An Ache in Every Stake

Larry, Curly, and Moe are chuckleheads delivering ice and coal. They have difficulty carrying ice up a steep hill. They get into a fight with a chef and end up taking his place in preparing for a high class birthday party.

The change from delivering ice to cooking is rather random. This is basically two different stories. They should split this into two shorts. The first half has the fun carrying ice up that staircase. It could have extended it and made it into something special. The second half's best bit is probably Curly dancing with the spring. That's been done before. The second half is a Stooges standard story.

This is the funniest stooge short, Moe, Larry and curly deliver ice to a woman then she is upset because she doesn't have a cake for her husband so the stooges bake a cake and also make a turkey. The funniest part is when curly shaves the ice and he's talking to it and everything its great.

There are some classic sight gags in this Three Stooges flick, one of better ones the boys did, even though some of jokes were familiar, like the cooking scenes. Nonetheless, who can forget that long line of stairs up to the house where Curly and his mates try to bring a woman a big block of ice? The ice truck scenes, complete with big blocks and tongs to carry them, are really a look at ancient history, as that was the way people obtained ice for their homes.

Vernon Dent is the main "victim" in this Three Stooges a short. He's a poor guy whose just trying to celebrate his birthday but every time he tries to bring home the birthday cake for himself and party guests, the Stooges give him a face full of it.

The boys wind up catering his party - don't ask how - and we get more memorable scenes, such as Curly's having a sofa spring stuck to the seat of his pants.....and what happens every time he tries to dance, or Curly pretending he's a barber shaving a block of ice - and talking to it! It was funny material decades ago, and it's still funny.

Moe and Larry also contribute in their customary entertaining fashion, but this really highlight's Curly in his prime.

Just to correct one thing that was mentioned in a couple of the other reviews here. In this one, Vernon Dent is not a judge. He's merely a guy trying to get home with his birthday cake in one piece. The one where he's a judge is the remake made with Shemp where, as usual, Columbia spliced two stories in order to get one, "An Ache In Every Steak" with "A Plumbing We Will Go". With that said and done...this is without any doubt one of their very best comedies ever. It's right up there with "Men In Black" from 1934. The one thing I never hear though from other admirers of the boys is how their shorts never really seem dated or old fashioned. As much as I enjoy Abbott & Costello, they seem stuck in the 1940's and WWII. The Stooges are timeless because they hit the nerve in all of us and I've seen people who don't even understand English or some of the contemporary references laugh unceasingly at their antics. If that's not a testimonial to greatness, I don't know what is. Just watch this one and don't be drinking anything while doing so or it might come out your nose.

"An Ache in Every Stake" is from 1941 and runs 18 minutes. Starring Moe, Larry, and Curly as Ice Men, Cooks, and Waiters, this delightful romp features 56 year old Vernon Dent as Poindexter Lawrence, Bess Flowers as Mrs Lawrence, Gino Currado as the Cook, Bud Jamison as the Baker, Blanche Payson as the Maid, and Wilson Benge as the Butler. Located in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles, the steps we see The Stooges trying to traverse are located between 2257 and 2258 Fairoak View Terrace, whereas, The Music Box, the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Comedy Short in 1932, was located between 923 and 937 Vendome Street, at the intersection of Vendome and Del Monte Street in the Silverlake area of LA. I won't give away the ending, but if you're a Fan of the Three Stooges, you certainly deserve to watch this classic masterpiece!