An Ache in Every Stake

Just to correct one thing that was mentioned in a couple of the other reviews here. In this one, Vernon Dent is not a judge. He's merely a guy trying to get home with his birthday cake in one piece. The one where he's a judge is the remake made with Shemp where, as usual, Columbia spliced two stories in order to get one, "An Ache In Every Steak" with "A Plumbing We Will Go". With that said and done...this is without any doubt one of their very best comedies ever. It's right up there with "Men In Black" from 1934. The one thing I never hear though from other admirers of the boys is how their shorts never really seem dated or old fashioned. As much as I enjoy Abbott & Costello, they seem stuck in the 1940's and WWII. The Stooges are timeless because they hit the nerve in all of us and I've seen people who don't even understand English or some of the contemporary references laugh unceasingly at their antics. If that's not a testimonial to greatness, I don't know what is. Just watch this one and don't be drinking anything while doing so or it might come out your nose.

An Ache in Every Stake (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Nice short has The Three Stooges working as ice delivery men but they can't seem to get a block up a large flight of stairs so they must come up with a new plan. After finally reaches the top of the steps they end up filling in for a cook at a birthday part and sure enough everything goes wrong. This isn't a classic from the trio but I think there are enough laughs to make it worth viewing. As with many of their shorts, this one here isn't the most original thing out there as many elements were borrowed from Laurel and Hardy's THE MUSIC BOX but these elements are mainly kept to the first half. The impact isn't nearly as good as that film but I think we get some pretty good violence early on and especially the scenes with Curly's head stuck in a block of ice and Moe and Larry have to get it out. The cooking scenes aren't all that original either but the three really sell it and get some nice laughs.

"An Ache in Every Stake" is from 1941 and runs 18 minutes. Starring Moe, Larry, and Curly as Ice Men, Cooks, and Waiters, this delightful romp features 56 year old Vernon Dent as Poindexter Lawrence, Bess Flowers as Mrs Lawrence, Gino Currado as the Cook, Bud Jamison as the Baker, Blanche Payson as the Maid, and Wilson Benge as the Butler. Located in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles, the steps we see The Stooges trying to traverse are located between 2257 and 2258 Fairoak View Terrace, whereas, The Music Box, the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Comedy Short in 1932, was located between 923 and 937 Vendome Street, at the intersection of Vendome and Del Monte Street in the Silverlake area of LA. I won't give away the ending, but if you're a Fan of the Three Stooges, you certainly deserve to watch this classic masterpiece!

This short begins hilariously, and builds to the riotous ending. It contains several well-known scenes, including the "ice-block down the stairs" piece, and Curly shaving the ice with great patter included. These stairs were also used in a wonderful Laurel and Hardy short involving a piano, and, as usual, Vernon Dent is hilarious as a pompous judge.

In the Three Stooges next short film, August 1941's "An Ache in Every Stake," their 57th in the series, they take a cue from Laurel and Hardy's Oscar winning movie 1932's "The Music Box" by climbing a set of lengthy outdoor steps up a hillside to deliver blocks of ice to a household at the top. The Del Lord-directed Stooges' film also has parallels to Lord's earlier 1926 Bill Bevan's silent comedy, 'Ice Cold Cocos,' which used the same staircase used by Stan and Ollie located in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. The Three Stooges, who operate an ice delivery wagon, struggle (especially Curly) to deliver their blocks of ice up the 147-step incline. The flight of stairs at the end of a cul-de-sac seen in the Stooges film currently exists two miles away from the more famous Laurel and Hardy one in a nearby Silver Lake neighborhood, only difference is the number of trees shading the steps.

"An Ache in Every Stake" also contains the rare dual appearance of the Stooges' most popular supporting actors, Vernon Dent, as Mr. Poindexter Lawrence, and Bud Jamison as the baker who cooks the elaborate birthday cakes for Mr. Lawrence. Twice the frustrated birthday boy Dent is foiled by the Stooges in his attempts to bring home his cake to the house the three icemen are coincidentally delivering. While the Stooges are in the kitchen with their ice blocks, they upset the cook preparing for the Lawrence's birthday party, so much so he leaves in a huff. The Stooges convince Mrs. Lawrence they can cook, setting up the classic scene showing Curly stuffing the turkey with the ingredients listed in the cookbook, but without shucking the oyster shells, not taking the peas out of its can, along with other items inside the cavity. Similar to Shemp Howard's 1934 'A Peach of a Pair,' the results are hilarious as the party guests chomp away at the solid materials in the turkey dressing. This short has everything in a Stooges' classic, including Curly again hampered by a backside coiled spring while dancing, reprised in a couple of their earlier shorts. I'm.