Três Sujeitos Piramidais

MALICE IN THE PALACE is probably Shemp's best and most popular short. I can't say it's number 1 on my list, but I'd make it number 5. The best scene is when everyone thinks Larry is chopping up cats and dogs in the kitchen.

My Rating: A++

The writers of the Three Stooges over the years really loved to use corny names. Check out the ones here: "Ginna Rumma, Affa Dollar, Hassan Ben Soba, the Cafe Casbahbah, the Emir Of Shmow," and more. For instance, check out the names on a map shown late in the film.

Anyway, this Arab-flavored story turns out to be a diamond heist story with the boys trying to capture it while disguised in Santa Claus suits. Yes, it's as absurd as it sounds! Actually, the main part of this film - almost half of it - is the restaurant bit with the thieves (and two Stooges) thinking they were eating the house cat and dog. Those comedy bits are hilarious especially when Larry and Moe "pet" their food or try to bite into it.

My favorite face in here is Frank Lackteen, one of those tough-looking mugs with the bony, scarred face that would be perfect in an Al Capone gangster film. In real life, he was a Lebanese man who played a lot of bit parts for many years on TV and in the movies, beginning way back in the silent film era.

By the way, note the "trivia" on the title page here under "Fun Stuff" to read an interesting comment about the deleted scene with Curly in this film. Kind of sad, but I'd like to have seen what he looked like.

Overall, this is very entertaining even if much of the material had been used before in various forms.

There are some pretty funny gags in this Three Stooges comedy, and they generally make good use of a deliberately far-fetched, silly setup. It has a couple of slow stretches, but the high points easily make up for them. Most of it relies on standard Stooge gag ideas, with a couple of gags borrowed from other sources and one or two new ideas thrown in.

It starts off with Moe, Larry, and Shemp as the staff of a restaurant in which Vernon Dent and two other heavies plot a diamond robbery. The first part of the movie takes place there, followed by a wacky sequence in which the Stooges attempt to recover the diamond.

The restaurant sequence combines some slapstick with an extended gag that uses a dog and a cat. This gag goes on too long, especially for an idea that was not entirely new, and it mostly ends up slowing things down (although there are other viewers who have found it entertaining). The last part is mostly physical comedy, most of which is done with good timing and an appropriate sense of the absurd.

Overall, it's too uneven to be considered among the best Stooges comedies, but the highlights certainly make it worth watching.

When looking through the video 'discount bin' the next time you go shopping, you'll probably notice a tape saying "Three Stooges Classics" or something like that. No matter the design of the sleeve, and no matter what company manufactured the video, there is about a 99% chance that this video will contain the following episodes:

Disorder in the Court, Brideless Groom, Malice in the Palace, Sing a Song of Six Pants

Yes, these are the Three Stooges episodes that somehow slipped through the fingers of our friends at Columbia Pictures, and have found themselves in the ranks of Public Domain Films. I received copies of these episodes when I was nine or so, mainly because they were the most affordable, and I watched them quite possibly 50 times. Nowadays, when I see an episode of the Three Stooges, I tend to think its juvenile and unfunny. But these four episodes still make me chuckle. Are they funny because they're public domain, or are they public domain because they're funny? I guess it's one of those chicken/egg questions.

Malice in the Palace is one of the all-time greats. It's almost impossible not to laugh in the scene where everyone is convinced Larry is chopping up the cat and dog. And just like any Three Stooges episode, loaded with plenty of puns and lame jokes, and pokes and slaps galore. 3 1/2 stars.

One of the better written and directed shorts with Shemp. Actually, the Shemp shorts up to about 1952 are pretty consistent as to quality. It's been written that a version with Curly was filmed, or planned. This makes sense, as it would free up Moe, Larry, and Shemp to react as a trio to Curly, who plays the A-type personality in charge of fixin's. It seems that all that remains is a single lobby card photo with a mustached Curly in a chef's costume. One source says that a complete Curly version exists alongside the Shemp version, but has never been shown. I am mystified that there isn't more interest in the alternate version. I hope to contact Columbia pictures and request it, as it appears that the original shorts will finally be released on DVD. Thanks!