Horses' Collars

Film historians note the Golden Age of The Three Stooges began in 1935 and lasted through 1941. It was during this time the comedy team released what has been regarded as a series of short films that have all been deemed as classics. This period began in January 1935's "Horses' Collars." The tale involves the three as detectives who are sent out west to rectify a matter of injustice for their agency's client who sees her ranch being taken away by a murderous thief. The 18-minute short was the first of 17 movies the Stooges play in a Western, a genre Moe always hated since he dreaded wearing cowboy outfits.

"Horses' Collars," originally titled 'Horse's Asses,' marked the only movie Clyde Bruckman directed The Three Stooges. Bruckman, who co-wrote some of Buster Keaton's most brilliant silent movies as well as serving as a gag writer complimenting Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd classics, saw his promising career hampered by his excessive drinking. His comic imprint is noticeable in the never-ending hilarious scenes showing the Stooges' attempts in recovering the IOU their client needs to protect her ranch. The dance hall sequence especially stands out where the three are constantly picking the rear pockets of those they bump into as they try to get that IOU. As in 1934's "Punch Drunk," Curly gets excited by an external force that saves the day for the Stooges. This time it's the sight of mice that sparks his fits of craziness, where only a certain brand of cheese will calm him down. Moe claims Curly gets this way because his father was a rat. Trouble is, the three cheeses he demands, roquefort, camembert and limburger, all have a strong odor that can knock a cow over.

I wanted to put "Moe, Larry.... Cheese!" on the headline but I see everyone else did already. Can't them blame; that's the appropriate title to this very funny Three Stooges film.

Curly has some great lines in here and is almost the entire show. Whenever he sees a mouse, he goes berserk and punches out everyone in sight. He only stops when the boys stuff a certain kind of cheese down his mouth. As funny as those scenes are, it's his comments that really made me laugh in here. He has some great put-downs here, but gets away with them.

The story is a typical Stooges one in which they go out west and save a woman named "Nell." The writers must have thought that was only name ladies had back in the Old West. Anyway, Curly and the boys defeat "Double Deal Decker" and the rest of the baddies in typical fashion, which means in a goofy-but-funny manner.

One of my all-time favorite Stooge comedies. The boys are private eyes trying to help their client, Nell, retrieve her "i.o.u." from Double Deal Decker. Whenever Curly sees a mouse he goes crazy, and the only way to calm him is to feed him cheese. This situation happens several times in this short, usually when the boys find themselves in a tense situation with Double Deal Decker.

What I'm reviewing here is the fifth in The Three Stooges' short film series they made for Columbia Pictures. In this one, they are detectives sent to retrieve an I.O.U. from a bad guy so pretty woman Nell won't lose her ranch. While that's basically it for the plot, there are also many classic scenes of Curley (as his name was spelled at the time) going berserk whenever a mouse appears and Moe and Larry have to provide him with certain kinds of cheese in order to calm him down. It's a good thing whenever that happens though because plenty of deserving punches happen to the bad guys that provides many of the genuine laughs here. I also loved the scene involving shooting coins down not to mention the comic dancing in between. Not a great short but Horses' Collars should provide plenty of fun for die-hard Stooges fans.

Larry, Curley, and Moe are bumbling private detectives hired by another P.I. to help his client Nell Higginbottom in danger of losing her ranch. Her father had signed a $10k IOU to Double Deal Decker who set him up and killed. The boys need the steal back the IOU which is supposedly kept on Decker at all times. Due to previous incident, Curley starts swinging when he sees a mice and only stops when he eats some cheese. I don't know if the mouse-cheese thing gets done in other Three Stooges flicks. I can see this as a great way to give Curley his own spinach. It's a fun bit.