Sweet and Hot

I have to say I agree with a lot of what's said in the other comments. No, the Stooges should not have been reduced to this. Yes, it violates a key Stooge ethic to have the guys play different, and separate, characters like this. (That ethic never needed to be stuck to more than in the sadly low-budget Besser years. Separating the guys, as in this one or FLYING SAUCER DAFFY -- presumably as a way of trying to deal with Joe "not fitting in" -- just made things worse; the guys always worked best as a true trio.) And, yes, it was a mistake to center a Stooge short so much around a non-Stooge character. As for that character, the most charitable thing I can say is that her singing, etc., must have gone over much better in 1958 than it does now. Overall, this short is just too different, and that "different-ness" is not good.

But the Stooges themselves, as always, give it their best. They still manage to be fine comic actors even with all these disadvantages. Yes, we miss the usual Moe, but he plays his atypical character here well; his fractured English is a hoot ("A mice! A mice!"). (I'm surprised no one's pointed out that each Stooge plays TWO characters in this, though in the flashback scene they don't do much funny.) And, as one who does not worship at the altar of Curly (I like Shemp best, actually), I maintain that Joe could have made a fine Stooge were it not for the low budgets and the poor scripts in which they seemed not to know what to do with him. (Joe's tap dancing -- or anyone's, actually -- doesn't fit well into a Stooge short, but it gives a hint of how much more talent this guy had than his Stooge work let him show.)

Sure, it's not the best story, and it was a showcase for Muriel Landers, but I've always enjoyed the dialogue in the doctor's office.

"Gentlemen, take a chair." "Here, here, here! Please don't take them home!" "Indian Giver."

When I was about 9 years old, my folks left me and a friend at the theatre to see some or another kids' movie, and what pops up before the feature but "Hellooo, Hellooo, Hellooo… hello." The Three Stooges(!), singing, and in wide screen!

I was stunned. I'd figured the Stooges had died before my grandfather was born. With this perception in my mind, it seemed no wonder that there was no Curly. In fact, I had the impression I was not really watching a "Three Stooges" movie so much as some kind of playful little teaser with Moe and Larry and another funny guy name Joe. Moe and Larry certainly did not perform their usual roles, and Moe even had his hair slicked back. But that was no problem: he WAS Moe, and he WAS Larry, and the whole affair actually seemed like a logical "update" for these comedians. Like, they are still around but doing different things now..

Larry danced and jumped and moved about so lithely that it seemed impossible he was the same guy in the ancient 1930s movies we watched on TV. But there he was! And doing a wonderful comic dance. Joe, too, did a nice dance, and later Moe did a few steps. (Even later, Joe did a REAL nice tap number, BETTER than Curly, joined by Larry on the violin.)

But when the movie was over, I was disappointed. Not because I missed Curly, nor even because the Moe and Larry did not play The Stooges, but because the Grand Finale somehow never occurred. Logically, there should have been a memorable song-and-dance with Joe, Larry and Moe. And this absence of a musical climax, to this day is my main criticism of this film. (Although if I were using Final Cut on this thing, I'd cut out the entire "childhood-memory" section.)

As it was, I thought then (and still think) that "Sweet and Hot" came across as a cheery little film, with some good dancing and a few moments of modest slapstick. But it was not a good "story" movie, and it was missing that key element of really strong physical comedy we kids loved so much. Rather, this was just a very lively "guest appearance" for Moe and Larry, in a quickie film made to warm up an audience for the feature film, and offered as an amazing surprise to 9 year olds. As such, it succeeded.

The shorts the Stooges made toward the end of their careers were universally terrible. The budgets were slashed to almost the point of invisibility, and as a previous poster has said, the boys were old, tired and past their prime. This actually looks more like a "trial balloon," as it were, for the "talents" of one Muriel Landers, who plays Tiny. She is neither talented nor tiny. She is a short, heavyset woman who is given a number where she sings and dances and proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that she can do neither. Something else she can't do is act--there's one scene where she sticks her finger in her mouth and starts talking baby talk, which is embarrassing, uncomfortable and, frankly, creepy. Moe has his hair slicked back and plays (badly, to be honest) a German/Austrian/whatever psychiatrist. There are virtually no production values--the whole film looks like it was shot in a dark, ill-lit corner of the studio somewhere. There is not one even remotely funny line in this film--not ONE. Moe and Larry look like they're trying to give it their best, but they were either too old, too tired, too discouraged, or a combination of all three, and their best in this case wasn't even remotely good enough. This is a complete embarrassment, and if you love the Stooges as much as I and a lot of others do, spare yourself the sad spectacle of watching a comedy team that was once at the top reduced to participating in this sad excuse for a comedy in order to pay the rent. Watch some of their masterpieces from the '30s and '40s with Curley, or even some of the later ones with Shemp, but whatever you do, avoid this one like the plague. Remember the Stooges as they were in their prime, and not suffering the indignity of having to make this pathetic, embarrassing and, finally, sad mess.

"Sweet and Hot" is one of the last Stooge two-reelers shot at Columbia. As such, the production values are poor, and let's face it --this film is merely a pilot to showcase Muriel Landers.

I will defend this film, however, as NOT being the worst film in the Stooges canon. (That honor must surely go to the racist "The Yoke's on Me.") Muriel Landers has a modicum of talent; she later appeared on early episodes of "Laugh In" and previously appeared as the love interest (!) of Sammy Petrillo in "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla."

I must also defend Joe and Larry. The talents of Joe Besser burst forth here. He tears paper and does a little dance. What's bad about that?

Okay, so some of my comments are tongue in cheek. "Sweet and Hot" is no classic, but it's not the worst Stooge film, either. Although it musk rank in the bottom 20. 4 out of 10.