Cuckoo on a Choo Choo

Larry and Shemp are living in a stolen railroad car. Lenora won't marry Larry until Shemp marries her sister Roberta first as dictated by family tradition. All Shemp does is get drunk. Railroad investigator Moe tracks down the stolen railway car. He's actually been searching for Roberta who turned down his marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Shemp is hallucinating a giant canary.

This one stands out a little more with the canary and the skunk. They do plenty of gorilla suit characters, but this is a giant canary-man. It's a surreal ridiculous sight. It's weird and I like it. It's mildly humorous. The skunk is also unusual. They used a real skunk at times. I think they can de-sense the skunk, but it still smells.

This is well known as one of the most controversial Stooges shorts. Some say it's the worst they ever did, while others defend it. What most agree on, however, is that it's really STRANGE.

I don't think it's particularly good or bad. In fact, I find it somewhat reminiscent of earlier Stooges shorts that satirized things that people today may or may not be familiar with. "Men In Black", "You Nazty Spy!" and "I'll Never Heil Again" were similarly satirical, and (more to the point) similarly surrealistic and plot-less. It also anticipates the different-in-a-not-so-good-way features of some Besser shorts, showing once again that Besser didn't make the Stooge train head downhill -- he merely hopped onto it when it was already heading that way.

Still, some parts did make me laugh -- at least parts near the beginning involving Shemp. The line "Horrible, but I like it!" was funny. So were the weird music & sound effects whenever someone took a drink -- or at least they were funny until they'd happened too many times.

The weirdest thing is the imaginary canary. The most nonsensical thing is Shemp, finding himself in trouble, calling out "Moe!" as in some other short -- but in this one Moe's character is some stranger he's barely noticed! The most unfunny thing is the blond lady, whose loud, annoying crying and running away didn't always have a coherent motivation. Then again, there isn't much coherent about this one anyway. And maybe there doesn't have to be.

CUCKOO ON A CHOO CHOO is a very bizarre Three Stooges short. The gags are all rather silly and dumb other than genuinely funny, and the Stooges act stranger than usual here. I think it's one of the worst ones I've ever seen, and I never was a fan of the shorts that have the boys playing different characters. That comes off too forced and drama-like.

Grade: D-

That appears to be the general attitude regarding "Cuckoo on a Choo-Choo". This episode draws a great stir among stooge-heads, pro or con. Myself, I'm on the "pro" side. The weirdness of the "imaginary canary" doesn't seem to farfetched if you keep in mind this is a Three Stooges comedy and the fact that once Moe gets on the train, the regular dynamic of Moe bossing the other two around, quickly settles in. I would recommend any stooge fan watch this short and see for yourself what side of the fence you may fall on. Grade: B+

I must be one of the few people that likes this short. I guess you have to understand what The Stooges are making fun of here. This film makes fun of A Streetcar Named Desire, hence the reason Larry is trying imitate Marlon Brando and the torn T-Shirt, and Harvey, which explains Shemp seeing and animal no one else can see and Shemp imitating James Stewart when he is talking to the canary. Coincidently, Victoria Horne who plays Roberta in this film appeared in Harvey. My favorite gag is when Larry tells Moe, "If you don't want to lose Roberta, you'd better play ball with me." I guess this is 50's slag for You better Listen to me. Then after that, Moe whips out a ball and he and Larry toss it at each other. Although there are better shorts, this one is ok.