Income Tax Sappy

Larry prepares a foot long hot dog for Moe. He slathers it with a liter of mustard and says to himself, "and I knoooooooow he's gonna like that!". As he takes the hot dog to serve to Moe, he grabs the jar of mustard as he reminds himself, "He might want a little mustard!" Welcome to "Income Tax Sappy," where cheating on their income tax has made the Stooges into millionaires (the national economy must have been very strong in the early 1950's). The IRS, of course, gets wise. They send over Benny Rubin in a phony beard and a phonier German accent, and the sting operation is on. Shemp displays his ardent love for mashed potatoes and gravy ("I looooooooves gravy!") by shoveling copious quantities of each onto his dickey, which amuses the maid. The jig is up for the Stooges right after Herr Rubin gets the predictable face full of those very same mashed potatoes and gravy. It's good to see Vernon Dent as one of the T-men who come after the Stooges. All in all, there's food fighting, mayhem, and a good dose of Moe handing out the physical abuse to Shemp and Larry. Alas, if only Shemp had not claimed those 14 bartenders as dependents on his W-1040.

This is one of only two original Moe, Larry, Shemp shorts released in 1954. Moe is at his grouchy best in the start of this picture, tearing on Larry & Shemp with seemingly little provocation. I also enjoy some of the little asides in this short, like Shemp's "always hitting, picking, doing that, everything" after Moe orders him to get a cup of coffee or Larry's little mumblings while putting mustard on a hotdog.

As previously mentioned, Shemp's part is reduced bigtime at the dinner party, but Moe, Larry, and the hilarious Benny Rubin more than pick up the slack. "You are very loose eater".

I rate this one a 8/10.

Btw, for the IMDb people, your trivia note for this short actually belongs under "Heavenly Daze".

"Income Tax Sappy" is one of the last good Three Stooges Shorts. It is notable for several reasons. It was one of only a few released that year that did not contain stock footage. It was also one of the few "all-new" episodes released after Shemp Howard suffered a minor stroke.

Most notably, however, is that "Income Tax Sappy," much like other "all-new" episodes released late in Shemp's career, had a different look and feel to it. According to author Jeffery Forrester in his 1981 book "The Stooge Chronicles", these episodes were an attempt by Columbia to freshen up things a little bit. Columbia's reasoning was that audiences were getting a little tired of the standard Stooges routines. The viewer will notice that in episodes like "Income Tax Sappy", and "Goof on a Roof", the settings are much more middle-class (at least how TV and the movies showed the middle-class in the 1950s). The apartments in these shorts are actually rather up-to-date and spiffy! The earlier portrayals of the Stooges, as barely-employed low-lifes, would have seemed awfully dated by this time.

Did this attempt by Columbia work? Well, yes and no. "Income Tax Sappy", while okay, does not rank up there with the best of the Shemp episodes like "Brideless Groom" and "Fright Night." Though the Stooges give it their best, it was clear that things were winding down.

This is a classic. Even though Shemp doesn't get as much screen time as many would hope, Benny Rubin as Mr. Cash, Moe, and Larry make up for it big time. In the scenes Shemp is in, he shines. It confuses me why Shemp doesn't get that much screen time. Even though he had a stroke in 1952, he recovered within weeks of it. I guess director Jules White and writer Abner Singer wanted Moe and Larry to shine more for once. There are so many classic lines and exchanges in this and Moe is especially hot tempered. This short is a must-have for any stooge fan who likes Shemp or the episodes he was in.

Grade: A+

Anyone, and I mean anyone who hires the Three Stooges as tax experts deserves what they get. Not even H&R Block would hire Moe, Larry, and Shemp and they hire some winners there. Believe me, regretfully I know.

It's tax time and the boys are doing their taxes and they think of some wild deductions. Larry opines that he should deduct $3000.00 for charity, after all charity does begin at home. Other such similar things occur and the boys get away with it. In fact they decide they're so good why not offer themselves as tax consultants. I'm not sure some real ones didn't start this way.

But even in the days before computers inevitably people do get audited and the IRS sends out Benny Rubin as a potential customer for the Stooges. Rubin was a long time vaudeville, burlesque, and borscht belt comedian and he gives the guys a run for their money in the laugh department.

Let's just say it all doesn't go well and that maybe taxes was not the lucrative employment opportunity as originally thought.

Income Tax Sappy is a pretty good short subject for the boys and I stand by what I said in the title.