SPOOKS! (1953)
Article 3291 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-29-2010
Posting Date: 8-18-2010
Directed by Jules White
Featuring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard
Country: USA
What it is: Three Stooges short

Three detectives are hired to find a missing girl, and they pose as bakers giving away pies to do it. They encounter the girl in a spooky old house where a mad scientist is planning to put her brain inside the body of a gorilla.

I don’t think this is one of the best of the Stooges’ shorts, but I am taken with the fact that they decided to shoot this one in 3-D and decided to make some fun use of the gimmick. My only wish is that I had seen it in 3-D, but even flat, I can appreciate the comic possibilities of seeing Moe’s two fingers come right out of the screen at my eyes. Choosing the horror theme is a natural as well; we get to see knives, fountain pens, cleavers, and hypodermic needles all come right out at ya, as well as a bat with the face of Shemp. There’s a mad scientist, his ugly assistant, and, of course, the gorilla. And if the idea of detectives going from house to house to give away free pies seems contrived, you’ll quickly figure out why they do this; I mean, what else would you choose as your weapon of choice for the climax of a slapstick comedy?