User reviews

Most Stoogephiles consider this to be the best Stooges short bar none, and they're right. Curly is a scream dressed up in drag as "Senorita Cucaracha", and Moe and Larry are in top form as "Senor Mucho" and "Senor Gusto", respectively. Christine McIntyre's beautiful operatic voice is given full rein--she actually was a trained opera singer--and it's wonderful. The great Gino Corrado is hilarious as a pompous Italian singer terrorized by the Stooges at a society party. Some truly funny gags, good direction and very tight editing make this rise to the very top of the Stooges' prolific output. What's even more amazing is that Curly was having severe health problems at the time, and in several of the shorts he made during this period, you can see that he is obviously ill; his timing is way off, he speaks very slowly and haltingly, and has trouble getting around. Fortunately, his health was in an upswing when he made this film, and it shows. Classic Stooge comedy, and enjoyed by even non-Stooge fans (I had a girlfriend who couldn't stand the Stooges, but even she laughed at this one). A must-see.

Micro-phonies is a classic Stooge short. The guys are inept repairmen working at a radio station, and during some horsing around in a broadcast booth, Curly's perfect mimic of a recording of "Voices of Spring" is mistaken for the real thing, leading to a radio contract and a zany musical party. The trio's mock rendition of the quintet from "Lucia de L'Amamore" is especially entertaining. No doubt this is essential viewing for Stooge fans.

Although the evidence of Curly's failing health is visible in his face and voice, his performance is amazing, and it is probably the last glimpse of the old Curly. Some fans think that "A Bird in the Hand" is the last great Curly short, but his coarse voice and slow movement are just too difficult to watch.

Larry, Curly, and Moe are workmen connecting a radiator in a radio studio and are confronted by an angry Signor Spumoni. Alice Andrews auditions for Mrs. Bixby under a stage name, Alice Van Doren, to avoid family disapproval. The Stooges play around in the sound booth lip-sync to Alice's recording. Mrs. Bixby mistakes Curly for her new singer and invites the boys to her party. Alice is at the party as a family friend. Signor Spumoni is also there. This is actually interesting. The story has a good narrative flow and a villain. It also has the Stooges' classic slapstick. It all works together very well.

This is one of my two or three favorite Stooges shorts, and undoubtedly Christine McIntyre's best performance with the trio. She is good in a number of other shorts, but here she is absolutely brilliant. Her singing is not funny at all, in fact it is downright beautiful, but the plot is constructed in such a way that the singing enhances the humor rather than detracting from it. We listen to McIntyre sing the entirety of Voice of Spring no less than three times, but it never gets old, partly because we don't tire of her voice, and partly because it blends so well with the Stooges' antics. The use of operatic soprano in a comedy is reminiscent of Kitty Carlisle's role in the Marx Brothers' "A Night At The Opera," but the singing is much more a part of the comedy here than in "Opera," and McIntyre (perhaps more in other performances than here) exhibited a comedic talent of her own that Carlisle never did. The Stooges' buffoonery, McIntyre's singing, and a well-constructed plot combine for 5 out of 5 stars.

This three stooges flick is at a tie with my other favorite flick "Disorder in the Court". This is an uproar of laughter for any Three Stooges fan to enjoy.

The boys are janitors at a recording studio when they hear the lovely Christine McIntyre sings a great version of "Voices of Spring". She is going to be offered a record deal, but she is scarred to be honest with her father about her choice of a career and prove herself as a real singer. When she and the others leave the studio, the stooges decide to have a little fun and play her record and dress Curly up as Christine. The contract lady who can make Christine's career, sees Curly and mistakes him for Christine and invites Curly to sing for her party. Of course there is a man that they have upset that is at the party and they destroy his solo in front of the crowd, so he'll find a way to get back at them.

What a great stooge flick, this should not be missed!

10/10

At some point in late 1944 or early 1945, Curly Howard suffered the first of what was to be a long series of strokes. Due to this, his ability to function and to perform varied widely from day to day and week to week. Always-protective brother Moe insisted he check into a hospital, where the younger Howard was diagnosed with acute hypertension, obesity, and eye problems. He had also been a heavy drinker for years. The doctors (and Moe) insisted that Curly rest; as a result, the Stooges cut back production in 1945. Over the next two years, Howard's abilities varied greatly; the comedian often appeared sluggish, and many scenes had to be shot repeatedly. Nonetheless he made 16 more shorts in the interim, until a massive stroke on the set of "Half Wits Holiday" ended his career in early 1947.

Fortunately for Stooges fans, Curly was near the top of his game for "Micro Phonies," because it is one of the best that the trio made. With new director Edward Bernds at the helm, the film is put together well, with a good mixture of slapstick, music, and dialogue.

Observant viewers will notice that Curly is lip-syncing most of the actual words to "Voices of Spring" (which was actually sung by Christine McIntyre). The Italian aerie that Gino Carrado is trying to sing as the boys throw cherries into his mouth is "Vieni Sul Mar." And during excerpt from the recording of the Sextet from Lucia, while there is considerable clowning around,, you can actually see Larry and Curly lip-syncing many of the correct words of the their parts of the aria --- in Italian! This isn't surprising to Stooges fans, as all three were known to be perfectionists who took their craft, slapstick or not, seriously.

It should also be known that Moe was a good bass-baritone singer who was in casual quartets. Larry was a studied violinist and pianist, but he wasn't known as a singer.

Overall, "Micro Phonies" is one of the better Stooges works, and it deserves a look if you find it on TV or the internet.

This is without a doubt the funniest of the Curly stooges shorts. I've seen it dozens of times and it always makes me laugh. Hilarious pantomime sequences. A perfect example of "musical comedy". Even people who don't like the knuckleheads remember this one fondly.

If Back to the Woods isn't the best Stooge short, this one is. The Boys pull through "Together" on this one. One more big laugh. The Boys pose as Opera singers where Curly is the enchanting Senorita Cucaracha. It's a hilarious ride from start to finish filled with air-borne fruit, sword fights, and a pipe beaten boss (i.e. watch Larry mistakenly hit the boss with a pipe and then haul). HA HA HA!! Go Larry. This entry was made in 1945 and look for Curly's weakness in his voice and movements. Moe and Larry really pull him through this one to make it the best series entry, but it's fair to say Curly was out of his prime here. After this entry and "3 Little Pirates" the Boys were never the same. Granted, they were still funny (with Shemp) but were never again like this.

Bottom Line: The Best Stooge of them all. 10/10

The boys are working outside a recording studio when they hear "the voice of an angel." That would be Miss Van Doren, auditioning and going under the name of Miss Andrews because her father doesn't approve of her being a "radio singer". However, she hopes a certain big-wig, Mrs. Bixby, a friend of her dad's will hire her, and then he will have to give his approval.

She leaves but within minutes the boys are running amok in the studio causing havoc and having other musicians out to kill them after they ruin the recording session. Finally things calm down. "Whew, we eluded them," says Moe. "Yeah, we got away, too," answers Curly.

The boys then fool around in the studio, put on Miss Van Doren's record and Curly gets dressed in women's clothes and pretends he's singing. Mrs. Bixby walks in, is impressed and hires "Seniorita Cucacha" on the spot! For an extra $500, she's asked to come and sing at their high-society party that night. The rest, as they say,is history as Curly pretends to be an opera singer with some funny results. Oh, by the way, he accompanied by "Senior Mucho" and "Senior Gusto."

What happens at the party is simply that the truth wins out, but not before a few slapstick antics take place. In all, a pretty good episode. I enjoyed it but wouldn't rate it as anything special.

Once Curly Howard left the Santa Barbara hospital in January 1945, the comedian experienced up and down days after suffering from a minor stroke. Edward Bernds, a former sound engineer for Columbia Pictures, was promoted to direct The Three Stooges for the first time after Del Lord left the studio's short film unit to direct features. Bernds had the misfortune of stepping into the director's chair after Curly's health clearly had deteriorated. Not wanting to get demoted, he persuaded his producer, Hugh McCollum, to first release "Micro-Phonies," the best of the three Stooges movies he had already directed. McCollum agreed, releasing it in November 1945. The film was shot in July 1945, several months after Curly's first in a series of minor strokes. The four-day shoot caught Curly in one of his "up" weeks where his failing health wasn't severely affecting his acting performance.

Bernds, 40, Columbia Pictures' main sound man for many of the studio's feature films, including director Frank Capra's classics, always yearned to be a primary director. Intimidated by the gruff studio boss Harry Cohn, Bernds persuaded Capra to talk to him to see if he could get his cherished director's position. After Capra's persuasive lobbying, Cohn agreed, and Bernds settled down to write several Stooges scripts. His first Stooges direction took place in April 1945, "A Bird in the Head." But it was a disaster since Curly wasn't even close to his normal self on the set (The short was eventually released in February 1946.). Bernard's second Stooges film wasn't much better. But his third, "Micro-Phonies," was the best since Bernds, who also wrote the script, realized shortening Curly's dialogue to a minimum was effective, still allowing him plenty of screen time.

Despite his bad health, Curly shines as a female impersonator who mimics a recoded female operatic voice, fooling listeners. At one recital, Curly performs to a small distinctive opera audience, impressing everyone in the house, all except for rival opera singer Signor Spumoni (Gino Corrado). Who hears the actual voice of Alice Andrews (Christine McIntyre) singing behind a curtain. Alice wants to convince her reluctant father, who fails to appreciate his daughter's singing, that she really can handle opera. Bernds recalled years later, "It was strange the way Curly went up and down" in his acting. He added his roller coaster performances were unpredictable "in the order I shot the pictures, not in the order they were released."

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is a good Three Stooges short. It funny and its cast includes Christine McIntyre,Symona Boniface, Gino Corrado, Fred Kelsey, Sam Flint, Chester Conklin, Theodore Lorch, Lynton Brent, Judy Malcolm, Vernon Dent, John Tyrrell, Heinie Conklin, and Bess Flowers. The Stooges performed very well in this short! I recommend this one!

THERE WAS A LOT of dynamic energy at work externally on the old Stooges' act at this time. World War II was now over. A return to peacetime topics was the number one priority. The already threadbare budgetary restrictions for the Columbia Short Subjects Department were being reduced as the studios' apprehension about the effect of the new medium of Television and what potential its coming of age would have on the movie business.

BUT THE MOST damning element of all was the physical condition of Curly Howard. The youngest of the trio, as well as the least senior member of the 3 Howards involved (being Shemp, Moe and then Jerry/Curly), his health was poor. Within the next year, he would have to step down in favor of Shemp; who Curly had replaced over a decade prior.

POOR HEALTH IN the case of the funniest of the team meant that there was a definite need for modification of the heretofore ironclad formula of having Curly's absorbing the brunt of the punishment. Larry's cheek, forehead, ears and eyes stepped up to the plate and picked up the slack. But the question remained of what to do with Curly?

THE ANSWER WAS a shifting of the humor to that of the verbal, the realm of the pun and the punch-line. Added to this, we had an element of which MICRO PHONOES is a prime exponent; that being absurd female impersonation.

THOSE TWO ELEMENTS that made up the backbone of this highly rated Stooge outing were the female impersonation angle and the "Damsel in Distress" subplot. The rescuing of a lady with insurmountable problems had always been an element in their comedies and did excuse their inherent vulgarity, low intelligence and unorthodox rescue methods. \ ANOTHER OFTEN USED plot element is that of the upsetting of dignity. Usual targets include: High Society, snobbishness, "Fine Arts" and Authority figures. In MICRO PHONIES, the Stooges and the crew of Producer Jules White's Columbia Short Subjects managed to cover all of the bases.

WE WANT TO make mention of ad give proper credit to three actors who contributed so much here.

FIRST UP IS the prolific Mr. Gino Corrado; who appears in so many classic films of the 1930s & '40s. Here credited as Gino Caraddo, his typical role is that of a waiter; as he was seen in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, CITIZEN KANE and CASABLANCA*. His interplay with the Stooges here displayed an aptitude for the farce that few would have expected or realized.

SECONDLY, THERE IS Simona Boniface, who quietly added to several Stooge comedies. Her slow, reaction to embarrassing situations coupled with her dowager's physical appearance made her a priceless addition to any "Society" gathering. She has been called "the Stooges' answer to Margaret Dumont."

LAST ON OUR list is the beautiful, energetic and solid comedy trooper, Miss Christine McIntyre. She was and remains the all-time favourite heroine of the series.

This is one of the Stooges' best comedies, with a good variety of gags and constant laughs. The three are doing maintenance work in a radio studio when Curly gets mistaken for an opera diva (it sounds impossible, but you'll have to see how it happens). Before they can set things right, Curly is offered plenty of money to sing, and from then on the boys decide to fake it, with some hilarious results. Every sequence in this one is quite good, with some funny and creative situations, plus plenty of the usual Stooges-type humor. "Micro-Phonies" is one of their best films.

Micro-Phonies (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly are at a radio station causing damage when Curly, looking like a woman, is mistaken for an Opera singer and invited to a party. Once at the party the Stooges must try and fool the crowd but there's a pompous singer (Gino Corrado) already there who plans on wrecking their plan.

MICRO-PHONIES is a decent short but I certainly didn't find it to be one of the best of the series. Reading a variety of reviews I must say that I'm a little shocked that this one is loved by so many with a lot of people even calling it the Stooges best film. I thought there were a couple funny moments but there's really nothing here that we haven't already seen and in better films. The entire opening of the boy's whacking each other around was okay but that's about it. The Curly-in-drag had a few fine gags but I wouldn't call any of them hilarious. This is a decent short but that's about it.