ends up seeing something else. There's really not a dry moment anywhere in this film as it gets started with some great laughs and just keeps getting funnier as it moves along. As a die-hard horror fan I'd also go out on the limb and call this one of the best mummy movies ever made. It's certainly a lot better than many of the spoofs out there that deals with the mummy creature.

A silly but definitely-a-lot-of-fun Three Stooges short, in which they wind up in an underground tomb looking for "King Rootin' Tootin.' Along the way, they find his wife "Hotsie Totsie." Yes, there were a lot of corny lines in here but some of them are genuinely funny.

Chase scenes with the Stooges are usually fun to watch, and that's the case here with "dead people" chasing the boys around the sandy place. Mummies, ghouls, and just plain thieves/kidnappers from New York are all involved in this comedy-crime-adventure. It's just pure goofy entertainment.

Even Curly turns into a mummy! Well, he's wrapped by Larry and Moe to look like one....with predictable-but-hilarious results. Hey, that "disguise" was nothing compared to the boys' "detective outfits" at the beginning of the show!

It seems everyone here is in agreement: this is a great Three Stooges film.

Moe, Larry and Curly are three detectives. They go to Egypt to find the mummy of king Rootin-Tootin and of course things are not as they seem and do not go as planned. Some very nice moments, even the predictable moments are funny, make this a great funny short from the Three Stooges!

This is an excellent Stooge short from 1939. Curley was still at his prime now. Only a few years later will show is illnesses. There are so many priceless expressions from Curly in this short especially when he hears this echo on his own voice 2 times and the third time the echo's voice from Moe's! There are some really good stunts in this short as well. One with Curley's stunt person falling backwards into the well and then towards the end, the three villains all fall into the well at once. Great to see Bud Jamison and James Morton. Real good sets too....lot's of lifelike Egyptian features. Trivia: 1952 was not a kind year for some of the cast. Curley Howard, Dick Curtis and Eddie Laughton all died in 1952. All in all this is a classic Stooge short highly recommended for a couple of good laughs. You can now find in on Hulu.com and watch it on your computer. All in all this short is great fum from 70 years ago