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.

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.

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-

The tone is set early on. Cy Schindell, as a cop: "Who's in that can?" Voice from within (unmistakably Shemp's): "Just garbage!" Can't three guys enjoy their Saturday night out stuffed in a garbage can without being hassled by The Man? Thus the poor Stooges become the prime suspects for an armed robbery. Actually, that's a good thing, otherwise we wouldn't see the Stooges trip up police captain Vernon Dent on his own polygraph! Lodge meeting, huh? Yeah, sure, Vernon! Makes you wonder what debauchery he was really up to. The best delivery of a line in this short has to be Shemp's "Boy, you got a lotta crust!" when Larry is discovered to have run up a huge tab at the Elite Cafe. Thankfully, Christine McIntyre is in this short, too, as Gladys, the proprietor of the café. It's also good to see Kenneth MacDonald. The scene where he says, "Angel . . . Strangers in the house" is priceless. I may have said too much already, so get out there and see this short!

This is not one of the better Stooges efforts, with more a re-hash of comedy bits they had done in the past with Curly. Routines such as the cracker-swallowing clam in the soup was performed by Moe, who literally imitated Curly with the noises and facial gestures. Of course, Moe is no Curly so it's not funny. Been there, done that - and much better.

Christine McIntyre who, along with Vernon Dent, played in a million of these Stooges movies, plays a restaurant owner who is broke but is befriends by the boys after she bails them out of a jam with the police. The cops had accused the Stooges of being crooks on the lam. Obviously, it wasn't them, but they are dragged down to the station and given lie detector tests, which is probably the best part of the film. Anyway, "Gladys" (McIntryre) vouches for the boys and they, in turn, help her out at the café and then later go to a country house she is interested in buying or selling (I forget, to be honest). That's when we get the wild finale with the real crooks and a cleaver-wielding ghoul named "Angel" chasing our boys. Those chase scenes with the Stooges and scary characters are always funny. It's too bad the rest of the film wasn't as entertaining as the last three or four minutes.