I Can Hardly Wait

Another insipid Bruckman script. There is a dream sequence in this , Bruckman could ruin a ...dream. Again most of the funny bits are what Bruckman stole, this time from Laurel and Hardy and from two different films. Curly's kerchief is EXACTLY the same as Stan's in Leave um Laughing, right down to the twisting. Other gags from that film and "Pardon Us."

Why is there a dream? Nothing happens in the dream that couldn't happen without it. The dream adds nothing. Bruckman does not understand the Stooge Universe, he thinks there has to be be a reason for what they do. He also just throws in bits of orphan dialog, having nothing to do with anything, just to have someone say something. Out of no where Larry says," Hold MY head up."

Brucky writes some general situations and expects the Stooges to make them funny. They do pretty well, but it's all disjointed. The whole dinner episode is just a joke, then another one, then another one. But they don't lead to the next one. Moe blatantly puts his hand on a slice of bread.Curly spreads mustard on Moe's hand. ( "Pardon me I thout you was a slice of ham. I never saw a slice of ham with fingers." What kind of joke writing is that? If he never saw a ham with fingers, why did he think it was ham?) Curly washes a piece of ham. A spiral cut loaf of bread leads to a yodel fest? You don't need a story writer for any of that.

Somehow the Stooges keep this from being totally unwatchable, but Bruckman's presence even screwed up the title. Originally called "Nothing But the Tooth," which is in line with other punning titles, somehow it got changed to "I Can Hardly Wait" because it's a line he wrote for Curly. It's such a great line he has Curly repeat it 3 or 4 times early in the flick.

Another funny Stooges short where Curly suffers from a bad tooth and Moe and Larry do everything they can to extract it, to no avail. As a last resort, they drag a rattled Curly to the dentist, where he continues to resist pain. A lot of the tooth-pulling gags were redone in later Stooges shorts particularly Pardon My Clutch with Shemp. Curly's performance is spot on in this.

This is without a doubt the funniest of the Curly shorts and probably my all-time favorite 3 Stooges short. The one liners that Moe throws off in this one are classic! The first time I saw this one it left me laughing my head off. Some of the abuse that Larry and Curly take in this one leaves the viewer wondering if they did not receive some real injuries. Stooge trivia books, though, said Moe perfected his hand slap on his fellow Stooges. There is one funny moment where you can tell a fall was taken by Curly Howard's stunt double (as was the case in many other features). If you have not seen this one look for it on cable or buy it on video. I guarantee you'll watch it time and time again as I have over the years.

I Can Hardly Wait (1943)

**** (out of 4)

Moe, Larry and Curly are trying to split a piece of ham and an egg. Poor Curly gets left with the ham bone and after trying to eat it gets a tooth ache. The rest of this short has Moe and Larry trying to figure out a way to pull it.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT is in my opinion one of the best of the Three Stooges shorts. The film has one terrific laugh after another and some of the best gags that you're going to see in any of their movies. There are so many great moments here but there's no question that the second portion is just pure madness. The boys are trying to get ready for bed but the tooth needs to come out. This leads to a variety of violent gags where Curly has to play the victim to Moe's over-the-top ways of pulling the tooth. The gag dealing with the three story bunk bed is pure classic. Even the first portion of the film dealing with them cooking manages to get some big laughs.

The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry and Curly) are defense workers who have just come home after a long day at the plant. Oddly, the fact that they are working for the war effort is NOT explored in this film--it sure looked like it would be when the film started. I guess they just had this element in the story to make the film more patriotic and timely due to WWII. Soon, the real plot of the film is evident--Curly has a bad toothache and needs his tooth pulled. Considering that this is ALL the plot the film has and that about 80% of the film takes place in their house, the overall effect is amazingly claustrophobic and simple. Some on IMDb have said this is among their best. While I would agree that the gags work pretty well and it's enjoyable enough, the plot and locale prevent this from being a truly memorable film. Still, it does feature Curly, and this is always a big plus.