Rhythm and Weep

"Rhythm and Weep" begins with the Stooges being thrown out of a theatre for having the worst act on the circuit, while the theatre manager suggests they commit suicide...so they agree! Funny stuff, huh? They decide to jump off the ledge of a building. But there encounter three beautiful dancers who are also planning on killing themselves. A laff riot so far! Also on the roof is a man who claims to be a filthy rich Broadway producer who can't find a cast, which leads to their salvation. But anyone who can't figure out the punchline the first time the "producer" laughs maniacally should watch Westerns instead. This short shows Curly at his sickest; his timing is gone, and he is virtually incapable of performing the slightest comedy shtick. As a result, most of what would have been Curly business is shifted to Larry. The three dancers are fine, despite the club-footed choreography, but the short over-all has the appalling stink of one of those "Lets-Put-On-A-Show" wartime "Our Gang" comedies. If you love the Stooges, avoid this one like the plague.

After over a year afflicted with a series of minor strokes, Jerome 'Curly' Howard pressed on as a member of The Three Stooges. Director Jules White learned how to work around his physical weaknesses as shown in October 1946's "Rhythm and Weep," Curly's second to last complete movie. Filmed six months earlier in late April 1946, it was nearly sixteen months after Curly had his first stroke in December 1944. White revised the Felix Adler script by reassigning Curly's lines and action to Larry and Moe, leaving the ailing Stooge to handle a much lighter load.

Norman Maurer, Moe's son-in-law who became involved with the Stooges in the late 1940s, remembered Curly's performance while filming "Rhythm and Weep." "He was having trouble with his coordination," Maurer remarked. "He was supposed to pop pills in his mouth during the doctor's office scene, but the scene was switched to Moe putting the pills into Curly's mouth because of Curly's physical problems." Realizing Curly, 42, had trouble remembering his dialogue deep into a sequence, White would have him say his lines immediately after the cameras began rolling. The Stooges' short opens with the three told they're no good as actors, and they should end it. They meet three equally despondent female dancers on the top of a skyscraper ready to take the fatal leap. They suddenly hear a piano player who claims to be a millionaire ready to hire all six for a show after they successfully auditioned their talents.

The three female dancers, Gloria Patrice (Curly's partner who's still living at 99), Nita Bieber and Ruth Godfrey (Jules White's daughter-in-law, and the choreographer of the dance numbers in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 "The Ten Commandments") were members of the Jack Cole Dancers, contracted to Columbia Pictures at the time. Cole, known as "the Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance," melded Asian with African-American dance styles into a modern movement, which is demonstrated in "Rhythm and Weep" by the three dancers. One scene cut shows the three dressed up as the Stooges while Moe, Larry and Curly impersonate ballerinas. This explains the final scene where the three women are wearing men's suits. The picture is also famous for Larry breaking the 'fourth wall' when he turns to the camera after hugging Ruth on the skyscraper's ledge and says, "This I like! And I get paid for it, too!"

"Rhythm and Weep" is one of the dozen or so Stooge entries from 1945-46 that shows Curly was not a well man. His actions are noticeably slower, as well as his speech. With this said, however, he looks and sounds better in this film than in others made during this time ("Monkey Businessmen" and "Three Loan Wolves" are examples of this).

This film is a sort-of reworking of "Gents Without Cents" from 1944. Dejected at being thrown out as performers from a theater, the boys decide to commit suicide. On top of a building they meet three beautiful dancers, who also want to off themselves for not finding work. Before they can jump, they meet a millionaire musical producer (Jack Norton) who will bankroll them into his newest production.

The film limps along with protracted musical numbers with the girls. The only highlights of the film are the Army service exam and Larry's classic line, "This I like! And I get paid for it, too!" It's also interesting to see character actor Jack Norton in a role where he doesn't play a drunk! This aside, however, the short is only memorable for being one of Curly's last performances. 5 out of 10.

This latter-day Curly short showcases mostly dancing routines and not very much slapstick. Curly is visibly wooden and sickly due to his declining health. He does get a pie in the face and takes a few hits, but that's about it. The closing sequence where the Stooges perform an army physical skit is decent, though.

Rhythm and Weep was a good stooge short during the 1945-46 era when Curly's health was declining, this wasn't one of Curly's better acting shorts of the era but Moe, Larry, the piano player and the girls did a great job, the best part is when Curly falls off of the building and when Moe constantly gets smacked in the face by Larry and Curly's instruments and when the piano player doubles their salary, they find out that he's a mental patient from the cuckoo's nest, if you love the Three Stooges, then you'll like Rhythm and Weep but I wouldn't recommend this short if you're expecting a great performance by Curly but he was definitely better than If a Body Meets a Body, Bird in the Head and especially Three Loan Wolves.

8/10 stars