The Stooges apply for job as 'Yard Men' at Scotland Yard, thinking they'll become detectives, but instead wind up as gardeners. When they learn that detectives are needed to guard a Scottish... Read allThe Stooges apply for job as 'Yard Men' at Scotland Yard, thinking they'll become detectives, but instead wind up as gardeners. When they learn that detectives are needed to guard a Scottish castle where valuables have been disappearing, they masquerade as Scotsmen to get the job... Read allThe Stooges apply for job as 'Yard Men' at Scotland Yard, thinking they'll become detectives, but instead wind up as gardeners. When they learn that detectives are needed to guard a Scottish castle where valuables have been disappearing, they masquerade as Scotsmen to get the job. After a spooky night in the castle, the boys expose the servants as the crooks.
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This is a film where my favorite of all six stooges, Shemp can be seen at his funniest. Curly would be my favorite, but I think he's a little too silly. As the film begins, you see three men with beards, hats and pipes approach the desk of the top man at Scotland yard. The man asks, "What can I do for you gentlemen?" Moe answers, "Before we answer that, I want to prove we're not gentlemen!" The three men peel the fake facial hair off and Moe helps Shemp peel some of his. This reminds me of the Curly Stooges film with they went to Egypt in search of the mummy of King Rootin-tootin. They first appeared in an American museum disguised much the same way, except they wore false faces on the backs of their heads. (You must have seen it to know what I'm talking about.) Anyway, after getting their assignment in a way they never expected, the fun really begins. They go to Glenheather Castle in Scotland and run into three criminals, one is the lovely Christine McIntyre, who may very well be the best soprano I've ever heard. She doesn't sing in this short though (darn!). A really funny part is when they meet her before they knew she was one of the crooks and the owner of the castle. Larry (or McLarry) asked her, "And what might your name be, lass?" She replied, "Perhaps you've heard it. It's Lorna Doone." Shemp (or McShemp) extends his hand to shake and says, "Hi, Lorna. How ya doone?" Moe or (McMoe) raps him on that hand with his cane. This is one of my very favorite Shemp Stooge films. You may want to grab some Mcnuggets and Mcfries for this one!
Ted Lorch ("McPherson") did not say that line; Charles Knight ("Angus") did, and he later ended the scene in which the Stooges are shown to their room with a very menacing, albeit obviously tongue-in-cheek, "If you need anything, just WAIL!" and then laughs (intentionally or unintentionally, we'll never know).
The title of this review comes from an early scene in which the Stooges are picking up the "missing papers" in Scotland Yard's back "yard." When he hands the apparent last piece of trash paper to Moe, he says, with a sigh of relief,"If there's another piece of paper in this yard, I'll eat it." Of course, at that exact moment,a gust of wind carries a piece of paper from the inspector's desk out his open office window, and, as it slowly floats downward into the yard, Moe cracks, "Here comes your lunch."
I also thought the Stooges' introduction of themselves to the Earl was hilarious. First Moe says,"He's MacLarry; he's MacShemp; and I'm MacMoe." Then they vigorously shake hands with each other while exclaiming,"Hiya, Mac. Hiya, Mac. Glad to MacMeet you."
It blows me away that Christine McIntryre never became what we now refer to as an "A-list celebrity." She had it all: She was gorgeous. She had marvelous comedic timing. And, of course, that angelic voice.
The Scooby Doo factor is very high as the boys run from people pretending to be apparitions in a Scottish castle. The bad guys are using masks and fake paintings. Of course, this comes before the Scooby gang. One of the reasons why Scooby is successful is that it has elements of the Stooges. This is as good as a Shemp Stooges is going to get.
Did you know
- TriviaThe castle set for this short was originally built for "Le fils de Robin des Bois (1946)", and was also reused for "Squareheads of the Round Table (1948)" and "Fiddlers Three (1948)".
- GoofsBagpipe music is playing in the main hall and Moe is dancing with Christine McIntyre. Although there are no doors between the main hall and the hallway on the second floor, when Larry hobbles from one room to the next on the second floor, in the same scene, no music is heard.
- ConnectionsEdited into Scotched in Scotland (1954)
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- Scotland Yardbirds
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- Runtime17 minutes
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- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1