THREE MISSING LINKS (1938)
Article #810 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-3-2003
Posting Date: 10-31-2003
Directed by Jules White
Featuring Curly Howard, Moe Howard, Larry Fine

The Three Stooges are hired to appear in a movie due to Curly’s resemblence to a gorilla.

Title check: The title is apt enough, though I do blanche at the thought that these guys may be distant ancestors of mine.

At their best, the Three Stooges were good enough that I have no trouble seeing why they have the cult following they do; at their worst, I can sympathize with those who find them terminally unfunny. But whether they were at their best or at their worst, they worked in pretty much the same slapstick mode; how good they were depended on how sharp their timing was. The timing is only so-so here, so it really didn’t catch them at their best. I think part of the reason is that this short puts so much emphasis on Curly that the other Stooges are kind of left in the dust, and though I will admit Curly was the funniest, it was Moe that really grounded the group, and here he recedes to the background. The funniest moment has Curly doing an imitation of a chicken with his head cut off, and even this is somewhat sloppy, loud and unfocused. Nevertheless, since the Stooges largely worked in shorts, at least they don’t outstay their welcome. The plot involves witch doctors, love candy, gorillas and Neanderthals (that’s how Moe and Larry were cast in the movie), so it does slip into fantastic territory. And it does indeed portray one solid rule; if a comic character dons a gorilla suit at one point, it’s almost sure money to bet that a real gorilla will show up sooner or later.