Mummy's Dummies

In ancient Egypt during the reign of Great King Rootentooten, Larry, Moe, and Shemp run an used-chariot dealership. They slapdash together an old jalopy. They use various schemes to sell the lemon to a powerful customer. The unhappy customer turns out to be the head of the palace guards and the guys are promptly arrested. The King receives bad tax news and has a bad toothache. He quickly sentence them to be fed to the crocodiles. The boys offer to fix his toothache.

I am solidly a fan of Curly over Shemp. To me, Shemp is always second best but that does not mean that he's bad at his work. Curly is a transcendent comedy God. Shemp is merely a mortal who does good work. In this case, the story holds together very well and the boys are an excellent team. It hits on all the right notes in both comedy and story. This is as good as the Shemp Stooges get.

Great short. Who would have thought that ancient Egypt was plagued with unscrupulous used chariot salesmen? And here we have the Stooges, three of the best in the business. They even bamboozle the head of the Royal Palace Guards out of a considerable number of "sheckels" with the old "original paint" line! Of course, back then it was probably still a fresh scam. They even have Shemp get into disguise and act as a shill to drive up the price. Hilarious indeed, but alas, they picked the wrong guy to rip off. They end up arrested and are dragged to court before King Rootintootin himself, the rightfully beloved Vernon Dent. As good luck will have it, Rootintootin is suffering from a toothache. Shemp, a.k.a. "Painless Papyrus," always carries around with him his "delicate instruments," which comprise 2 pairs of pliers, a hammer, two chisels, a Phillips Head screwdriver, a bit-and-brace, and some extra bits. Well, what did you expect in ancient Egypt, Novocaine? Of course, Shemp must put on the pair of spectacles he carries around for his delicate work, and we see first-hand that optometry in ancient Egypt was still quite primitive. Couldn't those Egyptians get anything right? No matter: somehow, through sheer serendipity, the Stooges cure Rootintootin, and are rewarded with positions as "royal chambermaids". Then we see that ancient Egypt, despite all its shortcomings, was a highly advanced political state, since the head tax collector, the rightfully revered Phil Van Zandt, has been ripping the royal treasury off blind. Now, that sure makes me feel at home. So what happens? Do the Stooges save the day again for old Rootintootin? And what about Rootintootin's unmarried daughter? Could this be Shemp's chance to marry into royalty? Will Moe be best man? Hey, don't listen to a poor slob like me. Get out there and see this remarkable short for yourself! You won't be disappointed.

The only mummy in here is Shemp dressed up as such in the last minute or two of the film. Otherwise, it is a bunch of stories and comedy bits all strung together - but most of them are very good, making this one of the better Stooges films from their latter years.

The boys are back in ancient Egypt days - " in the reign of King Rootentooten." They are used chariot salesmen and, yes, they give all the clichés you have heard from used car salesmen over the years. It's pretty comical, especially when they con some poor sap into buying this piece of junk for 400 shekels. Unfortunately, the joke is on the them as the "sucker" works for the king. He has their butts hauled in, and the king gives his okay to "throw them to the crocodiles." But, the king also is in pain with a toothache so Moe comes up with a last-minute plea, saying Shemp is a dentist and can fix his aching tooth! Shemp, known as "Painless Papyrus," according to Moe, dons his thick glasses attempts dentistry. Yikes, this is painful to watch, but things work out, the king is thrilled and the boys are given their freedom.

Later, they discover two of the king's helpers are cooks and there is a mad three-minute chase involving the capture of them.

All of it, from the subtle stuff to the slapstick finale, are pretty good. Believe it or not, the dialog is here also is clever at times with a number of good puns.

The Three Stooges loved to dip into history for several of their movies with Shemp, with November 1948's "Mummy's Dummies" capping their autumn line-up for the year by going way back to Ancient Egypt. As owners of a used chariot dealership, they bamboozle the captain of the pharaoh's royal guards with his purchase of a clunker. Called before Pharaoh Rootentooten (Vernon Dent), who's suffering from a nasty toothache, the Stooges face the death penalty before alleviating his pain. The Elwood Ullman script extends the Stooges' adventures by their discovery of a royal taxation embezzlement scandal, rewarding them with an arranged marriage to the Pharaoh's daughter, Princess Fatima, played by Dee Greene, in her third and final appearance with the Stooges.

Delores Mae Greene's on screen persona of being the woman no one wants was short but memorable. As a music major at the University of Illinois, Greene was in only four credited short films before she realized her one-trick pony ride as an ugly woman wasn't going to carry her far. She returned to her passion, music, and taught in several junior and senior high schools before dying in her hometown Rockford, Illinois, in 1985 at age 68. "Mummy's Dummies" is also noteworthy as the only Stooges' short film starring Shemp in the late 1940s that was not remade in the 1950s. All these Stooges' movies with Shemp, who replaced Curly in 1947, were reintroduced using much of the same footage with some new scenes thrown in. Columbia Pictures was downsizing its short film unit and did the practice to save costs. For some reason "Mummy's Dummies" escaped such a fate.

***Thanks to METV for "Shemptember!" We love it.

One of the best Shempers. Writer Ellwood Ullman cooked up a witty back in time story; the Stooges are "used chariot" dealers in ancient Egypt? Yes, they sell a lemon to Pharaoh Rootentooten (Vernon Dent, of course) who orders them killed. That is until, Moe, Larry and Shemp are able to cure his toothache?

Poetic license shamelessly at work here (double time), all between Shemp's hilarious mugging. Best of it is Philip Van Zandt, generally playing a crook and loving it. The guys have to save Rootentooten's fortune and are rewarded by getting to marry his beeeeeeutiful daughter? Anything but... and who do ya' think is chosen as the groom?

Laugh out loud stuff, taking first prize for best sets and wardrobe. The prop folks did an excellent job. Familiar heavy Ralph Dunn, who acted with the BOWERY BOYS, appears, also Wanda Perry (as Princess Fatima), cast in several film classics, including the GREAT ZIEGFELD, playing one of the showgirls.

Remastered on Columbia dvd, box sets by decades; 30s, 40s and 50s episodes.