NFR Project: 'Punch Drunks' (1934)

 

NFR Project: ‘Punch Drunks’

Dir: Lou Breslow

Scr: Jerry Howard, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Jack Cluett

Pho: Henry Freulich

Ed: Robert Carlisle

Premiere: July 13, 1934

17:29

O how I have longed for this day. At last I get to praise that most misunderstood of American comedy ensembles – the Three Stooges.

Now, if you hate them and don’t find them funny, there’s not much I can do for you. I have debated their merits with all kinds of naysayers over the years, and all I can say is – their comedy is unclassifiable. You either laugh, or you don’t. So those lost souls who deny their talent must make their way forward without the blessings of the comic proclivities of Larry, Moe, and Curley.

It is crude physical comedy they specialize in, the slapstick stuff of eye-pokes, smacks, crashes, soakings, falls, and various physically impossible brushes with death. The basic premise in all their comedy is: these guys are idiots, and they are always going to pay the price for that. Something we can all identify with.

The trio started out as literal stooges – that is, ones who follow another without thinking. This they did this on stage in vaudeville, beginning in 1922, in support of the grouchy, alcoholic comedian Ted Healy. Tired of his abuse, they broke away on their own and soon landed a somewhat lucrative contract with Columbia to make short comic films, in 1934. They would continue to make shorts for the studio until 1957.

The premise was simple – throw the three of them into any kind of employment or other challenging situation, and watch them completely botch it, as they waste most of their energy fighting among themselves as their project goes south. Moe is the commanding and judgmental superego of the group; Curly is the freewheeling, childish id. Larry is . . . Larry – there to have his face smacked and his hair pulled as he scratches spasmodically on his violin.

Punch Drunks, their second short, is the only one they wrote the story for. It’s a neat little film: Moe is a fight promoter, and Curley is a waiter to turns into a boxing beast when Larry plays “Pop Goes the Weasel.” The three figure their fortune is made, but everything gets in the way of Larry rendering the necessary tune during Curley’s big championship bout. (Arthur Housman, a character actor known for playing drunks, serves here as the ring’s timekeeper.)

Curley gets in trademarks such as “Woob-oob-oob-oob-oob-oob-oob!” and “I’m a victim of soicumstances!” Moe frowns, stews, and lashes out. Larry is just Larry. Through 190 shorts and various changes in personnel, they persisted in their simple yucks for the delectation of generations of children, and the odd adult.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Tarzan and His Mate.