Corny Casanovas

"Corny Casanovas" (1952, short number 139 in the Columbia series) has only the barest of plot, and even that doesn't start until nine minutes of destructive housekeeping are dispensed with. Somehow a sexy blonde (Connie Cezan) has talked each of the boys into getting her an engagement ring, and she has to keep each of them from finding the other two hidden in her apartment. Other than the rare occasion of Larry beating Moe into submission, there is little new here. "A Missed Fortune" (1951, number 137) concerns Shemp's accidentally winning a small fortune in a contest. The team lives high on the hog in a hotel before finding out that after taxes the prize money comes to just under $5. This time there are three sexy gold diggers who do little more than get soaked, and even regular Stooge foil Vernon Dent is limited merely to showing anger at what they have done to the suite they rented. On the other hand, "He Cooked His Goose" (1952, number 140) is a rare treat. The characters played by the Stooges do not act as a team. A very uncharacteristic Larry is a lady's man, playing around not only with Shemp's girlfriend but also with Moe's wife (!). Moe himself tries to create a different sort of character, although the results are as usual. To prove Shemp a philanderer, Larry sends him to Moe's wife to sell some lingerie, and the result is a merry mix-up in the true tradition of the French farce. It would be hard to find an episode in which Larry has as many lines as he does here. One suspects a good deal of vaudeville sketch material was put into this excellent script. --Frank Behrens