HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL (1959)
Article #398 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 4-17-2002
Posting date: 9-10-2002

Three janitors accidentally take off in a rocket and land on Venus.

It’s the Three Stooges. Some people love them, some people hate them. I’m on the fence. Sure, they essayed the most primitive of slapstick humor, but they did so with energy, a good sense of timing (and sometimes even exquisite timing), and they had a good ear for funny sound effects. Even here, in their waning years (no Curly or Shemp; instead, we have Curley Joe Derita), they still retained enough timing and imagination to be fitfully amusing, and in truth, that’s all I really expect from them. Sure, it’s not a great movie by any means, but I prefer it to ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS for a start, even if the last twenty minutes feels more like an extra short was tacked on to a finished movie. Besides, what other movie do you know has a computer with arms, a unicorn, AND a flame-throwing giant spider?