The Three Stooges in Orbit

(Please note: "The Three Stooges in Orbit" has always been one of my favorite Stooge films since I was a teenager in the early 1990s, and it still is today. However, at the time I wrote the commentary below, I briefly began to have mixed feelings about the film. Anyhow, here is my commentary.) I have read that "The Three Stooges in Orbit," directed by the usually great Edward Bernds, is not one of the better feature films that the Stooges made. Indeed, the story is not well put-together; it might have just been an excuse to incorporate stock footage from the Stooges' unsuccessful TV pilot "The Three Stooges Scrapbook" into the first twenty or so minutes of "Orbit." Adding to the flimsiness of sixties sci-fi production values are the appearances of the Martians; they are basically human bodies with hideously over-sized heads and embarrassingly unintelligible language. And the music score of Paul Dunlap, while somewhat interesting, may not be enough to enhance the picture. However, "The Three Stooges in Orbit" is still entertaining to watch, and the boys are greatly supported by their long-time pal Emil Sitka, who has a substantial role as the eccentric Prof. Danforth. Here are some of my favorite highlights from "Orbit" (do not read on if you have not yet seen the picture). The model of the professor's tank/helicopter/submarine buzzes Curly-Joe while he takes a shower; he ends up dousing Moe, Larry, and the professor when they arrive to help him. The Stooges resemble Martians in their white costumes and makeup when the professor films them applying the latest dance craze for their faltering cartoon show. When Martians Ogg (George N. Neise) and Zogg (Rayford Barnes) hijack the professor's vehicle and traverse the sky while the Stooges hold on for dear life, Curly-Joe gets his head stuck in the ray gun that the Martians installed. While the Stooges help the professor fine-tune the vehicle before showing it to the Air Force brass, Larry accidentally squirts oil onto Curly-Joe's face; Joe, in turn, staggers onto the vehicle's controls, causing Moe to fearfully spin around on a helicopter blade. At a climactic moment, Moe figures out what the Martians are up to by reading the English subtitles off the screen; the boys then accidentally knock each other out in trying to knock out Ogg and Zogg. The Stooges make a total mess out of their demonstration of Prof. Danforth's vehicle for the Air Force. And finally, Curly-Joe proves he doesn't know how to work a hammer and chisel; Larry tries to help him, but he proves himself not much smarter. So "The Three Stooges in Orbit" may not be the best feature film that the boys tackled. But I would like to believe that every film has its good points, and this film delivers at least a few laughs for the Stooge fan.

This is one of the weaker things the later Stooges did, and you can mark that down as coming from a lifetime fan of all their two-reel shorts (be they with Curly, Shemp or Joe) as well as their feature films with Curly Joe DeRita. This movie just flat out ain't very funny. Having Moe, Larry and Curly Joe tangle with old professor Emil Sitka and cool-looking Frankensteinian martians (well, they look cool to those of us who grew up loving cheesy monster movies) should have helped make for a sure fire bullseye. Instead, this nonsense is all over the place, hopping from one unfunny bit of business to the next, trying to fill in the running time with all sorts of unrelated junk (including a meaningless relationship for the professor's daughter). This makes their Joe Besser shorts like OUTER SPACE JITTERS and SPACE SHIP SAPPY look positively first-rate. ** out of ****

To be honest I can't remember a whole lot from this film, but I do remember it being replayed a few times years back in the old UHF days. Whether I'm getting burnt out on reviewing other people's productions, or this was just not that good a film, I don't really know, but one of the few distinct memories I have of this film is the stooges riding the flying submarine absconded by the film's two antagonists. Ayup, between "It's a Wonderful Life", one of the many bikini films by American International, or a Bob Hope review, the Stooges and various films from the 30s up through the mid 60s would air on television, and "The Three Stooges in Orbit" was one of them. I didn't laugh a whole lot at this thing, but I was riveted to the antics because it was something different than "Days of our Lives" or any of the other midday drivel that was passed off to many a WASPy housewife during the 70s and 80s. It's not a stellar production from the Stooges, but it's something to kill time. Watch at your own risk.

Hi Im 13 years old. I love the three stooges! The Three Stooges In Orbit! Is A Very Funny Movie I Have It!! Three Stooges In Orbit Is About The Three Stooges They Have A Job Hosting A Kids Tv Show Where They Show Their Cartoons Of Them!! And Work At A Space Station! One Day Curly Joe Hits A Button On The Space Ship That Takes Moe,Larry And Curly Joe, In Orbit! And Just Every Where!! And They Meet Some Aliens Ogg And Zogg!! They Are Crazy!! But What Are They Going To Do If They Don't Get The Space Ship Down In Time To Get To The TV Station To Host The Show!! Watch And Find Out... Very Good And Funny Movie!

First of all, the Stooges spend almost no time in orbit at all in this film. Maybe I was thinking of "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" when I thought this would be more space oriented. All that wouldn't matter if this had been any good. The movie starts out with a somewhat interesting narration by a Peter Graves-like voice, giving us a history of the centuries of speculations of what shape Martian life might take. It turns out the "startling answer" to this question is that Martians look like guys in crude rubber masks that are a cross between Frankenstein's monster and the people from the "Twilight Zone" episode "Eye of the Beholder." In fact, one of them is a guy in a rubber mask. Why did his superiors go to the trouble of giving him cosmetic surgery to look human if he's going to go and disguise himself as a Martian? Mars is in a lot of trouble anyway, if their entire invasion consists of two soldiers creeping around an old man's house. Somebody made a good point that at least the aliens speak another language instead of English, like so many sci-fi movies, but those scenes drag, as if the Martians are waiting for the viewers to catch up to the subtitles. This actually leads to one of the few humorous moments, where Moe does read the subtitles, but since this comes about fifteen minutes before the end of the movie, it doesn't help much. Maybe the haunted house elements made me start thinking this was a lot like a literal, full-length, live action version of an old Hannah Barbera cartoon. The humor is so lame and predictable. How many times did somebody say some variation on, "I'm not dumb, you know," and then they go and do something dumb? Oh, look, somebody has just carefully laid out a bunch of pies while the Stooges are wreaking havoc in front of some distinguished army brass. I wonder what's going to happen next? There's also a pointless romance between the professor's daughter and an army captain. They spend most of their time staring dreamily at each other. Later, you know the captain is at the door by the way the romantic music starts playing before she can even answer it, which is one of the unintentionally funny moments. It's probably obvious I'm not a Three Stooges fan. I saw this as the second part of a double feature, and I stuck around to see if my opinion of them improved at all. I should've walked out like nearly the entire audience did. I did like that made for TV bio-pic where Paul Ben-Victor played Moe, however. I just apparently can't stand their shtick.

source: The Three Stooges in Orbit

The Three Stooges in Orbit

Our three heroes who are in the process of being kicked out by landlady Maudie Prickett answer an advertisement by nutty professor Emil Sitka who is conducting some way out experiments. But he's on the money because Martians have actually infiltrated the professor's household to spy and report on his progress. This was one zany film and it had a lot of good laughs. The heavily made up Martians who talk in subtitled gibberish and gesture a lot remind me of Khrushchev and his UN temper tantrums. As for Sitka who gets his share of laughs as well as the Three Stooges he's invented an all purpose land, air and sea vehicle that he gets the Stooges to test drive. Only Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe could pick up an atomic bomb from a desert test site and use it as a carburetor for the vehicle. It does come in handy for the final battle with the Martians. This one I have to say approaches the short subject type zaniness that the 3 Stooges had in their prime.

Rather than retread my own version of the old "Joe Derita as a stooge debate," I'll just say that when you accept the older 60s stooges for what they are, some of these films do get a bit better, after awhile. A point I already knew years ago seeing these for the first time, but sometimes, it's not bad to take a break from the short subjects and pop in a feature. "Daze," and "Hercules," still make for slighty better fun, but orbit is still a good one. The plot is cornball as hell (obviously) and the martian makeup won't knock your socks off, but maybe Joe himself has his best perfromance as "Curly-Joe." I have seen live clips of Derita with Moe & Larry where he seems to flex more persona, so maybe this speaks to the format of the actual Columbia films as to whether or not he was restrained or not overly overt as a comedic dynamo like the obvious Curly, or even Shemp. Not to mention, a few of his Columbia solo efforts were pretty good...

This is one of the weaker things the later Stooges did, and you can mark that down as coming from a lifetime fan of all their two-reel shorts (be they with Curly, Shemp or Joe) as well as their feature films with Curly Joe DeRita. This movie just flat out ain't very funny. Having Moe, Larry and Curly Joe tangle with old professor Emil Sitka and cool-looking Frankensteinian martians (well, they look cool to those of us who grew up loving cheesy monster movies) should have helped make for a sure fire bullseye. Instead, this nonsense is all over the place, hopping from one unfunny bit of business to the next, trying to fill in the running time with all sorts of unrelated junk (including a meaningless relationship for the professor's daughter). This makes their Joe Besser shorts like OUTER SPACE JITTERS and SPACE SHIP SAPPY look positively first-rate. ** out of ****