Spook Louder

The 3 Stooges (no matter what the trio consisted of) were some of the most gifted actors/comedians ever to hit the silver screen and this short is all the proof I need. Related in flashback, the Stooges are travelling salesmen who are rejected by one homeowner after another until they finally come across a spooky inventor's mansion who enlists them to keep an eye on the place while he steps out. No sooner do the Stooges agree when a group of spies break in disguised as frightening spooks. Each hair-raising (and hilarious) encounter the Stooges experience tops the other and the action hits its peak with its explosive, bomb-throwing (and pie throwing) finale. Fans take note: Curly is also at his funniest in this short particularly when he takes down the morse code message (Moe: "What'd it say?" Curly: "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh...."). Another Stooges short guaranteed to have their fans rolling in the aisles!

Scriptwriters for the Three Stooges dug deep in their memory holes to dig up comedy skits of the past to give the comedy team material to work with. Early film historians can trace some of the Stooges' brilliant routines from past movies. A prime example is April 1943's "Spook Louder," set in an old dark house where the boys are scared every second by disguised enemy spies dressed in Halloween costumes intent on capturing a top scientist's 'Death Ray.' Film reviewer Dave Sindelar notes, "The Stooges had a way of packing a whole movie's worth of gags into a seventeen minute short, and this one is great fun." One of the key mysteries in "Spook Louder" is why and who is throwing pies at the Stooges and the professor who relates the tale to a reporter of the trio's adventures. Diligent research reveals the answer to the mysterious pie throwing can be traced to the 1931 Mack Sennett comedy, 'The Great Pie Mystery,' with Harry Gribbon and May Boley. Writer Clyde Bruckman, who had a habit of modifying older movie gags for the Stooges, was credited for adopting the pie-in-the-face gag into the story of their night in the inventor's house. Coincidentally, Del Lord directed both the Sennett film and "Spook Louder." The Stooges open "Spook Louder" as weight reduction machine salesmen who knock on the door on the house of an inventor who's planning to drum up interest of his a 'death-ray' machine to government officials in Washington, D. C. His butler answering the door is played by actor Charles Middleton in his only Stooges' film. Fans of the "Flash Gordon" serials will recognize him as Ming the Merciless. Meanwhile the inventor is acted by Ted Torch, who played the High Priest in the same Flash Gordon serial. The inventor asks the three to housesit for the weekend while he's away in D. C. That evening, three spies, intent on stealing the machine, go about scaring the Stooges. Writer Bruckman sketched the gag showing Curly unknowingly tethered to a balloon with a face drawn on it. The balloon, hooked onto the back of his sweater, frightens everyone he meets, a skit taken from Harry Langdon's 1929 comedy film "The Big Kick." The movie is also the first to show Moe's hair rising when scared.

Spook Louder (1943)

*** (out of 4)

A reporter goes to interview Professor Dunkfeather (Lew Kelly) who tells him about two separate cases, all involving the Stooges. One involves the boys going around trying to sell weight reducing machines. The next has the boys inside a spooky house where a skeleton, a devil and another man tries to scare them.

SPOOK LOUDER isn't the greatest short in the world but there's no doubt that fans of the Stooges should enjoy what humor there is. I'd say the weakest stuff deals with the Dunkfeather character as there's really no humor to be found here. The first story contains a couple decent laughs but the highlight is certainly when the three manage to finally get a buyer only to have Curly mess it up. The majority of the laughs come from the second portion of the film as the boys are running around scared of just about everything that jumps out at them. There are some really funny moments to be found here including one where Curly keeps getting punch by someone behind a book shelf.

"Professor I can't stand it any longer! Who threw that pie?!" You'll be asking yourself this same question while watching this great slice of comic mayhem. The Stooges are key figures in the breaking up of the Great Spy Ring in this short. But they are not spies. They are just simple salesmen who wander into horror, hell, and very funny situations. After assigned as bodyguards to a professor's house the boys meet up with skeletons, mummies, strange sounds, U.F.P's (unidentified flying pies) and the Devil?! Great piece of mystery/silliness that has it all. Look closely for Charles Middleton (Emperor Ming of the 1930's Flash Gordon serials.

The Stooges are hired by a wacky professor to watch his mansion. He apparently is working on a death ray and is worried the Japanese* want to steal it. As soon as he leaves, all sorts of weirdness happen in the place...with someone trying to scare them off by dressing like a skeleton and more. And, oddly, throughout the film pies come flying from out of nowhere! It's all very goofy and silly...which is exactly what most Three Stooges fans love. While it is far from being an intellectual film, it does have its moments.

By the way, if you do watch this one, note the butler. He's played by Charles Middleton--the same tall guy who was Ming the Merciless in the Buck Rogers serials.

*First, the US was at war with the Germans, Japanese and Italians....so why worry just about the Japanese? Second, politically correct sorts won't like the use of the term 'Japs'...which is used repeatedly.