Shivering Sherlocks

Del Lord had been promoted to direct Colombia Pictures' feature films after years with The Three Stooges. However, he was asked to return to the studio's short films department temporarily to handle a few movies, including a reunion with his old pals the Stooges in January 1948's "Shivering Sherlocks." Lord co-wrote the comedy with the team's regular writer, Elwood Ullman, recycling several skits into the story where they help failing restauranteur Gladys Harmon (Christine McIntyre) while checking on an her inherited house to see if an $1,000 offer for it was fair. At the restaurant the hungry three partake in dinner, where Moe is eating clam (with the shells) chowder. The gag, 'Man vs. Soup,' has the clam eating every cracker Moe throws into the bowl, which was previously seen with Curly mugging it up in 1941's "Dutiful But Dumb." An exasperated Moe mimics Curly's trademark sounds, reminding viewers of the ailing brother's talent. While visiting the house for inspection, the Stooges are greeted by the humpbacked Angel (Duke York), who tries to kill the Stooges with a giant knife. This was York's last appearance of the many films with the three comics. "Shivering Sherlocks" was the only Del Lord-directed Stooges movie with Shemp, and the last one he directed in a long line of their classic comedies.

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is a good Three Stooges short! The Stooges are very good in it so is Christine McIntyre, Kenneth MacDonald, Frank Lackteen, Vernon Dent, Duke York, Stanley Blystone, and Cy Schindell. Its quite good to watch around Halloween time! There is another similar like this Three Stooges short with alternate scenes called Of Cash and Hash.

Three suspects are sought for an armored truck robbery. Larry, Moe, and Shemp are brought in but they pass the lie detector test. They are released back to the diner jobs. The policeman shows them a picture of a suspect and the boys recognize him. The Stooges' picture gets shown in the newspaper. Meanwhile, their friend diner owner Gladys inherits a country house. The boys go with her and it turns out to be the hideout of the robbers which includes a hunchback monster.

Moe is doing Curly's clam bit. He's expanding it a little with the other two. This is relatively good Shemp. It's recycling a lot of basic Stooges bits. It's good.

This short was director Del Lord's last and only Shemp short. The problem: It was quite weak and the cafe scene was pretty much a carbon copy of a Curly short "Busy Buddies" (1944). The interrogation scene was pretty funny, and the beginning part of the cafe part. But there are a lot of plotholes in this short. For example, why are the stooges hiding in the garbage can when the police come? In the remake, "Of Cash And Hash"(1955), director Jules White fixes this and the reason for the stooges hiding in the garbage can is because there is a gunfight between the police and the armored car robbers. The scene in which Moe is having trouble with the oyster was done before with Curly in "Dutiful But Dumb" (1941). The spooky house part wasn't all that great except for the hilarious scene on the outside of the spooky house. To top it off, the ending had no sting to it. Rating: C-

Shemp's only Stooge short directed by Del Lord. Lord directed many of the classic shorts with Curly, so seeing what he could do with Shemp held great promise.

A funny first half: Stooges all crammed into a single garbage can, the lie detector scenes, Moe being busted for never paying his tab, Vernon Dent and the cup of coffee/ mug of paint are all funny scenes.

The short falls apart after the Stooges are being chased by Angel throughout the house. Really nothing that hasn't been done better by the Stooges many times already. They run around in circles and Shemp drops wooden barrels on the villains. Cops arrive, then Shemp drops same on Moe and Larry. The end.

What a disappointment from one of the Stooges best directors.