Fright Night

Shemp Howard was a successful comedic actor when he was contacted by his brother Moe to temporarily take his younger brother Curly's place in The Three Stooges' March 1947's "Fright Night." Curly had just suffered his second major stroke, and there was a question as to how long he would return.

Shemp was a logical choice to fill in for the ailing Jerome Howard (Curly). He and Moe began as a comedy duo back in 1922 along with boyhood friend Ted Healy, calling themselves "Ted Healy and His Stooges." With Larry Fine on board in 1928, Moe and Shemp became known as The Three Stooges. Shemp, born Samuel Horowitz (Howard), was the third of five boys in the Horowitz family, followed by Moe two years later and then Jerome eight years after that. Shemp's mom, speaking with a thick Lithuanian accent, pronounced Sam as Shem before reverting to Shemp. Ted Healy and The Three Stooges appeared in their only feature film in 1930's "Soup to Nuts." The Stooges broke from Healy because of his abusive behavior, only to join up with him two years later. The reunion lasted only a couple of months before Shemp had enough of the domineering Healy, quitting the act in 1932 to go on his own. Curly joined the Stooges as a replacement while Shemp embarked on a very successful film career on his own.

Independent of The Three Stooges, Shemp earned the moniker "the ugliest man in Hollywood." Artist Drew Friedman wrote, "Shemp had a range as an actor, which explains why he was such an in-demand character actor for years. Watch his smart, low-key, and essential performance as Joe Guelpe, bartender/proprietor of the Black Pussy Cafe, in W. C. Field's "The Bank Dick." Beside Field's 1939 comedy classic, Shemp made notable appearances in several high profile feature films, including 1939 "Another Thin Man," 1940 "The Invisible Woman," 1941 "Buck Privates" with Abbott and Costello, and 1941 "Hellzapoppin'" Shemp was 52 when asked by Moe to take the place of Curly when filming "Fright Night" began in June 1946, one month after Curly's stroke. Director Edward Bernds quickly rejiggered Curly's parts and dialogue for Shemp, who had a habit of ad-libbing. Shemp avoided imitating Curly's mannerisms and trademark phrases. Instead he introduced his soon-to-be-famous high-pitched "bee-bee-bee-bee-bee-bee!" while inhaling, and quickly adopted other humorous quirks. "Fright Night" opens with the Stooges as managers of boxer Chopper Kane (Dick Wessel). Shemp is volunteered to be his sparing partner, and soon finds himself twisted up between the ropes like a pretzel. As a big boxing fan, Shemp listed "Fright Night" as his favorite of all the 76 Stooges films he appeared.

The boys are fight managers and their lone boxer is "Chopper" (who looks about 40, and as much a boxer as I am). After some early shenanigans they have Chopper do some sparring with Shemp (who isn't thrilled about doing this). To make matters worse, the pretty "Kitty" comes into the gym, Chopper is smitten and really wants to impress her...and Moe and Larry accidentally tie Shemp's right glove to the ropes.

What comes next is a massacre, but it's pretty funny. Afterward The Chopper leaves with the bimbo dame and hoods come into the gym. They represent "Big Mike" and tell the guys that their man is not going to win the upcoming fight against Gorilla Watson. "Why," they ask. "Because Big Mike said so." Then they leave and the boys don't know what to do. "We have every last cent we own bet on the Chopper," says Larry.

They decide to literally sweeten up their fighter, feeding him pies and cream puffs all day and letting him hang out with Kitty.

A few crazy things happen, the fight is called off and Big Mike and his hoods wind up chasing the Stooges all around a warehouse. In all, a decent episode.....entertaining but no big laughs. Maybe because I've seen these episodes many times for 50 years.

Shemp's appearance was his first in a long time, taking Curly's spot after the latter suffered a stroke, ending his career. I always liked Shemp, but Curly's shoes were impossible to fill.

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!

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.

As good as Shemp is in his short-subject debut with the stooges, it seems to me that the writers and director were going easy on him in that he isn't given much to do. In fact, Moe and Larry don't have much to do, either.

Sure, Shemp has plenty of ring time in the beginning of the flick when he's sparring with Chopper. And he does his hilarious "I've got a little brother this big" bit. But throughout the movie, the action has the stooges merely reacting to what the other characters--Chopper, his girlfriend, and the thugs--are doing, rather than interacting with themselves. For me, it makes for an uninteresting show.

One exception is when Larry unknowingly bangs Moe on the head with a large piece, and then brags about it to him before Moe gets his revenge. This sort of slapstick is woefully missing from Fright Night.

And I always wondered why they named it Fright Night. No ghosts, no goblins, no mysterious houses--just a boxing match!