SAVED BY THE BELLE (1939) (original) (raw)

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2001-10-29 10:38:00 by Shemp_Diesel
Edited 2014-12-24 10:41:03 by Shemp_Diesel

A weak short, one of the worst directed by Chase after "Mutts to You".

4 pokes

Reviewer's Rating: (4)

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2010-10-20 23:59:26 by Final Shemp

Featuring less of a plot and more of random ideas strung together, Saved by the Belle doesn't have enough laughs to make it a worthy addition to Stooge legacy. The short ends up just plain goofy instead of funny, as the Stooges stumble around to one random situation to the next in utter confusion. By the time the short ends, you'd have forgotten half of it because it's incoherent nonsense.

The Stooges try to make the best of it, but no lemonade can be made out of these rotten lemons. Curly especially seems to be trying his damnedest to make this short funny, and he manages to turn what could be an abysmal effort into something that has its moments.

The jail scene is a triumph, though. There's quite a few gags that work in it, but the short becomes a dud again as soon as they Stooges are on the run again. It's a shame that a group as fall down funny as the Three Stooges can be hampered by the material they're given, because the glints of gold in the dirt can't shine when it's buried. Final Shemp's Final Word: 2 Pokes

Reviewer's Rating: (5)

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2002-02-20 01:42:00 by [Deleted Member]
Edited 2003-06-30 00:54:00 by [Deleted Member]

I just watched this short for the first time in years (since I was a kid, and I saw it on TV). It's one of the best of the Charley Chase efforts""the weakest of which is "Flat Foot Stooges."This one's much better; Chase tended to use a lot of story, and there's less pure Stooging in his shorts. The Stooges behave more like straight actors at times, which has some pluses and some minuses. This short is kind of plot-heavy, but it's also a lesson in how to cram enough material for an entire feature film into two reels! If you watch enough well-edited two-reelers, full-length films can start to feel drawn out and heavily padded (which a lot of them are).The setup here is one that's already familiar from W.C. Fields's "Million Dollar Legs" and the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup:" the little faraway country that's a little off the beaten track... and a little off the beam. But this film soon veers off in a different direction from either of those two.The Stooges being dumb enough to try selling winter clothing in the tropics is pretty funny (Larry tries to pass off a raccoon coat as a "kimono!"), and so is Curly's flirting with the senorita, which doesn't look like acting to me. He's [i]really[/i] a wolf here, much more than in any other short. Makes you wonder if he actually got anywhere with the girl, off the set""he sure was trying!And the earthquakes are a great visual gag, just because they're so cheesy looking; the cameraman jerks the camera around, while everybody either jumps or falls over. This reminds me of the original "Star Trek," where they'd do the same thing whenever the Enterprise was hit by something. Only, on "Star Trek" they weren't trying to be funny on purpose""they were just stuck with a low budget.Also, has anyone mentioned that Charley Chase was really good at filming explosions? Most of his Stooges shorts have a spectacular explosion of some kind in them, and this one has about half a dozen! Working with dynamite must have been a specialty of his.I'd say that this short deserves its three-poke rating, no question about it.

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2002-01-28 23:37:00 by BJR

A pretty weak Curly effort. Not deserving of its three-poke average at all, IMO. It's another one, like so many Curly-era shorts, that is simply given credit for having Curly in it. It has a few mildly funny moments, but for the most part, it's just plain bad. The shock absorbers weren't very funny to me, nor was the "Senorita Rita, and that ain't no double talk." If you are a big fan of Curly and take everything he says as hysterically funny, you'll like this one okay, but as for me (I prefer Shemp over Curly, but think Moe is far superior to both), this is just too lacking in Stooge punishment. Honestly, many shorts with a lower rating than this are probably much more widely-appealing.Rating: 4.5/10

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2002-01-18 22:13:00 by Ichabod Slipp

A very odd, disjointed entry in the Stooges' pantheon. The boys arguing over who had what beer is a pretty good moment. Perhaps the weirdest moment is Moe *salting* Curly's hand before he bites it! Somehow it gives that whole bit of abuse a new definition!

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2002-01-16 16:33:00 by Mike Holme

I agree with Shemp D., Charley Chase was probably one of the worst directors, he had a hit, "Tassels In The Air", but most of the rest were weak. This is one of the weak ones. I found this short strangely lacking in humor, in my top ten weakest.1 1/2 pokes

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2001-11-07 05:57:00 by [Deleted Member]

Very good short. I thought that Richard Fiske (the sargeant in "Boobs in Arms") played Singapore Joe, but that ain't the case! I looked this short up on imdb.com a while back, but I can't remember who really played him.I think the scene where the boys broke out of the cell is what gave the writers of "Three Little Pirates" the idea for the breakout scene in that short-only for the hole in the wall, but for the attractive lady helping them and sending them on a mission.I love those earthquake shock absorbers! The boys would surely have made a customer out of me!ISLIPP. Then I get up and ISLIPP some more. ®2001Edited by - ISLIPP on 11/7/2001 6:26:33 PM

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2001-10-02 01:23:00 by Mike Holme

One of the best Charley Chase shorts, the Ward Robey joke is quite funny. Curly steals the show in this one, and it was also a great site to see the Valeskans with pillows on their butts! 3 1/2 pokes Mike Holme

Re: SAVED BY THE BELLE
Posted 2001-02-19 18:41:00 by sickdrjoe

While I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the Charley Chase entries, they all had a wonky kind of charm to them. This is the best of the lot.