The Outlaws Is Coming

Just watched this again on YouTube, several years after originally seeing this late at night on TNT. This was the last theatrical movie for The Three Stooges and it's quite a good one to go out on even though they had one more film to go (that would be Kook's Tour which was another of their TV pilots and which I'll review next). Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe are photographers in Boston when the movie starts. Adam West runs their newspaper department and is passionate about the possible extinction of the buffalo. When their boss (regular Stooge supporting player Emil Sitka) tells of how low that speices seems to be in number, they go west to try to prevent it. I'll stop there and just say the Stooges are as funny as ever with their physical comedy and there are also some anachronistic gags about modern times that were nice surprises especially a couple of ones about The Beatles! The producer/director was Norman Maurer-Moe's son-in-law. Also Maurer's son Jeffrey Scott appears as the only underage kid here. And Don Lamond-who's the main villain here-is Larry's son-in-law. The famous gunslingers whose names get printed on screen as they are introed are all played by TV kid show hosts who showed Stooges shorts on their stations. Among them was Joe Bolton who previously appeared in the Stooges-with-Curly compilation film Stop! Look! And Laugh! Interesting sidelight: After this movie, Adam West would become a big star in the "Batman" series and Henry Gibson-the college-educated young adult Indian who criticizes the Pidgin English Lamond communicates to his father-would be a regular on "Laugh-In". So on that note, I recommend The Outlaws Is Coming.

This is one of my favorite Three Stooges movies. Plus, Adam West is great in his non-Batman role.

There really isn't much to analyze here. It's just meant to be a fun romp through the old west. And fun it is. Pretty much every gunslinger and bandit from historical westerns makes an appearance, and the climatic gun fight at the end is classic comedy. And of course, there's a great pie fight.

Some grown-up dialog -- "Look at all those fighting Indians" (and if you don't get the joke, then you never heard the original story about the Custer memorial) -- far-above-average acting and just generally good production values elevate this Stooges movie.

Of course there is the usual Stooges schtick, without which we would feel terribly bereft, and Joe DeRita shows he is a superb Stooge.

Emil Sitka played three parts! As is mentioned elsewhere, he had been a "Fourth Stooge" for so many pictures, he was slated to become a Third Stooge, to replace the ill Larry Fine, but no movie ever got produced.

That is a shame for him and for us, for us who loved the Stooges, and especially for us who loved him.

Most of the cast members, except for Adam West, were not very well known, but they showed some understated acting ability that proved their talent and demonstrated how good a Stooges movie could be.

The guys were lucky. So many other comics and comedy groups or teams declined, but their last picture might well be their best.

I hope everyone will get a chance to see this, for the sheer fun of it, and for the chance to evaluate the Three Stooges and their work.

The Three Stooges were an act for several decades and over time, the act changed quite a bit depending on who the third Stooge was as well as popular opinions. In the early days, the Stooges were nutty and ultra-violent, as folks in the 1930s-40s loved it and Curly Howard was perfect as the dopiest of the Stooges. However, after his retirement following a stroke, the team changed several times. Curly's older brother, Shemp, took his place and the films the group made were pretty similar to the earlier ones. However, with Shemp's death, the Stooges changed radically. First, Joe Besser came into the group and the shorts they made with him were pretty awful, as Besser managed to be MUCH more annoying than any previous Stooge. After he left the group because he was obviously NOT a good fit, they brought in Joe De Rita, who objected to much of the eye poking and violence of the earlier films. This, combined with parental concerns about their kids imitating the Stooges lead to the group making far less violent films...and, at least for me, far, far less interesting and bland ones as well. So, whether or not you like "The Outlaws is Coming" is highly dependent on what you think of these latter day Stooges.

A reporter (Adam West) is sent from his Boston newspaper to investigate the disappearance of the bison in the west. Well, it turns out some local scumbag and his henchmen are trying to wipe them out in order to foment unrest with the natives...in the hope that the unrest will result in their taking control of these western territories. The Stooges go along for comic relief and Annie Oakley arrives in time to save the reporter from instant death!

The story is only okay. The laughs are few. Overall, it's really a story that seems tailored towards children and not adults...which probably explains why I felt so bored. Now understand,...it's NOT terrible...but it is also only a shallow version of what I and so many others liked about the Stooges. A bit of Curly's nuttiness could have helped this film immensely.

By the way, you might notice that the plot is VERY similar to the Don Knotts film, "The Shakiest Gun in the West", though the Knotts film is far funnier and well worth seeing.

I thought it was a good stooge movie with Curly Joe, but their westerns have always been my least favorite of their shorts or movies. This movies funnier than any Besser short at least. This is still the best western comedy I've ever seen. I think the movie would be more entertaining and make less sense if Adam West was Batman in this movie. If you are a stooges fan then you'll love this movie.