Rumpus in the Harem

The fact that Columbia Pictures and the bossman at the time, Harry Cohn, actually put Moe Howard and Larry Fine into a position where they had to make a film with Shemp's name and face in the opening credits, even though Shemp had passed on is incredible--and not in a good way.

I get that Moe & Larry were under contract & Cohn wanted to keep cranking out stooge shorts, no matter what--but could the guys get some damn time off to grieve. Apparently not.

And then there's Joe Palma as the immortal "Fake Shemp." An idea that was doomed from the very start, but somehow they still made this short and then made 3 more after this with the "Bogus Shemp." What's wrong with this film--just about everything to be honest. The original "Malice in the Palace" was great, but I find it hard to enjoy the reused footage from that short here in "Rumpus" given the circumstances.

Moe and Larry certainly deserved better.

The first Three Stooges short after Shemp's death, and this is a remake of MALICE IN THE PALACE (1949) with Joe Palma doubling for Shemp (with his back faced toward the camera to hide his face) in the new footage. This remake was terrible. The new footage was weak and poorly written and acted. And Joe Palma doubling for Shemp was pathetic. It was so obvious that wasn't Shemp from the first moment the back of the double's head appeared on screen. Who's idea was this? I feel the Stooges should've just called it quits after Shemp died. The Palma/Shemp's are embarrasing, and the later shorts with Joe Besser are terrible. Plus, it wasn't worth it for Moe to go on with the pain after losing TWO of his brothers in just 3 years. That must've been sad.

1953 would mark the slow, but steady decent of Stooge films due to budget restrictions, an over-reliance on stock footage, and just the general waning popularity of the short-film medium. But this "film" reaches a whole new low, with Shemp having passed on to stooge heaven (I wonder if Uncle Mortimer let him in :]), Moe & Larry had to suffer through this first of four films with the immortal "Fake Shemp". Mix in a good batch of recycled footage & you end up with 16 minutes that will almost make you appreciate Joe Besser and talking horses (almost).

Grade: F

This was one of the unfortunate 'dead Shemp' shorts, but is one I've been forgiving of, since I 've always liked the scene in the harem where Moe and Larry are beaten up by the harem girls. Suzanne Ridgeway was a cute actress who appeared in minor roles in many Columbia pictures. She fascinated me as a kid, and it's a treat to see her pop up in other shorts. The original short ,"Malice in the Palace" was superior overall, but I have to admit to a morbid habit of studying the Joe Palma standing as as Shemp scenes. They found more ways to film the back of his head, and to cut in Shemp's 'meep meep'. It's interesting that the next 'dead Shemp' short, also had Moe and larry being beat up by two military women. Maybe it was an easy answer as to how to squeeze a couple of new scenes on an old short, but it was entertaining to me.

RUMPUS IN THE HAREM (1956) is an okay remake of MALICE IN THE PALACE (1949)but it still could've been better. Columbia didn't choose the best possible double for Shemp. The new footage at the beginning is okay, but it's hard to hear what their girlfriends are saying because of their weeping. And I didn't like the scene where the harem girls are beating up Moe and Larry. The only new scene I really liked was when the guard is chasing Shemp's double. They even dubbed in some scenes where Shemp is screaming. But it's obviously a double when Shemp is jumping out the window because they got lazy and didn't dub in Shemp screaming. The double screamed instead. But there's enough of the old footage to have a good laugh!

Grade: B-