Fright Night

When Clyde Bruckman devised the scenario for FRIGHT NIGHT, it featured Curly Howard's character since he was still one of the Three Stooges. By the time filming began, he had left the team due to illness and Shemp Howard replaced him. There's no indication in the resulting film, however, that Shemp was shoehorned in at the last minute. Without trying to imitate his brother Curly, he asserts himself as a Stooge, his buffoonery smoothly meshing with Moe Howard's browbeating and Larry Fine's flakiness. It's no surprise that Shemp effortlessly interacts with his partners as if he's been with them for years. After all, he had been with the team before Curly stepped in.

In FRIGHT NIGHT, the Stooges are fight managers who try to elude gangsters. Director Edward Bernds deftly executes the slapstick without resorting to tasteless violence. The short is peppered with funny gags, particularly a sequence where Moe manipulates an unconscious thug like a puppet to distract a pursuing thug. FRIGHT NIGHT also benefits from a well constructed and evenly paced storyline that generates suspense as well as humor.

All the Stooges perform admirably, but Shemp dominates the film. He is a comedic dynamo, conveying a delirious energy that belies his middle age. His broad mugging may not appeal to everyone, but those who enjoy this kind of comedy (like me) will find Shemp's performance highly adroit and diverting.

Overall, FRIGHT NIGHT is an enjoyable short that showcases the Three Stooges's comedy to good advantage and provides an impressive debut for Shemp Howard as a member of the team.

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is one of My favorite Three Stooges shorts! This one is with Shemp! Dick Wessel performs good here as a gentleman and as rugged boxer. Tiny Brauer was great as the villain. Cy Schindell also was good. Also in this short is Claire Carleton, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Dave Harper, Sammy Stein, and Tom Kingston. There is another Three Stooges short with Shemp very similar like this one called Fling in the Ring. I strongly recommend both!

This short subject has our three goofballs as fight manager to Dick Wessell known in the ring as Chopper. After a sampling of their training methods which include an unwilling Shemp sparing with Wessell the guys put their hard earned dough om their guy.

Imagine their chagrin when the gamblers tell them tat they have to tell their guy the smart money is on his opponent and people don't live long crossing up smart money. he guys couild lose more than a bankroll.

After trying to reverse their training t all does work out rather nicely in the end. In filmland there is a special province for the 3 Stooges.

At east most of the timer.

Shemp makes a welcomed return to The Three Stooges, though Curly's stroke was a terribly unfortunate incident. Shemp (with Moe) was one of the original 1922 Stooges (Shemp left in 1932) and here, in 1947, he shows that he still had it. "Fright Night" starts off somewhat slow but, from the night of the fight (just under halfway through the short) till the end, the short is a lot of fun, and Shemp's performance is hilarious. With his return, Shemp brought the Stooges to a more out-of-place human level, whereas Curly was pure animal. Shemp's gruff old uncle-like attitude made him much more accessible than Curly, and Shemp was also a much better actor (Curly always sounded like he was reading his lines). This short catches The Three Stooges returning to their original lineup, and the shorts were much better for it.

Thanks METV for "Shemptember!" We are hooked on the Stooges.

Yes, Shemp officially joined his brother, Moe Howard, and Larry Fine in this short, the teams 98th episode. The fun fact is Shemp never left the team because he had worked with Moe, Curly and Larry in vaudeville. Moe said it was to be temporary, following Curly's stroke, however his health never improved and Shemp spent nearly a decade with the Stooges. What insane fun.

Shemp claimed this was his favorite film because he loved boxing. Here, the Stooges are backing Chopper (played to the top by Dick Wessel), betting all their money on him to win which will make them rich -- until gangsters get into the act and force them to make him LOSE. Or else! The dirty rats.

This short rocks and rolls, and owes a lot to Shemp who picked up where Curly left off. In fact, if you watch closely, he's a stunt-master, able to jump, bounce and flip all over the place. Just plain goofy and filled with a ton of energy. Some real stunt doubles were used in the series, however for the most part, Shemp did many of his own pratfalls.

Applause to tough guy Dick Wessel, who previously co-starred in DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL, one of his best roles. Wisecracking blonde Claire Carleton plays Kitty, perfect Stooge leading lady.

***Look for super star pro wrestler and football star Sammy Stein as "Gorilla." He looks the part. Top direction by Edward Bernds who let Shemp take the stage. Another wild one written by Clyde Bruckman. Remade as FLING IN THE RING.

Always on remastered dvd via Columbia, the films boxed by decades, 30s, 40s and 50s episodes.