Plane Nuts

Thanks, craigbhill. it is indeed Busby Berkeley's work. In fact, clips of the musical numbers used in this short are from "Flying High" (1931), as documented in the compilation film "That's Dancing!" (1985).

It's Ted, Moe, Larry, and Curly, along with Bonnie Bonnell, who also joined the troupe in the MGM shorts. They do a bit of their stage routines, with lots of slapping, broken up by dance numbers featuring chorines, shot by an uncredited Busby Berkeley with some overhead shots.

It's a burlesque-style revue, directed by Jack Cummings, who was in charge of MGM's shorts department. Cummings was Louis B. Mayer's nephew. After the usual apprenticeship, he became a producer for the company, with almost 40 movies to his credit by 1972. He died in 1989, 89 years old.

Plane Nuts (1933), is straight-up vaudeville stage show, complete with the curtain in the background and people walking on, from off-stage, while Healy and the boys, tear things up. It's bits and gags, bits and gags, with the Stooges, in-between Healy singing, a somewhat, lame song. Plane Nuts (1933), however is saved, by Moe, Larry and Curly. Larry seems to have a bigger part in this one. However, the finale is pretty cool, with dancers, dressed as planes (yes planes), doing a big finale, with an epic dance performance, at the end of the film. The bits were good, but the thing just seemed like a recording of a stage-play. This was the fourth of five films, produced at MGM. It definitely looks like the least expensive title, of the MGM, "Ted Healy and His Stooges", shorts. It wasn't very creative. But is a fairly good attempt to fill the five film contract.

5.5 (D- MyGrade) = 6 IMDB.

It's hard to sit through this miserable MGM short wherein THE THREE STOOGES go through their paces with TED HEALY acting as a sort of master of ceremonies in an act that falls flat before the first two minutes are over.

At least the Stooges get into their slapstick routine of face slapping nonsense with their usual aplomb, but Healy is neither charismatic as a performer nor much of a singer, given the songs he attempts to sing here.

The only bit of inspiration comes from the dance routines that a bevy of chorus girls do, twirling propellers around and photographed from above in Busby Berkeley manner for some eye catching formations simulating planes.

This is the kind of act that must have killed vaudeville. I found myself impatiently waiting for the twenty minute short to conclude. Not soon enough for me. Agonizingly bad stuff, dated and cornball from start to finish and a bit crude in the style of humor.

All right, what I'm now reviewing is the fourth M-G-M short featuring Ted Healy and His Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Curly) with their usual female foil "Bonny" (Bonnie Bonnell). By the way, their third one-Hello Pop-is lost. Anyway, this is their vaudeville act transposed on film with hit-or-miss gags and punchlines but the energy is pretty infectious especially whenever Curly does some funny moves or a hilarious laugh. There's also a couple of musical numbers taken from another film that provide their own entertaining moments. Incidentally, some of the music sounds like the theme played on Leonard Maltin's "The Lost Stooges" VHS tape-of which excerpts of this short played-when that was released on the early '90s. In summary, no great shakes is Plane Nuts but this is still a very interesting look at the early careers of Howard, Fine, and Howard before their more iconic stint at the studio of the Torch Lady.,..