Beer and Pretzels

The boys really threw themselves around, tossing their bodies, all over the place, during these early MGM shorts, that they did with Healy. The copy I saw of Beer and Pretzels (1933), on YouTube, was a nicely restored version. The quality was great. The boys try to get jobs being waiters. This one is a little chaotic, with the dancing though. Bonnie Bonnell returns from the boys last film, Nertsery Rhymes (1933). In one dance scene, a dancer looks like she's having a seizure. It was weird. It was odd. The three tap dancer guys, who popped up, were slightly entertaining though. The director, Jack Cummings, lighted the sets strategically, so the dancers were in shadow, showing a silhouetted look. It was the second film in a five series run, produced by MGM studios.

There are signs of magic, to these early Stooge films. Previews of things to come. It is great seeing these again with a 21st century perspective. It is really interesting trying to analyze, what is going on in the boys' minds, as they act out these scenes, knowing what we know now, from a real-world perspective. It's an odd contrast, when some of the characters discuss the concept of being solo. It contrasts to what happens to Healy, Moe, Larry and Curly, the following year, when the gang split and the Three Stooges were born. Healy does do some of the gags in Beer and Pretzels (1933), that the Stooges made famous, later on, during their 25 year run, that followed. This one just felt a tad sloppy in its design, compared to their previous film.

6.1 (D+ MyGrade) = 6 IMDB.

The Three Stooges got their name because in fact they were 3 stooges to comedian Ted Healy. The way Moe slapped the other two around was about the way Healy treated all three. A perfect example is this short Beer And Pretzels.

The guys can't keep jobs because Healy can't keep his hands off the women. But they do get a job after the Stooges obey an offhand comment. But the usual chaos ensues.

The guys are a lot younger looking in these Healy shorts from MGM..

Reason why I said before '46 was because Curly was starting to become ill, and it was sad to see Curly in the shape he was in at that time. Because of that, it made it hard to watch any of those without feeling sad :( But here, we have the early days... the EARLY early days. Alright, so this isn't "The Three Stooges", but as it was usually put "Ted Healy and His Stooges". The humor here seems like a mix of what the stooges would become and a little bit of the biggest contenders at the time, The Marx Brothers. Best bit: proof that if you don't throw salt over your shoulder in time, you'll have bad luck... LOTS of it. Anyway, this is worth a look for ALL stooges fans and you can probably find it on a video or DVD collection for about five dollars... and in the words of Curly, "He's got FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!"

Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Curly Howard, and Ted Healy are Heely-Heely-Heely & Heely. They are a bottom rung vaudevillian act getting thrown out of the theater. They are reduced to working as restaurant waiters. Of course, it goes horribly wrong.

Ted Healy and the Stooges are working out the premise. The Three Stooges are really the backup performers for Healy. This is a must for any Three Stooges fans. It's part of their origins story. The best is when the Stooges go crazy and Healy tries to direct the chaos. One can also see why Healy isn't necessary to the act. Without him, the chaos can be fully unleashed.

Primarily of historical interest, "Beer and Pretzels" is one of a handful of shorts made by Ted Healy and His Stooges for 20th Century Fox in the early '30s. Most of these shorts are difficult to find, but they are sometimes screened at oddball times on cable stations, like AMC, for instance. Of the ones I've seen, this is not one of the best, but it is by no means bad. Basically, the formula was this: take some musical numbers from Busby Berkeley films that got left on the cutting room floor and pad them out with comedy from Healy and His Stooges. His Stooges, of course, are comprised of Larry Fine, Moe Howard, and Curly Howard, who would later gain immortality and fame as the Three Stooges. But, though, they have plenty of screen time, the show belongs to Ted Healy. At the time, Healy was a huge vaudeville star but is virtually forgotten today (except as a footnote on the careers of the Three Stooges). He can best be described as a '30s Richard Belzer or Dennis Miller - acerbic and abusive, a domineering know-it-all who happens to have some charm and a nice tenor voice. Basically, his "boss" role was overtaken by Moe when the Stooges went solo. In the film, Healy & his Stooges play vaudevillians who are fired as the film opens. They soon find work as waiters in a posh nightclub and chaos ensues. Though their characters are by no means as defined as they would become, it's fascinating to see glimpses of Moe's pugnaciousness, Larry's wishy-washiness, and Curly's overgrown kid act.