Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Half Shot Shooters" is an American black-and-white live action short film from 1936, so this one is already over 80 years old and maybe the names of director White and writer Bruckman tell you already that here we have another Three Stooges short film. If not, then the mentions of Howard² and Fine should. This is one of the earlier works from the trio and this of course means Curly is still on board, even if he is not as much in the focus as he is in other works from around the same time. World War 2 was not happening yet, but maybe the many Stooges films about the military show us that times were tough and political crises seemed omnipresent. Interestingly enough in this one here you get a concrete World War I reference early on, something you don't see too often with the gang. At 18.5 minutes, it is one of their longer works if we are only talking about their many many short films. I think Blystone, a very experienced (western) actor, did a really fine job as the main antagonist, especially in the moment when he knows revenge is his. The part early on where the Stooges humiliate him is rather embarrassing to watch. But still, the negative is way more frequent than the positive. The final scene with the cannon is fairly weak and repetitive. The plays on words are okay at times. I wonder if their military superior is the one here who unintentionally taught Moe all his poking stuff etc. Still, this is not among the most known Stooges shorts, admittedly neither among the least known, but in my opinion it shouldn't be. All the mediocrity cannot be tolerated in the face of 2-3 fun moments. I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
JohnHowardReid
Curly Howard (Curly), Moe Howard (Moe), Larry Fine (Larry), Stanley Blystone (Sergeant MacGillicuddy), Vernon Dent (portly diner), Harry Semels (Captain Burke), John Kascier (soldier), Eddie Laughton, Lew Davis, Bert Young, Heinie Conklin, Lynton Brent.Director: JACK WHITE. Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman. Photography: Benjamin Kline. Film editor: Charles Hochberg. Producer: Jules White. Copyright 27 April 1936 by Columbia Pictures of California. U.S. release: 30 April 1936. 2 reels. 19 minutes.COMMENT: This extremely dark comedy ranks as a most unusual entry from the Stooges. For once, the violence seems real, not play- acting. The sergeant here is not just your typical gruff disciplinarian, he is a really sadistic, cot case; while the Stooges are not well-meaning, likable bunglers, they have been brutalized into becoming uncaring killers. "I hope that shot didn't hit the pool room," Moe casually remarks after accidentally firing off a cannon into the army camp.Also, most untypically, the movie makes a political statement. These three men, like tens of thousands of other veterans, have been literally left to starve by both an uncaring government and hostile fellow citizens. Earlier, our "heroes" clearly identify themselves as Jewish which, although totally accurate, is to say the least, quite extraordinary."Half Shot Shooters" is certainly a product of its time. The movie's implications did not escape the Australian censor who not only removed the ending completely but made at least three or four significant cuts that reduced the running time to less than 16 minutes.
bkoganbing
As this 3 Stooges short was rolling I could hear in my mind Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing that Irving Berlin tune Gee I wish I was back in the army from White Christmas. The boys actually got to do just that.Despite their service in the trenches we did win World War I and note their contribution on Armistice Day. They get out and take Stooge like revenge on their Sergeant Stanley Blystone who's been giving them a hard time since being drafted.But even the hard times of the Depression and harder I'm sure for a stooge don't make them want to be soldiers again. In fact in those days the army was small and selective. But on a bad day and being tricked into it, the boys join up and get their old sergeant again.The final sequence has them manning a field artillery piece during a training exercise that was called off but no one gave the boys the word. The damage they do with a cannon is agonizingly funny. They might have given Hitler a wrong impression of the state of our readiness.
