Matri-Phony

This had the great ingredients to be a funny Stooges short, but the end result is pretty disappointing. First off, a lot of great gags were edited out during post-production, with a lot of awkward cutting away at certain scenes. Second, Harry Edwards' alcoholism and erratic behavior dampened the entire production of this short with him berating and insulting the cast by saying they couldn't act, nixing a lot of great material in the script (courtesy of Monte Collins & Elwood Ullman), etc. The shooting schedule went over two weeks due to these problems and veteran director Del Lord was brought in to film additional footage.

But there are still a few funny scenes with Curly interacting with a snake charmer and a seemingly endless scene with the Stooges roughed up by the hard-nosed palace guards, and the emperor flirting with Curly disguised as a redhead. It's no wonder the Stooges refused to work with Edwards again. He did direct them a year later in Three Little Twirps, which is a marginal improvement, but still falls short.

It's ancient Erysipelas in the reign of the rash Emperor Octopus Grabus. Mohicus, Larrycus, and Curleycue own a pottery and stone works. The Emperor is searching for a young redhead to marry and Diana begs the boys to hide her. The boys are arrested when a soldier finds Diana hiding.

A cross-dressing Curly is always fun. There is plenty of fun crab work. I do wonder how Diana escaped. The easy move is for her to dress as a soldier and she can pass the Emperor without noticing her. The bum fed the wine is out of focus. The last scene has the boys in an awkward position which is weird and not actually funny. The funnier move would be them falling head first into giant pottery surrounded by soldiers. This has some fun but some could be improved.

This ancient Rome short is hilarious!I love the dinner table scenes and also the scenes with Vernon Dent.The armor and clothes looked realistic.The things the Stooges do in their store is hysterically funny!This is a great one to watch!

Matri-Phony (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Funny two-reeler has Mo, Larry and Curly working as potters in ancient Rome when Emperor Octopus puts out a call saying he wants to marry a young red-headed woman. One just happens to be hiding in their store and when the guards find her the three men are taken to the Emperor's lair where comedy follows. Fans of the Stooges are really going to find plenty to laugh about here. From what I've read the three didn't enjoy director Harry Edwards but you really couldn't tell by watching the film as all three men are in fine form. There are several funny moments throughout the film but the highlight has to be when the boys are being held in front of the Emperor with spears to their backs. Curly doesn't realize it and makes an escape only to be caught by something other than the guard. Another funny sequence happens early on inside their shop as a guard comes in looking for the hiding girl but gets a sales talk from Curly. The film certainly isn't a classic or masterpiece but fans of the Stooges should at least get several laughs.

Oh, boy: more corny signs.

The boys are in ancient Rome and are stonecutters. The sign over their front door of business reads, "Ye Olde Pottery and Stone Works - Mohicus, Larrycus And CurleyCue - The Biggest Chiselers In Town"

Emperor "Octopus Grabus" has issued an edict in which all unmarried redheads are ordered to the palace of for matrimony. One hot babe is pursued and runs into the boys' store looking to be hidden from a Roman soldier. The boys are happy to oblige.

My first or second look at this particular story probably made me laugh but now, some 40-50 years later, I had seen Curly pretend to be a woman so many times that isn't funny, anymore. The scenes with him and the Mr. Magoo-like "Octopus" (Vernon Dent) What I am saying is that is just too much familiar material.

To end on a positive note, the "dame" in trouble, "Diana," played by Marjorie Deanne was very hot. I'm surprised she didn't have a longer career, unless that was her choice.