Sweet and Hot

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.

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."

You kind of can see that the Stooges get old - so no pun intended. Yes everyone gets older (if they are lucky enough I reckon or whatever you would call it), but this is not just an appearance thing. The jokes seem to repeat themselves - where were you born? The answer to this question, the literal one that is, seems to be a go to joke ... one they used before (as I was made aware by watching some of the shorts the beloved group did).

It's still the Stooges, it still can be fun. Even if Moe now is not just Moe, but a doc ... who'd have thought right? Well don't think this will change much of course ...

"Sweet and Hot" is neither sweet nor hot. What it is, actually, is sad. The Stooges were near the end of the line (Columbia would shut down the shorts department and unceremoniously dump them later that year), and it shows. They are old, and they look tired. Columbia cut the budgets for its shorts department to almost nothing, which is obvious by watching this thing. Besides the Stooges, the only other "actor" (for lack of a better word) in this film is Muriel Landers, a woman who is so monumentally untalented it is actually embarrassing to watch her. You wonder if she was related to some Columbia executive, as that could be the only possible explanation for her appearance. She can't sing or dance (although for some unfathomable reason she's given a musical number), and she certainly can't act. There's no real plot to speak of; nothing in this film is anywhere near funny. The whole thing runs about 15 minutes and looks like it was shot in 16 minutes. It is not easy to watch this film, and not just because of its cheapness and ineptitude. It's sad to see two comics (Joe Besser was never considered a real Stooge by true Stooge fans) at the end of their careers in a vehicle that is nowhere near worthy of their talents, and this piece of crap definitely isn't.

I liked this short because the Stooges played separate roles and Muriel "Tiny" Landers was comical (like some over-sized women I know). Moe and Larry did not wear their vintage Stooge haircuts, which gave a different flavor to this short. I was surprised to see Joe do a tap dance (I did not know he had such a talent). Larry did play the violin (for real) like in other shorts. The music was swinging.

As a die-hard Stooges fan, Spike TV (and AMC) have not shown this short. There are a lot of shorts that have not been shown by these two networks. I was told that Columbia owns the "missing" shorts and have not released them to television. Joe was alright as a Stooge. They were getting too old to hit anyway. I did see Joe get some hits in his shorts (unless that was a stunt man).