Dizzy & Daffy

When Shemp Howard could no longer deal with Ted Healy's bullying and drinking, he left the team that would become "The Three Stooges", once Healy was out of the picture. (His place in the team was taken by his younger brother Jerome.) Until brother Jerry had a stroke and brother Moe asked Shemp to return to the team, Shemp had a respectable solo career. He starred or had substantial roles in a number of "Big V - Vitaphone Comedies" shot in New York. This short may have been made to show off Dizzy and Daffy Dean's baseball skills, but it is Shemp who steals the show as the near-sighted pitcher, "Lefty" Howard. He is given plenty of footage and shows what a fine physical comedian he is. Without Shemp, this short would be a slow moving curiosity showing off the non-acting abilities of the Deans and the annoying and politically incorrect stuttering comedy of Roscoe Ates. Shemp makes the short a tolerable, mediocre Vitaphone effort.