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

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.

Larry, Curly, and Moe are hobos. They are found hiding in a train and chased into a gym. They are looking for work and the trainer Bustoff hires Curly to be a boxing partner for $5. Bustoff likes the boys so much that he takes them out for dinner. The problem is that he has to stay sober for his wrestling match and the boys are hired to keep him from the drink.

I like Bustoff. As always, Curly is great. The only problem is that any crooked promoter would never hire the boys to do anything. Instead, the boys should know about Bustoff's match and would try to stop his drinking out of the friendship. If they find out that Bustoff's gym is at stake, the boys would still do the same thing. This is generally fun.