Hoi Polloi

Hoi Holloi (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Trading Places for its day finds two rich men making a bet that one can turn some bums into smart gentlemen. The three men turn out to be the Three Stooges and they get their shot at a fancy party. There are some good laughs here including a scene where Larry loses his shoe on the dance floor but overall this is a pretty standard short. I did notice that the sound effects were heavily used here for the first time.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 shorts, all digitally remastered.

"Hoi Polloi" was excellently done, the party scene is hilarious, and so is the rest of the episode. I love the part when the stooges read and Curly and Larry pretty much goof up the story.

Overall: A

Note: This was later remade as "Half-Wits Holiday"(1947) which would be Curly's last time he would ever be a stooge.

This review is of the tenth short The Three Stooges made for Columbia Pictures. In this one, Moe, Larry, and Curley (as his name was still spelled at the time) are garbage men forced to agree to a couple of professors' proposal of becoming gentlemen in exchange for them not calling the cops on the boys for general nuisance concerning their jobs. It involves a wager of one of the profs of debating environment vs. hereditary. Will the former win out? With the Stooges, are you kidding? Anyway, this was a most hilarious short what with all the gags and punchlines especially when the boys do their dance "lesson". And wait till you see what happens at the end! So on that note, Hoi Polloi comes highly recommended.

Another great show with lines I've quoted since I was a kid. "Does the deer have a little doe?"...

Two rich men make a bet on turning three lower class men into gentlemen. Larry, Curley, and Moe are bumbling garbage men and the rich guys have the subject of their bet. This is a classic Three Stooges premise that the boys would return to again and again. They are simply perfect for the concept. There are elements which would get reworked over and over again. The spring gag is great fun. This is classic Stooges material.