Woman Haters

This is a fairly good comedy by the Stooges, although they would soon produce much funnier films. For whatever reason, all the dialogue in this one was made to rhyme - it doesn't get in the way all of the time, but it seems unnecessary, and doesn't really help in any noticeable way. The plot is based on the boys joining a "Woman Haters" club that prohibits its members from marrying - on the same day that Larry had planned a wedding. The ensuing situations are relatively funny, but most of the laughs come from the slapstick and eyepokes that the Stooges would soon become famous for. This is a fairly funny film, but probably mostly of interest to those who are already fans of the Stooges.

While I've known this one for many years, only today I watched an MGM Busby Berkeley musical from '33 titled "FOOTLIGHT PARADE" staring among others James Cagney, Dick Powell, and a bevy of others. What captured my attention was the big main production number: The rhythm and melody, and even the lyrics could well be the source of the rhyming sing-song of WOMAN HATERS! Just listen to Dick Powell & Joan Blondell crooning "You-hoo-hoo-hoo" to each other, and you'll see where Larry Fine & Marjorie White got theirs from! While maybe not EXACTLY a duplicate, but so close, it's almost scary! While watching and listening, WOMAN HATERS was the first thing that came to mind! But altogether, WH is the better of the two by leaps and bounds!

We see a woman haters club and three men want to join. The men are of course Moe (who plays Tom), Larry (who plays Jim) and Curly (who plays Jack). Right after they have become members Larry wants to quit because he promised a beautiful girl, Mary (Marjorie White), to marry her. After an argument with Moe and Curly they decide he has to tell that he can't marry her. After Mary's father tells a story about a guy who tried to run away from his other daughter Larry is not so sure anymore. He does marry the girl and the trouble with Moe and Curly can begin. But can they all resist the beauty and charm of Mary?

This is one of the nicest Three Stooges short. Not because it is so funny, there are good moments though, but because the whole short sounds like poetry. The dialogue is put on rhyme and it is really good. Marjorie White also adds something to the whole thing. A great little movie.

Here is the very first of nearly two hundred Columbia two-reel Three Stooges short subjects which Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curley Howard made on their own, without their unfunny old straight man, Ted Healy. The results are pretty good but mixed, depending on how you approach it. For those who are not prepared, you may be taken aback by the style here: it is a musical comedy, where occasionally we'll get a Stooge or two break out into song, and every line of dialogue is spoken in rhyme. The plot line is that Moe, Larry and Curley join a misogynistic organization called "The Woman Haters", and vow not to have anything to do with females. Trouble begins to arise, however, when a woman takes after Larry and then starts to set her sights on the other Stooges as well. Not for everyone, and it's not indicative of their latter films, but taken with an open mind it's not a bad piece of work for a debut line of shorts. **1/2 out of ****

WOMAN HATERS, where it all began for The Three Stooges at Columbia, is more of an anomaly in The Three Stooges series. Officially, it is part of The Musical Novelties series, a series in which all the dialogue is spoken in rhyme and accompanied by music. Well, "novelty" is a good way to describe this short because that is exactly how I view it.

I'm glad this short exists because it gives us a different look at The Three Stooges in a musical role, and Larry in particular does a fine job (no pun intended). That said, would I be a Three Stooges fan if all 190 shorts were like this? Not exactly. Musicals aren't really my thing, and this one holds my interest simply because of three certain actors who are in it.

The rhyming dialogue gets old after a while and the Stooges really have to conform to the rhythm of the music as opposed to the rhythm they would naturally develop in later shorts, so it sounds a bit forced. I don't have much else to say with this one except I find it to be a fascinating one off.