A Merry Mix-up

Well, the writers must have had an "off day" or got a burst of inspiration when they came up with this one. Without a doubt this is about as good a short with Joe Besser as the third stooge as "Sweet & Hot" is the ultimate worst. This about three sets of triplets who have not seen each other in many years and through "conincidences" taken to the outer limits, all end up at the same hotel for various reasons. The idea, of course, was taken from a Laurel & Hardy feature from the late 1930's called "Our Relations". In this Stooge version, the comedy actually takes off and flies because it's increased from just twins to three sets of triplets. That's a good idea for increasing the humor, and it does. The pace, the gags, jokes and supporting cast are certainly back up to snuff with any of the shorts with Curly or Shemp. So, what happened? Why didn't the "front office guys" at Columbia realize that the Stooges still had a lot to offer? We'll never know. Just watch this one and enjoy it to the max!

"A Merry Mix-Up" was a great short. However, when AMC and Spike TV showed the Stooges on television, Sony/Columbia failed to put this short (and others) in the television package. As a true Stooges fan, I enjoy seeing all of the episodes. Other Joe Besser shorts omitted were, "Sweet and Hot," "Flying Saucer Daffy," and a few others. I cannot find any Joe Besser Stooge shorts on DVD. Will any ever be released? There were some Shemp shorts omitted as well: "Pardon My Backfire, (originally in 3-D)," "Shot in the Frontier," "Self-Made Maids," and several others. I cannot find them on DVD either.

But let's give Joe his props. He might not have wanted to be hit like the other third-Stooges, but he got hit anyway. Some of Joe's Stooge shorts were unique as long as they were not shown everyday. A good Three Stooges television package each day may show a Curley episode first, then either another Curley on the second short, the next day a Shemp on the second short, Curley the next day on the second short, Shemp the next, and then Joe the next (nice rotation).

I consider A MERRY MIX-UP the best of the Joe Besser era Stooges shorts. However the cast listing doesn't give us names of the Moe, Larry and Joe stand-in doubles. I'm wondering if Emil Sitka might have have been 1 of the faux stooge doubles since he has always been considered a kind of honorary 4th stooge. ☺

Lordy,this short is worth it just to see Frank Sully slowly lose his mind piece by piece as he finds himself surrounded by Stooges and finally ends up chasing anything t hat looks like a Stooge with a meat cleaver.

The pacing is solid and we'll all have a lotta fun.

Make it a bottle of champagne.

With bubbles.

Yeah,the cheap variety!!

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!

This is a good Three Stooges short with Joe and its arguably My favorite one with Joe.There really isn't that many cast members in this and its mostly actresses including Nanette Bordeaux, Jeanne Carmen, the beautiful Ruth White, Suzanne Ridgeway, Harriette Tarler, and Diana Darrin. Frank Sully is also in this one and his performance is very good and funny. I recommend this one!