jimtinder

"They Stooge to Conga," The Three Stooges' first release of 1943, has earned the reputation of being the most violent film in their 24-year short subject span. True, the film is violent, sometimes to the extreme; however, the violence is short-lived, the Stooges are not permanently hurt, and the end result is mayhem and mirth of the first order.

A careful comparison of "They Stooge to Conga" with their 1936 film "Half-Shot Shooters" offers proof that "Conga" is not their most violent film. In "Shooters," arms are broken and eardrums are busted. In "Conga," Moe gets his scalp, eye and ear poked with a climbing spike. While cringe-worthy in itself, this violence is not long lasting, allowing the viewer to relax and enjoy the unfolding comedy.

Give "They Stooge to Conga" another chance. Look past the critical analysis that condemn this film's violence and just enjoy it as another Stooges wartime farce. 7 out of 10.

"Warlock Moon" offered B-movie suspense, coupled with a small budget. The film was made in my hometown of Livermore, CA in 1972, but was held from release until 1975 because of reasons already commented upon by another poster.

The premiere was held at the Vine Cinema in Livermore. As I recall, the theater was packed with teens, mostly from the two high schools in town (Livermore and Granada). It was on a double bill with "The Other." Girls screamed in horror throughout the film, although in hindsight the film had little horror. One teen got tired of the screaming, and told the audience to shut up, which brought some laughs.

It was interesting to see scenes of Livermore on the screen...the public library, the abandoned TB center, the old Vineyard shopping center. If you grew up in Livermore in the 70s, you might remember this little film.

"Musty Musketeers" combines new footage with the 1948 Stooge film "Fiddlers Three." With this remake, a few elements of the storyline are smoothed out, and an entertaining sword fight replaces some of the original film.

The Stooges are living in Cole-Slawvania, around the time of King Arthur. They want to marry their sweethearts, but cannot wed until Princess Alicia, daughter of King Cole (Vernon Dent) marries first. The Stooges stumble onto a plot by the evil Mergatroid (Phil Van Zandt) to marry the princess and take over the kingdom.

In this hybrid remake, the Stooges are not court jesters, as they were in "Fiddlers Three." As such, the songs they sing at the beginning of the original film are sadly edited out. In their place, however, is more story exhibition showing the Stooges and their fiancées. A fun sword fight makes up the extra new footage, and seeing Shemp bite Mergatroid's nose is hilarious!

It is often amazing to see how smoothly the new footage of the Stooges was placed into earlier films. Director Jules White deserves much credit for this. Sets were meticulously redone, sometimes five to seven years after the original sets were constructed. Wardrobe is to be credited as well; the Stooges and Phil Van Zandt appear to wear the same costumes in the new footage as they did six years earlier. The Stooges should be credited as well; except for a little extra baggage under Moe's eyes, the Stooges don't appear to have aged at all!

The seamless addition of new footage into the old, along with the fun sword fight, makes "Musty Musketeers" one of the better hybrid remakes. Although "Fiddlers Three" is available on DVD, "Musty Musketeers" is not. See it if you get the chance, though. 7 out of 10.