Stop! Look! and Laugh!

source: Stop! Look! and Laugh!

I saw "Stop!Look!and Laugh!" as part of a double bill when I was a teenager and found it amusing, but strictly for the small fry. Whether the viewer enjoys this picture or not depends greatly on being a fan of the Three Stooges and Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney. Even Three Stooges addicts will be disappointed with the disjointed nature of the editing culled from some of the Stooges best film shorts. Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney became TV's answer to the extremely popular Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy radio program. Though Winchell was a much better ventriloquist than Bergen, his humor basically was for the kids whereas Bergen appealed to a much wider audience, pleasing adults as well as children. So in this movie, Mahoney is presented as Winchell's little boy who hates school and uses all types of stratagems to stay home. The film has a major problem in making transitions from Winchell and Mahoney's comic routines to the archival footage featuring the Three Stooges. The transitions are at best forced and at times complete failures. The archival footage of the Stooges presents the goofy trio in much edited versions, sort of like a celluloid Reader's Digest. Still, the slapstick humor of the Stooges often rises above the sloppy editing to make the audience laugh. Never serious competition for Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges could deliver the belly laughs at times, especially the original Moe, Larry, and Curly, with Curly turning out to be one of the best visual comedians of his day. Many of the scripts were well-written and the early shorts well directed. Unfortunately Curly's humor suffered in later years as a result of poor health. So rather than wasting your time on "Stop!Look! and Laugh!," rent "Disorder in Court," the Clark Gable parody, "Men in Black," or "A Plumbing We Will Go" to see the Stooges at their very best. If you're a fan of old-time slapstick you will certainly enjoy the Classic Stooges but may find "Stop!Look!and Laugh!" a bit disappointing.

When this film was first publicized by Columbia Pictures and The film's producer:Harry Rome in l960.They promised that "The Three Stooges"(Who at that time were:Moe Howard,Larry Fine & Curly Joe DeRita)would appear in the film with Ventrilloquist/Entertainer:Paul Winchell and with NYC based kids tv host/performer:"Officer Joe"Bolton.But when audiences did see:"Stop Look & Laugh!"? "The Three Stooges"(Moe,Larry and Curly Howard.Who died during the winter of l952)only appear in stock footage from the l930's and 40's.Hence! "The Three Stooges"never really appeared in this film.Thus depriving the audiences of seeing their favorite comedy trio in action.The film does feaure some witty banter and slapstick from Mr.Winchell and his puppet pals:"Jerry Mahoney"and"Knucklehead Smiff"and a wonderful cameo from"Officer Joe"Bolton.(At that time Mr.Bolton was still hosting reruns of "The Three Stooges"Films from the l930's and 40's on WPIX TV Ch.ll NYC's:"Three Stooges Funhouse!")but the Stock footage with the boys is brief and forgetable.When shown with horrible music and graiting sound effects.And "The Marquis Chimps"parody of the Fairy Tale "Cinderella"(Which also using the charming voice over talents of Ms.June Foray.Best remembered as the voices of "Rocky Squerill and Natasha Fatale')is nothing more than cheap timefiller for the more memorable comedy squences featuring Mr.Winchell and his puppets.Hence! This film should not tell you to"Stop Look & Laugh!".But to"Stay away from this Three Stooges RippOFFF!".

This film was made to be a B picture, meaning it opened for the main movie. As a B picture, it is sufficient, it does it's job, holds the attention, provides Stooge and Paul Winchell fans with some laughs. This film was never meant to satisfy an audience would would come 40 years later, spoiled by pristine remastered complete prints available with the click of a DVD player. No, this was for the kids who wanted a quick laugh, familiar gags they had probably seen a hundred times (by 1960 the Three Stooges as well as the Little Rascals were syndicated on many kiddie TV shows), so this movie fulfills it's requirement of keeping audiences happy till the main feature came up. So, if you want to see this, watch it in that spirit, get up one Saturday morning, pop some popcorn and get some soda pop put this tape in , watch a few cartoons after it's over and then you will be warmed up for something like a film from the Sinbad series, early Jerry Lewis or something else you might enjoy from the period.

Many young 3 Stooges fans didn't like faux-Curly Joe DeRita so this feature film using footage of the REAL Curly was produced for the Saturday matinee kiddy crowd. Sadly ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES a 1945 feature film with Moe, Larry and the real Curly which could've been re-released to theaters was not shown. ☺

I miss my dear departed friend Mark Cember who past away way too early from Parkinson's disease. We met in college as communication majors. The reason I brought him up was the time the both of us ordered subs and watched the movie Stop Look and laugh. Definitely different eye opening reaction to one of the strangest films of all time. I didn't say a great film or extraordinary film . Just different. Ventriloquist extraordinaire Paul Winchell who is synonymous with children's programming up until that time, Father's a wooden dummy named Jerry. The opening scene shows the grown Winchell sleeping in a darkened room with a piece of wood, "Jerry" in a Queen sized bed. The alarm clock rings and reads 7:30 but to Winch's dismay, It's still dark outside. Jerry painted the window black. Winch flabbergasted tries to wake his wooden partner to no avail as Jerry replies over and over again "Don't Holler!" One Skit leads to another with dashes of Three Stooges classic episodes edited in for flavor. The Highlight for me personally is the scene in the luncheonette run by another Winchell Dummy Knucklehead Smiff as he serves New York City children's Icon Officer Joe Bolton some roach ridden raisin bread. Later that evening Jerry has trouble falling a sleep. Winch tells the story of Cinderella as we shift to the Marquis Chimps for there acting. Yawn! Winch does meet up with the noisy neighbors in a scene ending pie fight. Just an odd picture with a dose of nostalgia.

WE WELL RECALL when this compilation/crazy quilt of a movie hit the local shows. This was in the second year of the great 3 Stooges revival. Much like the previous year's release of THE THREE STOOGES theatrical 2 reelers to television, there were no re$idual$ paid by Columbia. IT WAS THIS initial TV package that did get the names of Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp out to the public, hence the revival. This STOP! LOOK! & LAUGH served no such purpose and had a sort of parasitic effect on the act. IN THE SAME manner of all devout Stooge converts, the four Ryan kids headed to the nearest neighborhood show; which had it booked for exhibition. In this case, it was the Highland Theatre at 79th Street & Ashland Avenue in Chicago. The trip required the use of a CTA (Chicago Transit Authority*) bus in an extraordinary venturing outside of our own community's turf. WELL IN THE end, it all turned out to be an extreme letdown. The Stooges' appearance proved to be not original new footage; but rather a myriad of scenes unimaginatively culled from old Stooges Comedies that had already been given to (among others) our own WGN TV, Channel 9 in Chicago. We had seen the schtick before and weren't fooled by the big screen presentation. Kids aren't dumb. FILLING OUT THE "Cast" was the team of ventriloquist Paul Winchell, Jerry Mahoney & Knucklehead Smith; who were then very popular on TV and at the top of their game. Added to that was The Marquis Chimps, who also were highly sought after and would soon "star" in their own sitcom, THE HATHAWAYS(Gloucester Prod./Screen Gems/ABC TV, 1961), with Peggy Cass and Jack Weston. ALL OF THIS may well have proved to be worthwhile for a Saturday matinée had it not been for the fact that it was perpetrate fraudulently. AND THAT WAS unforgivable to folks like Schultz and his friends! Ain't that right, Schultz?

I remember being very excited as a kid when I saw the promos for this first on. There even was a contest where some lucky boy or girl would be a featured player in the production which immediately made me fantasize about being the living, breathing embodiment of Jerry Mahoney. I was a huge fan of Paul Winchell and his figures (I always hated calling them dummies) Not to mention I ALWAYS LOVED the Stooges with Curly. I must admit, I was a tad disappointed with seeing just clips of the zany trio but still thrilled to see lots of Winchell, Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. And the way the editors made it seem as though Winchell and Mahoney became victims of a pie throwing along with the Stooges was an extra cool plus. One reviewer didn't seem to get that Paul Winchell did a children's show, but that wasn't always the case. In order to survive, he created a children's format and it was a huge success. Still the editing was amazing, not sloppy as one reviewer wrote. Now I DID like the Marquis Chimps in those days, but I could have done without them here. Still, the voice of the great June Foray was a welcome treat. It is a shame I never got to meet my idol Paul Winchell, but I at least got to know ventriloquist Jerry Layne whom he mentored in the art. Anyway, this is a great time capsule as I see it and while I never lived in New York as a kid, so Officer Joe Bolton was not a big thing for me. Not too many years later, Boston legend Ed McConnell known to kids here in the Boston area as Major Mudd appeared in the Stooge feature The Outlaws Us Coming as a Curly like Bat Masterson. This was in no way a classic, but a very entertaining walk down memory lane for kids like me.who chose to never completely grow up.

I saw this when I was a kid. I remember it being advertised as "See the original Three Stooges in Stop, Look and Laugh!". I was disappointed and I was a kid easily entertained. I didn't think it was close to being worth the 35 cents admission. That was one week's allowance money, after all. I could have seen the horror flick The City of the Dead or better yet, I could have used the 35 cents and purchased seven Milky Way candy bars and eaten them in the basement on Saturday morning while watching an episode of Fury on television. The problem with Stop, Look and Laugh was that the Stooges comedy wasn't made for feature length film. And that fact gets compounded when it's a film made of old Stooges clips spliced together. I did pay $10 to get into a Stooges 24 hour marathon a few years ago and it was worth the money. I made it through 2 1/2 to 3 hours worth of Stooges or about six shorts, with one being a mediocre "Shemp".

STOP! LOOK! AND LAUGH! was a compilation film linking ten of their shorts together. The film is okay, but The Three Stooges aren't shown enough. And the background music added into the film is not even funny, it's more serious. This is the basic plot. At the beginning, Paul Winchell tells his dummy, Jerry Mahoney, how the world began (features a clip of the stooges as monkeys) and he talks about how water came, the the stooges are shown floating down the river in footage from HOW HIGH IS UP? From here, we get the whole construction worker scenes. Then he tells Jerry the story of three gas station worker, and we see them in footage from VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY, the only stooge short to have a stooge name in it. We do new footage after the stooges fall in the lake. Then Paul Winchell talks about Jerry as a baby, and then hears a real one crying, in footage from SOCK-A-BYE BABY. Then we get a basically complete version of that short. Paul checks on his car, and we see garage footage from HIGHER THAN A KITE. They do new footage after the parts fall out of the car. After that, Paul tells Jerry about Mexico (footage from WHAT'S THE MATADOR?). Then he calls the hospital after Jerry fakes getting sick, and we see all the footage from CALLING ALL CURS. Then Jerry watches a western TV show, and we see chase scenes from GOOFS AND SADDLES. Then Paul calls the plumbers to fix the sink, and we see parts of MICRO-PHONIES and A-PLUMBING WE WILL GO. And then we see a terribly long scene with Paul telling Jerry the story of Cinderella, acted by chimps. The film ends with scenes of HALF-WITS HOLIDAY and Paul trying to end the party. Most of the film was good. Without the music, the Cinderella scenes, and cut-down sequences with Paul and Jerry, this would be a major hit! *** out of 4 stars.