Snow White and the Three Stooges

I suppose The Three Stooges were getting a little fatigued by the time they did their work in SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES because they're less exuberant than usual, in fact you might even say their slapstick is much more restrained. But this is good because Fox never intended this to be a showcase for them--rather, it introduces Olympic Skating Champion Carol Heiss and features Edson Stroll doing a nice job as Prince Charming.

Walter Lang did the directing and he's given an A budget on which a lot was obviously spent on costumes and settings, so from a strictly pictorial viewpoint the film is pleasant to look at in stunning technicolor. Gorgeous PATRICIA MEDINA has fun with her role as the wicked Queen who disguises herself as an old hag.

Just to make sure Miss Heiss' ice-skating is not totally ignored, they've given her two big production numbers and both of them are skillfully filmed and performed in winter wonderland type of settings.

Fans of The Stooges may be disappointed, but actually this is not a bad re-telling of the fantasy using a totally different approach. The four songs are rather unmemorable but this is merely a pleasant enough diversion for young folks.

No, this is not your usually Stooge fair. I grew watching them on Saturday afternoon. I was 9 years old when this movie came out. I thought this is going to the stupidest movie ever and ruin the Snow White story. I live in Central Florida where there was a drive-in movie every ten miles. We went to the movies once a week. I saw the movie and surprised that I liked it. I and my children like this movie. No it is not great Stooge comedy or great acting. I still like the movie and watch it from time to time. It is entertaining, pleasant, and no cursing. I like the skating sequences, they much to the movie and my enjoyment of it.

Based on IMDb ratings I would give a 5 Star rating.

As I lover of the Stooges, ice skating, romance and fairy tales, I was so thrilled with this movie that I plan to purchase it. While the amazing costumes and scenery and unique twists on the Snow White story would have been enough to entertain me, seeing the Stooges acting in tender roles make them all the more lovable.

The ice skating scene as Snow White lies crying in the snow is absolutely the most visually stunning effect I've ever seen in a movie.

The only drawback to this film is that the Moe/Larry/Curly Joe combo never has the same magic for Stooge fans as the Moe/Larry/Curly or Moe/Larry/Shemp lineup.

Everyone in my family, even the 9 month old baby, enjoyed this movie tremendously.

That title threatens, at all times, to put this film in the same category as "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" or "King Kong vs Godzilla", so disparate are the names Snow White and The Three Stooges. However, though the pairing is as oddball as the others, the film is not quite as badly made or ludicrous as it may sound at first. Olympic gold medal skater Heiss plays Snow White. She is the apple of her father the King's eye, but an obstacle to his evil wife Medina. When he expires, Medina locks Heiss away so that she can claim the throne for herself. Meanwhile, Stroll, a prince himself who doesn't realize it, is working alongside the Stooges in a traveling minstrel show. It seems he was betrothed as a youth to Heiss in order to join their kingdoms, but the Stooges foiled an assassination plot (never realizing who he was) and have raised him ever since as their own. When Heiss escapes Medina's wrath and winds up in the cottage of the seven dwarfs, it turns out that they're away for the season and Stroll and the Stooges are there as guests! Apart from this unique twist, the story follows the fairy tale relatively closely, including Medina's transformation into a horrible witch and Heiss's bite of the famous poisoned apple, until the requisite happy ending. Heiss is attractive, but predictably amateurish in her acting. She gets two glittery, extraordinarily colorful skating numbers that, if nothing else, exist as something fun to show her grandkids now. The Stooges (actually playing characters called The Stooges!) don't have an opportunity to do a great deal of the brand of pratfalls and comedy they are famous for and when they do indulge, the results are pretty sub-par for them. They do provide a few easy laughs occasionally, though, and actually attempt to act as real characters rather than just appear as pawns for slapstick. (This may displease some of their die-hard fans.) Stroll is handsome (sort of a softer Hugh O'Brian), but is given some ridiculous things to do (such as play with a goofy ventriloquists dummy.) Medina doesn't pull any punches in her bitter, driven role. She looks great and clearly enjoys herself both as the queen and the wart-covered witch. The impossibly slender Rolfe provides some sinister support as her magic-dabbling right-hand man. The film lacks the effervescence, wit and overall talent to be a true classic, but it's not offensively bad either. A certain amount of care and money went into the making of it. It's colorful enough and fast-paced enough to entertain small children, but has the merit of Medina's vinegar and some striking costumes, sets and fight sequences to keep some adults interested as well.

Lavish if overlong version of the popular fairy-tale (most famously incarnated on screen via the 1937 Walt Disney animated milestone) which incorporates a skating star (whose numbers go on forever), the comic trio's brand of violent slapstick (replacing the Seven Dwarfs – though they feel constrained by the material, much like the Laurel & Hardy of THE BOHEMIAN GIRL [1936] and SWISS MISS [1938]) and saccharine songs; the familiar plot is further enlivened by an amiable ventriloquist act and numerous swashbuckling routines. It's colorful and pleasant – certainly more enjoyable than I had anticipated, and wholly undeserving of Leonard Maltin's unflattering BOMB rating – emerging, all in all, to be perfect unassuming entertainment for the festive season.

Guy Rolfe and Patricia Medina convey appropriate comic-book villainy in their respective roles (each receive their just desserts in memorable fashion – but while his is particularly gruesome, hers is done in a rather clever way); burly Buddy Baer is their evil henchman who subsequently has a change of heart. Incidentally, this was the first of five belated feature films starring The Three Stooges – the others being the equally improbable THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962), THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962), THE THREE STOOGES GO AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE (1963) and THE OUTLAWS IS COMING (1965).

Frank Tashlin is said to have contributed to the film under review but, at any rate, the producers involved did have their hearts in the right place by employing director Lang (whose last effort this proved be) – having been responsible for the splendid Shirley Temple fantasy vehicle THE BLUE BIRD (1940) – and screenwriter Noel Langley – who had co-scripted the classic MGM version of THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939). By the way, this viewing of SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES came in anticipation of my acquiring a 2-Disc collection of the comic trio's vintage shorts...