Half Wits Holiday
Tim Sturges
lights,it was hot in there.
Bobster123
>I wonder if Curley was in pain during this short,aside from the studio
>lights,it was hot in there.
I think it was obvious that Curly wasn't doing well in this short.
Josh Silverman
>
> I wonder if Curley was in pain during this short,aside from the studio
> lights,it was hot in there.
He was in very poor health at the time, and indeed had a bad stroke
during its filming -- which is why he doesn't appear in the final
scenes.
Bobster123
>>
>> I wonder if Curley was in pain during this short,aside from the studio
>> lights,it was hot in there.
>
What's the first Curly short where you notice his youthful vigor was
disappearing and he wasn't well?
For me, it was around IF A BODY MEETS A BODY and MICRO-PHONIES in 1945.
I thought it was most noticeable in the last couple of shorts (BIRD IN THE
HEAD, RHYTHM AND WEEP, THREE LITTLE PIRATES, and of course, HALF WITS HOLIDAY).
Tim Sturges
Wits),would he if lived longer?.
"Bobster123" <bobst...@aol.com> wrote in message
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Tim Sturges
was one done a few years before your group,then he was o.k. til your group.
stooge...@webtv.net
down just a teeny bit after about 1942, although he's still totally
hilarious and he's still without a doubt the "old Curly". The last films
with the "old Curly" are NO DOUGH BOYS, THREE PESTS IN A MESS, and BOOBY
DUPES [all late '44-early '45 releases]. However, beginnng with IF A
BODY MEETS A BODY and all subsequent films, something has obviously
happened to Curly. Even his face is different [look at his eyebrows- you
can even notice the difference in publicity photos from this era].
Actually, there's what I call a "transitional" short between the "old
Curly" and the "sick Curly", and that's IDIOTS DELUXE [released between
BOOBY DUPES and IF A BODY....], where he seems to be somewhere in the
middle of the two phases [the little-seen feature ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES
also features this "transitional" Curly]. Watch the shorts in order and
you'll see the gradual decline of Curly, which obviously took place over
several months of filming......
As for Edward Bernds' accounts of Curly returning to his "old self" in
MICRO PHONIES and THREE LITTLE PIRATES, I just don't see it. He may have
been easier to work with in those films, and his on-screen results may
have been a LITTLE less pathetic [especially in MICRO PHONIES, where he
actually is kind of funny at times], but he's certainly not his old self
by any stretch of the imagination......
Elmer Pintar
films....one in drag, the other as "Maja". Plus he had viturally no
responsiblity as far as physical comedy with the roles he played.
Therefore Curly provides the illusion of being well due to the character
portrayal. The scenes where he is just Curly show that he is of course
in straight decline. He could still make people laugh to the end.
Stan Laurel couldn't do that. But Curly could.
Elmer Pintar
Super Mappy
"Elmer Pintar" <Pin...@webtv.net> wrote in message
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I've always thought that most of the general movie going public probably
didn't see this due to the fact the shorts were released months apart.
Elmer Pintar
mention! Still, I think fans would notice Curly's limitations in these
shorts, if not a pattern of decline. I would bet though that no one
was going "Where's Curly" at the end of Half-Wits Holiday....nor did I
until I did my first reading on the comedies in the early 70's. Same as
knowing nothing about Joe Palma "the double" for Shemp until I read the
Forrester chronicles in 1981. Then, in 1982, the Scrapbook was the
first real Stooge "scorecard" I can remember.
Elmer Pintar