Squareheads of the Round Table

This short is a different version of many of the episodes that feature Christine McIntyre; she is being forced to marry a man she hates while the man she loves is locked up in prison, and the Stooges come to her rescue. This episode contains the usually high laugh count of the Stooges with outstanding laughs in the scene in which they attempt to break out of prison. But the real classic scene here is one of the best scenes of all Stooge shorts. It is when Shemp thinks he is talking to McIntyre (covered up in bed) but is really talking to Vernon Dent, the man who plays her father. In one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen Shemp do, he makes a couple of jokes to "McIntyre" about her father and, while hysterically laughing, gives her a punch-line punch, as if she is one of the guys. Hilarious.

Some years later this Three Stooges short subject was remade as Knutsy Knights with the same cast just about. I guess we can call this the director's cut. It's also rated a couple of notches higher than the remake.

Moe, Larry, and Shemp play a pair of wandering minstrels who befriend Jock Mahoney, a poor, but humble blacksmith in love with King Arthur's daughter the fair princess Elaine played by Christine McIntyre. She loves him, but it's that class thing.

Who does want to marry her is the evil Black Prince Vernon Dent who plans to usurp Arthur himself once he's in the family. Not that I'd look to Moe, Larry, and Shemp for aid and assistance, but they're the blacksmith and the princess have. And they do come through, kind of, sort of.

Some nice gags, especially that cake which seems to have the storage capacity of a TARDIS.

In addition to an above-average performance by the Stooges themselves, we get an early look at future Tarzan Jock Mahoney, and see Christine McIntyre demonstrate, albeit briefly, why I consider her to be one of the great unrecognized musical/comic actresses of the 20th century. It's a mystery why her career never attained the level of visibility and recognition she deserved. Here, although "Oh Elaine" is primarily the Stooges' number, it is her brief aria in the middle that elevates this short above the level of just another Stooges flick. The juxtaposition of her beautiful operatic delivery with such absurd and banal lyrics is nothing short of hilarious. Years after seeing this, I've forgotten most of the gags and pratfalls, but I can still picture and hear Elaine's impassioned musical promise to signal the threesome "when the coast is clear." Doesn't showcase her pure vocal skills to the degree of "Voice of Spring" in "Micro-Phonies," but by inserting her beautiful singing into the absurd setting of what we have here, we see her at her best as a musical comedian.

In Days of Old, when Knights were Bold and Suits were made of Iron. Larry, Moe, and Shemp are troubadours on their way to King Arthur's court. Knights are searching for Cedric the Blacksmith. He's in love with Princess Elaine but the King had promised her hand to The Black Prince. This is fine for a Shemp Stooges short. There is a fun corridor chase although the knights could do something funnier. Everything could be funnier but they just don't have Curly. This is perfectly fine.

One of the Stooges' very best shorts. Their roles as troubadours affords them ample opportunity to show off their singing and dancing talents. They serenade Princess Elaine on Cedric the Blacksmith's behalf with their immortal rendition of "Oh Elaine," sung to the tune of the Sextet from Lucia. Later on they do some soft-shoe in knights' armor while "Swannee River" plays on a medieval radio. In the beginning of the short, they receive a classic triple-slap in the face for singing "Oh...we...stuck our little tootsies in the water... ." There are plenty of gags, right up to the end when Shemp gets a face full of mashed fruit, "Well, fruit salad, what do you know?" Great performances from all three!