Topic: Dutiful But Dumb (1941)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/54
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033565/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

These shorts are a joy to watch every week at this point, and DUTIFUL BUT DUMB continues this amazing little run the boys are on.  Definitely a top tier Stooge short, and one that holds some childhood memories for me, so a bit of nostalgia kicks in.

First off, the DePuyster couple at the beginning are fantastic.  A pure send up of the melodramatic couples Hollywood turned out in the era, they're obviously overplaying for laughs.  I always get a kick out of the "supreme moment" line.  Could you imagine if an Abbott and Costello or MGM Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy feature had a romantic couple played for laughs instead of playing it straight the whole time?  I think it would be a refreshing change of pace.  Also, Marjorie Deanne is probably top five for me on The Stooge female hottie-o-meter.

The boys themselves are all in fine form.  The scene in the developing room is a riot.  First Curly's watch gag, (later revisited in RHYTHM AND WEEP), is great, and him and Moe just have this great verbal back and forth until it climaxes with Moe ramming Curly's head in the developing fluid.  One of those things that does not sound funny when I type it, but watching it all unfold is pure bliss.

Also want to mention any short that has both Bud Jamison and Vernon Dent in great roles is a winner.

Of course, there is also the legendary oyster soup gag.  As stated on this website, it is believed to be originated from the Mack Sennett 1925 short WANDERING WILLIES, also directed by Del Lord.  That short is available on the SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA DVD set, and if you need a good silent comedy intro, buy that set now, before finishing reading this review even.  That said, the gag's been done a million times, but never better than Curly does it here.  A truly classic bit of comedy, ranks up there with the maze of pipes in PLUMBING.

Another kick ass short.

10/10

[Kopfy2013]

A very good solid short. I love Curly in radio...Positive about negative is great also.

Obviously the oyster scene is iconic. 

One note: Curly really looks heavy in this short.

I give it a nine

[Shemp_Diesel]

The stooges can do no wrong during this time period. I think my favorite gag from this one was Curly's foot long cigar and later when he swallows the cigar & Moe and Larry try their unique method of getting it back.

Curly's head under the dinner dish is one of those stooge moments I would like to have framed in a picture.

"You shoot the picture and we shoot you."

8.5 out of 10....

[Allen Champion]

You know, Curly has always been my favorite Stooge, and he was born to do the oyster soup bit, but I have to admit my favorite version of this has always been Larry's from INCOME TAX SAPPY.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Vernon Dent and Bud Jamison AND Eddie Laughton AND Fred Kelsey AND Chester Conklin!

[Paul Pain]

PERCIVAL'S WIFE: Have you forgotten all your other wives?

PERCIVAL: Completely. Except on alimony day, but this is Weddingsday. Ah!

Curly is in one of his all-time great performances, as is Bud Jamison. 

"I'm positive about the negative, but a little negative about the positive."
"Oh, negative eh?"
"No, I'm positive the negative is in the developer."

"The last time I saw 'em, they were running east on Main Street. Or maybe it was west. For that matter, I'm not sure it was Main Street and it mighta been three other guys.  You know, I'm a stranger here in town and I-- [realizes he's in trouble] ah ta ta ta ta."

Any time the stooges are given deadly equipment, someone loses their clothes.

The irony of the guy being led to execution for taking pictures takes a picture of the Stooges as they are led off to execution for taking pictures.

And what is a "Rain machine"?

10/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

     I believe that's " ray machine ".  As in X-ray, or photon ray, or what-have-you.

[JazzBill]

If you're looking for a short with a lot of Curly then this is the short for you. He gets a lot of screen time and delivers the goods. I believe this is the first short that we see the three watches gag. It also has the oyster in the soup bit that gets used a couple more times. This short also contains a lot of my favorite costars. I consider it an above average short and rate it a 8 1/2. 

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Oh, my God—Curly and the oyster chowder! As has been remarked here, the setup had been used before and would be used again, even by the Stooges themselves (Moe in Shivering Sherlocks and Larry in Income Tax Sappy). But this short's version of the gag is the classic. What makes it stand out for me is the way in which it is shot. Of course, nobody could make the whole business as funny as Curly does. But I do not know of another instance in all the Stooge shorts of this sort of long, close-up take with a wide-angle lens. The makers of the short apparently could not do everything that they wanted to do in one continuous shot, but instead of cutting from the close-up shot from the far side of the bowl to shots from other angles, a series of shots from the same angle are spliced together to look like a single shot (technical limitations notwithstanding). Compared to the casual and utilitarian way in which the Stooge shorts are otherwise shot, this particular sequence looks like something that could have been done by Gregg Toland, Orson Welles's cinematographer for Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons—though I find that Dutiful But Dumb was released in March of 1941, several months before Kane, which came out in May. The movie about the Stooges that was made for television some years ago includes a recreation of this particular shot. I remember thinking at the time, when I was less familiar with the Stooge shorts than I am now, "Surely there is nothing that looks like that in the shorts!" But I was wrong—there assuredly is!

[metaldams]

Oh, my God—Curly and the oyster chowder! As has been remarked here, the setup had been used before and would be used again, even by the Stooges themselves (Moe in Shivering Sherlocks and Larry in Income Tax Sappy). But this short's version of the gag is the classic. What makes it stand out for me is the way in which it is shot. Of course, nobody could make the whole business as funny as Curly does. But I do not know of another instance in all the Stooge shorts of this sort of long, close-up take with a wide-angle lens. The makers of the short apparently could not do everything that they wanted to do in one continuous shot, but instead of cutting from the close-up shot from the far side of the bowl to shots from other angles, a series of shots from the same angle are spliced together to look like a single shot (technical limitations notwithstanding). Compared to the casual and utilitarian way in which the Stooge shorts are otherwise shot, this particular sequence looks like something that could have been done by Gregg Toland, Orson Welles's cinematographer for Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons—though I find that Dutiful But Dumb was released in March of 1941, several months before Kane, which came out in May. The movie about the Stooges that was made for television some years ago includes a recreation of this particular shot. I remember thinking at the time, when I was less familiar with the Stooge shorts than I am now, "Surely there is nothing that looks like that in the shorts!" But I was wrong—there assuredly is!

Kubrick and Stooges comparisons, Welles and Stooges comparisons....Hugo, if you and I can find a way to link UNCIVIL WARRIORS with GONE WITH THE WIND, we'll have film professors tearing their hair out the world over.  Be that as it may, your points about the oyster camera angle compared to Gregg Toland are very valid. 

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Kubrick and Stooges comparisons, Welles and Stooges comparisons....Hugo, if you and I can find a way to link UNCIVIL WARRIORS with GONE WITH THE WIND, we'll have film professors tearing their hair out the world over.  Be that as it may, your points about the oyster camera angle compared to Gregg Toland are very valid.

To that I can only say: Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk! 

[Larrys#1]

Metaldams' review is spot on. This episode, I tend to watch very often because it's just very enjoyable from beginning to end. So many great scenes here.... Moe standing on Larry in order to snap a picture of the newlyweds, the stooges developing the picture, the stooges taking pictures in Vulagaria even though it's not allowed, Curly smoking the huge cigar and swallowing it, Curly mistaking the big gun for a camera, Curly hiding behind the radio and the best part.... the oyster scene.

Another great Curly episode that ranks very high on my playability list.

10/10

[Dr. Mabuse]

Definitely in my Top 20.  "Dutiful but Dumb" has so many great scenes that the abrupt "What the hell?" ending doesn't matter. One of Curly's shining moments on celluloid . . . and the same goes for Bud Jamison.  The Stooges and Del Lord at the peak of their comedic powers. 

9.5/10

[Toast5884]

This short always makes me think of doing Stooge routines with my brother because there's just so many classic bits in one fourteen minute short. I know I've done the Curly drinking the bottle and spinning gag at a dive bar or two. This is almost like a greatest hits without repeating anything. Metaldams' review is right on point. Bud Jamison and Vernon Dent always elevate a Stooge short.

10/10

[NoahYoung]

Hands down, this is my favorite Stooges short. I loved it the first time I saw it. Everything works in it. It moves at a lightning fast pace.
I hadn't watched it in a while, but then I did last week. I still love it!

When I was a teen and first saw it on TV, I quoted from it constantly. (To the annoyance of many!) I memorized the whole routine with Curly in the radio.
 

[Daddy Dewdrop]

A real showcase for Curly's talents and always a joy to watch.  That said, there are so many more I'd rank higher.  Overall, it comes in at #58 on my countdown.