Grips, Grunts and Groans

This funny Stooge short is really good.I like the how Curly performs as the wrestler.The looks he gets on his face are unforgettable and the sparing stuff he wears is so funny.This is a great one to check out!

Grips, Grunts and Groans (19370 was another classic short form the team of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curley Howard. The three lovable losers are traveling hobos who make an unscheduled last stop. A couple of engineers chase the vagrants away. Whilst hiding in the nearest building "The Hangover Gym", the boys are giving a gig as sparing partners for one of their prize fighters. The poor boxing skills with comedic end results amuse a local pro wrestler named Bustoff. He takes an immediate liking to the three and wants them to party with him. That doesn't seem like a good idea considering Bustoff has a big match tonight.

Can the boys keep Bustoff from enjoying himself too much? Will they get their promised sparring partner money? To find out what happens next you'll just have to watch GRIPS, GRUNTS & GROANS. One of their most famous shorts.

Highly recommended.

In 1937, the Stooges were coming into their prime, and though this one is not the best entry, it's close. The Trio is suppose to watch over the wrestler "Bustoff." But when they get him drunk and then drop dump-bells and a locker on his head, Curly is forced to take Bustoff's place in the ring. But once Wild Hyicene purr-fume gets on Curly, he goes nuts, and tears the joint apart. Great sound effects, goofs, and a great rousing ending. This one will have you laughing out loud.

Bottom Line: One of the top 10 Stooge Shorts. 9/10

The Three Stooges were already copying some hilarious sequences from their earlier shorts. But they ingeniously found a way to make these repeats refreshing. In January 1937 "Grips, Grunts and Groans," the trio revisit the theme of Curly going berserk during a contest when something sets him off. In this case, it's the smell of a woman's perfume, specifically Wild Hyacinth, that throws him for a loop. He later finds himself inside a wrestling ring getting mauled by his opponent when Moe comes across a woman in the audience dabbing some Wild Hyacinth on herself. He grabs her bottle and sprinkles the perfume on Curly's face, turning him into a raging physical maniac.

"I used to think 'Bull Durham' was the greatest sports movie ever made," writes reviewer Richard Hanania. "Now I think it just might be the Stooges' 'Grips, Grunts and Groans.' For one thing, even the title smacks of the Stooge aesthetic." The berserk motif was first introduced in 1934's "Punch Drunk," where the song Larry plays on his violin, "Pop Goes the Weasel," makes Curly crazy. Unlike a mouthful of cheese in the earlier short that calms him down, "Grips, Grunts and Groans" shows the tickling of the bottom of Curly's right bare foot settles him. Wrestler Ivan Bustoff (Harrison Greene, who's seen earlier in the Stooges' 1936 "Ants in the Pantry.") is the gangsters' wrestler to face opponent Ironhead (Casey Columbo), and they bet heavily on him. The Stooges become personal friends of Bustoff, who finds the three funny. They become responsible for his behavior before the match, which is challenging since Ivan gets absolutely blotto from drinking liquor on their watch. He passes out, requiring Curly to disguise himself as Bustoff to take his place in the ring. This sets off one of the screen's wildest melees. The film is included in Phil Hall's listing as '10 Notable Wresting Movies From the Golden Age of Hollywood.'

Although the chaotic ending of Grips, Grunts, and Groans is pretty much stolen from the Marx Brothers Animal Crackers it still works well. The Three Stooges throughout their career always were using stuff that other comics did and adapting for themselves. I think part of the reason is that they were not feature film comics like the Marx Brothers or Abbott& Costello, nor did they have the creative freedom that Laurel&Hardy did with Hal Roach. They worked fast and cheap and ground out the product and Harry Cohn at Columbia loved them for that.

The boys become trainers of a contending wrestler whom they accidentally knock out and Curly with false beard has to take his place. Curly has a phobia about the perfume wild hyacinth, some painful memories associated with same. It works on him the same way that the phrase Niagara Falls works in that famous 'Slowly I Turn' burlesque routine that Abbott&Costello use.

If you remember how Harpo demolished the entire cast of Animal Crackers than you know how this one ends. Grips, Grunts, And Groans I'd like to think is the Stooges homage to the Marx Brothers.