Flat Foot Stooges

The fire chief is unwilling to buy any modern equipment from salesman Mr. Reardon. Larry, Curly, and Moe are firemen at an old firehouse which still uses a horse-drawn fire engine. Reardon sabotages their fire engine and the chief's daughter Crickett catches him.

This is a fine Stooges short. It's fun for the most part. The Turkish bath would be funny except I think horses don't like lying on their sides which only happens when they're distressed like being pregnant. It doesn't make scene any funnier. As for the fire, the real danger also makes it less funny. All of it takes a bit of fun off the top.

In all honesty, this episode was another one of the Stooges's funniest installments. Based on some of the reviews I found on IMDb, it's also surprisingly underrated.

Charley Chase is definitely no Del Lord or Jules White. But, helming the chairs of writer and director for this short, he created perhaps one of the liveliest Three Stooges episodes ever made. Whoever said that this episode wasn't funny must have cotton for brains, because I found it to be hilarious. The comedy landed with amazing fluency and timing throughout the short, and the plot tied together nicely. While I do admit that there may have been a sense of disorganization in the short, Chase nevertheless made it all work and actually made something fun out of it all.

The performances of the cast were as entertaining and spritely as ever, if I may say. I mean, yes, the cast often spent a majority of the time interrupting or talking over each other, sometimes the Stooges even corrected themselves with what they're saying. In the long run, though, it made their performances funny, and it enhanced them with a human sense of accuracy. The Stooges themselves still had the best moments out of everyone, and it looked like they were having great time working on this short.

In the end, "Flat Foot Stooges" was another member of the Three Stooges filmography that provided a really great time.

Flat Foot Stooges (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent short has the Three Stooges working at a fire company that still uses a horse and buggy to go to the fires. A salesman tries to make them come current but the owner refuses so the man accidentally starts a fire at the firehouse. It's hard to believe one could say that a Stooges short was just too silly for its own good but that's pretty much the case here. Have you ever seen a duck that eats some gun powder and then lays an egg that explodes? You'll get to see that here as well as another scene where bulldog fights a mouse only to get beat up. Those two items aren't really funny and that's pretty much the story from start to finish. We get a few nice gags but even the best ones will only put a smile on your face and none of them will have you laughing at out. The entire second half of the film deals with the firehouse being on fire but the Stooges manage not to realize even though they're downstairs from the blaze. This leads to a rather amusing scene where they must try to get the wagon around town without any horses.

This goofy story has to remind you of OUR GANG/LITTLE RASCALS who had their own fire department where everything went haywire. The Stooges are now firemen at Engine Company Number One?

The station, run by chief Kelly (Chester Conklin) is falling apart, and the fire engine is still pulled by horses? Crooked salesman Reardon (played by tough guy Dick Curtis) wants to sell Kelly some new stuff, but he won't budge. Without too much surprise, the crooked creep sabotages the fire engine.

A fire breaks out and what the heck are the Stooges gonna' do? I agree with the last reviewer, Charley Chase, who directed and wrote this comedy, had the Keystone Cops in mind, now acting as firemen. Moe, Larry and Curly give it their best shot ever. Both Chester Conklin and his brother Heinie (who plays a traffic cop) began their careers in silent films as members of the Keystone Cops. It all makes sense.

Footnote; this was the first time Larry would use Curly's famous line, "I'm a victim of circumstance!"

If you're a western buff, you'll recognize Dick Curtis, who made a career of playing villains to the max. He appeared in several westerns shot at the same studio, the perfect scoundral for the Stooges.

Just plain crazy. Always on dvd released via Columbia, generally by decades, 30s, 40s and 50s episodes. Some of the dvd boxes rely on themes and combine various episodes. Thanks much to METV for running these oldies Saturdays.

In this short subject the boys are firemen who succeed in burning down the fire station. Not that in this case they started the fire, but their response time leaves a lot to be desired even for the Three Stooges.

It all starts innocently enough for the boys, they're told the fireman's picnic is coming and to get things spic and span even their two white horses. Only Moe, Larry, and Curly would think of sending the horses and themselves to get cleaned up.

This short subject is something of a Keystone Kops reunion with brothers Chester and Heinie Conklin in the cast. With Chief Chester leading the response to a fire in their own station is hilarious.

One wonders if the ancestors of the Three Stooges were part of the Rome Volunteer Fire Department when Nero burned the city.