Muscle Up a Little Closer

1957
17m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Maxine Gates, Ruth Godfrey, and Harriette Tarler in Muscle Up a Little Closer (1957)

Joe is engaged but can't get married until he recovers the engagement ring which has disappeared. The stooges suspect the ring was stolen by Elmo, a beefy bully, who works at the same factor... Read allJoe is engaged but can't get married until he recovers the engagement ring which has disappeared. The stooges suspect the ring was stolen by Elmo, a beefy bully, who works at the same factory they do. They confront Elmo in the company gym, but he's too tough for them. Fortunately... Read allJoe is engaged but can't get married until he recovers the engagement ring which has disappeared. The stooges suspect the ring was stolen by Elmo, a beefy bully, who works at the same factory they do. They confront Elmo in the company gym, but he's too tough for them. Fortunately Joe's girl is even tougher, and she gets Elmo to confess and return the ring.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

291

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos9

+ 6

Top cast7

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Moe Howard

Moe
(as Moe)

Larry Fine

Larry
(as Larry)

Joe Besser

Joe
(as Joe)

Maxine Gates

Tiny Ray

Harriette Tarler

Mary Brown

Ruth Godfrey

May Trent

Matt Murphy

Elmo Drake

Director
- Jules White
Writer
- Felix Adler
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews11

5.7291

Featured reviews

jazzfi

One of the Better of the Besser Appearances..

Growing up with The Three Stooges in Los Angeles on UHF Channel 52 KBSC during the late '60s, we looked forward to the antics of the Howard-Fine-Howard company, so the episodes with Joe Besser with a bit of a let-down, especially since Moe didn't abuse the latter as he always had the others, and because of his blatant sissiness, although this had historically been Besser's on-stage persona. This episode however is chock full of fun, and is a bit more palatable than their other late shorts. The fiasco with the eggs when Joe trips on the hand-truck, and the blow-torch sequences are hilarious. Then Moe tends to Joe's heart-attack by sterilizing his hands in water then wipes them dry on an oily rag.. Not my favorite or maybe even in the top 20, but still has plenty of worthwhile laughs..

7vicallen

Entertaining

Give Joe Besser a chance and he can be funny. Typical later stooges fare. Tiny is everymans dream...cooks, works, and can fight! Larry is showing his age (hair shorter than usual) but the guys can still bring on the chuckles. If you like the WWF then this one is for you!

10Movie Nuttball

Good one!

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

One of My favorite Stooges shorts with Joe is none other than Muscle Up a Little Closer! All appearing in this short are the Maxine Gates, Harriette Tarler, Ruth White, and Matt Murphy! There are so many funny parts here. Joe and Gates are very good together in this one. This is a very hilarious short and I recommend it!

10desimone_ken

Maxine Gates is awesome as Tiny Ray. My type of woman.

Maxine Gates is awesome, I wish there more women like her. She is every man's dream. She can cook, Fight, and lift very heavy weight. Where can I find the Video of this episode and Husbands beware. She's my dream girl. Some one you can have alot of fun with. Plus I can't stand skinny girls. She's so Healthy.

2awobyob

good grief

Man, I'd really be worried for Maxine Gates if she were still alive with this "desimone_ken" character on the loose (sheesh).

Moving on....

MUSCLE UP... is a somewhat curious piece for me because it's the only short from the Besser era I can think of that seems to have a decent script behind it. I can only imagine that had this story been done with a 100% Curly or Shemp that it may have been a very good entry in the stooge film library. Unfortunately, Joe Besser is third stooge in this one. Nothing personal against the guy, but his dainty personality just didn't mesh at all with the brashness of Moe and Larry.

1.5/10

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Storyline

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Trivia
The first instance where Moe does not have his bowl-style haircut and Larry does not have his frizzy halo of hair per request of Joe Besser who wanted them to look more like gentlemen.