Booby Dupes

Booby Dupes (1945)

*** (out of 4)

The Stooges are trying their luck at selling fish but after a bunch of kittens eat their stock they realize that they're going to have to try something new. Curly comes up with an idea to cut out the middle man and instead catch the fish that they'll eventually sell. This leads the boys to buy a boat and things just don't go as planned.

BOOBY DUPES isn't the greatest films that the Stooges did but it certainly contains enough laughs to make it worth watching. The highlight of the film comes when Curly ends up doing battle against a fish who just isn't going to give up no matter what happens. There's also some good stuff at the start of the picture when the boy's car isn't working correctly. As I said, this here certainly isn't a classic Stooges short but there are enough laughs that make it work.

This was one of those very fast-moving Stooges shorts that really had no story. Even so, I was surprised to see familiar foil Vernon Dent kind of forgotten in the last half of the film. He was supposed to be chasing the guy (who was Curly) who stole his Naval Captain's uniform. We never know what happened regarding that angle.

The best gags in here for in the first half, anyway. The boys have a truck, selling fresh fish and some of the routines are both subtle and slapstick as they try to peddle their wares and then come up with the idea of buying their own boat to catch the fish and cut out the middleman.

However, you can imagine how their boat-sailing and fishing expeditions. Suffice to say, not too well!

A nice feature in here was seeing Rebel Randall (that's a woman!) in her bathing suit. Wow, would she look good in today's styles.

This short subject finds the 3 Stooges as fish peddlers and doing about as well as they do in other occupations. But they get the brilliant idea of becoming fishermen and selling their catch wholesale. What the Fulton Fish Market in New York wouldn't do to keep these guys away.

Once at sea in a pair of ramshackle rowboats the boys have their usual monkeyshines trying to learn their new trade. Curly has a bout with a flying fish and need I tell you who won?

But adding insult to injury when they sink one boat and get to the second, trying to get attention they raise a white flag for rescue. A passing plane sees the white flag and because of certain stains thinks it Japanese.

What was unusual about this was that at the very end Moe has a good idea from getting away from the bombs dropping all around. Can't tell what it is. But Stooge fans everywhere will appreciate it.

Larry, Curly, and Moe are selling fish out of their truck. Cats eat up their inventory. They need more fish and buy sailor uniforms to go fishing. Curly joins a beauty who comes with a jealous boyfriend. The guys buy a boat which has many problems. They go fishing and have even more problems. The boys are fun. This one works from start to finish. Curly drilling holes in the boat to let the water out is inventive and hilarious.

This short is pretty mixed because there are some scenes I liked and some that I didn't like. The scene in which the stooges fix the boat was great. The beginning was good too, but the fishing scene deducts the grade a bit, because it was done rather weakly and wasn't that funny. But there was a funny scene in which Larry tells Moe to shut up. It was funny because it was out of character for Larry to do that. The scene with Curly hiding from the boyfriend I really didn't like because it wandered from the plot and it was just filler because they couldn't think of anything else. Overall, I would say this is an okay short with some funny moments.

Grade: C