Disorder in the Court

I've been a fan of the Three Stooges shorts since I was a kid and I've seen them all. The ones with Curly are usually the best but there are some with Shemp that are equally as good. After Shemp, forget it; the shorts with Curly Joe are just plain awful.

Disorder In The Court has everything you need in a Three Stooges short. At 16 minutes long it's chocked full of gags, jokes, puns and slapstick.

The funniest scene is Curly taking the oath to tell the truth before he takes the witness stand. This routine is a genuine classic and it's funny no matter how many times you see it. Curly also has some great pratfalls in the courtroom as he attempts to hop over a railing. There is plenty of eye gouging, face slapping and ear pulling for even the most seasoned Stooge fan.

(I have to throw in that if you like horror films check out Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy with its numerous references to the Three Stooges, of whom he is a big fan.)

Five nyuks for this one.

Even with periods of dementia and depression, my 88-year old mother remains discriminating about which videos merit both her close attention and her laughter. Family members try to select compatible, bright-spirited films for Mom (from family situations, animal stories, musicals, comedies, and international intrigue), while weeding out offensive sex and violence. An area of trial and error has been Slapstick Comedy, which produced mixed and sometimes disappointing results -- all pies in all faces are not slam-dunk belly laughs -- or even condescending smiles. Complex, sophisticated, or subtle humor may be difficult for Mom to process at this stage in life.

Initially, she did not respond well to recent viewings of The Three Stooges -- in a lucid state, her more traditional values carry over. With earlier cultural and social restraints prevailing, she remembers the guys as silly goofs. But in current showings, she laughs openly - sometimes to a point of tears - at the zany antics of Moe, Larry, and Curly (only "Home Alone (1990)," brings out as much unrestrained laughter). It could be inferred that, when dementia erodes Mom's inhibitions of long standing, she is more relaxed and laughs easier (or, maybe she has developed a liking for The Three Stooges). Hopefully this simplistic discussion is neither insensitive nor disrepectful in suggesting that any form of happiness - free of tensions and uncertainties - is preferable to debilitating depression.

We have purchased several Three Stooges full-length and short feature DVDs, together with other slapstick comedies. "The Three Stooges Go Around The World In A Daze (1963)," a full-length parody of Jules Verne's book / Michael Todd's film, "Around The World In Eighty Days" scores high on my mother's laugh-meter; but her favorite is "Disorder In The Court (1936)," a short feature film, with Moe, Larry, and Curly at their classic best -- memorable routines of a comedy form that can only be described as, "Dear God, please don't ever let me see my children behave like that in public."

Aging is a one-way journey, often difficult; and taking The Three Stooges along with you will make it a much looser and happier ride. A slap, poke, gouge, kick, or scream from Moe, Larry, and Curly can't be all bad -- can it?

Before I begin, i'd like to give a message to this chowderhead fellow.

Dude, get a life, this whole gimmick that you hate everything you've reviewed here is really pathetic.

With that out of the way, I must say of all of the Curly Shorts, this one is the funniest (with Punch Drunks coming in a close second). His "take off your hat" routine always has me in stitches. I recomend this short to any Stooge fan who has unfortunately never seen it or to any person who just wants to laugh!

other recommended Curly shorts: Punch Drunks, Violence is the Word for Curly, Three Little Pirates, and We Want our Mummy

Disorder in the Court is truly one of the funniest shorts The Three Stooges ever made. The timing and delivery of the jokes was pure perfection for Larry, Moe and Curly. Some of the "special effects" were pure hilarity, such as the scene where Larry flings the bow from his violin, removing the stenographer's toupee.

This short is truly a testament to brilliance of their slapstick. Almost 70 years later, and The Stooges are still being televised and sold on video and DVD.

For anybody that wants to familarize themselves with the Stooges, or for any fan that wants 20 minutes of unstoppable laughter, Disorder in the Court is perfect.

Why Columbia Pictures chose to let this classic fall into public domain while maintaining and renewing its ownership of "Woman Haters" is truly a mystery to me.

The result of Columbia Pictures' not-so-wise logic is that this short has been appearing and reappearing on budget videos and later on budget DVD compilations, usually coupled with "Brideless Grooms" (which was pretty good) and "Malace in the Palace" (which was OK).

This comedy short is truly a classic. The slapstick is non-stop and it is impossible to say who really stole the scenes.

Was it Curly when he took the stand? ("Raise your hand, take off your hat, put your hand here") Or was it Suzanne Kaaren, with her million dollar legs? (Yes, she really had her legs insured for a million dollars.) The Stooges also show off their musical talent which translated to musical comedy. (Did the late great Spike Jones get his idea from this film?) A laugh riot for all...