Six Degrees of ZombieStoogeration…

https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-stooges-vs-zombies-well-zombie.html

Welp, never let it be said that great minds don’t think alike (and weaken nations)! While perusing one of my favorite sites, I’d noticed an article I KNOW I’ve never read before, “The Three Stooges versus Zombies.” Now, whenever I hear the word “zombie,” I cannot help but think of the fab five from Hertsfordshire (also known as one of the more innovative British Invasion bands).

But how can I link my favorite comedy team to my favorite musical group? Let’s see,,,The Zombies were featured in a pretty damn good movie Bunny Lake Is Missing directed by one Otto Preminger. Their appearance consisted of a TV performance that was playing in a bar whilst Laurence Olivier (yeah, THAT guy) is trying to figure things out about the titular Bunny Lake and what the deal is between her mother and brother. (I may be a bit off on the details–I saw it on VIDEOTAPE! Why haven’t I come into the 21st century and Amazon Prime’d it?!)

So how can we connect The Zombies to The Three Stooges? (Besides the fact that The Zombies are still touring at the grand ages of 79-80! (I would’ve KILLED to have the Stooges last that long…I would’ve been around to see them on various talk shows, instead of begging my parents to recall what it was like to see them on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Steve Allen Show {one of those appearances was with none other than Lenny Bruce…the only way that could’ve made for a more mis-matched pairing would be if Richard Pryor dropped by.})

Okay…where was I? Who’s the best actor to use as a connection? We have Laurence Olivier, who was married to Vivien Leigh, who starred in Gone With the Wind, which also featured Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel, who’s brother Sam McDaniel starred in Heavenly Daze (1947) as a butler that thought Shemp had risen from the dead and was haunting Moe and Larry due to the fact that they were going to scam investors with a fountain pen that writes under whipped cream (needless to say, it doesn’t work.)

Looks like I could connect Laurence Olivier to the Three Stooges at least! That makes me wonder how many ways I can connect John and David Carradine to the Stooges…I’m thinking it’s pretty damned easy!

OTD in 1993…(and the Man Who Would Be Stooge…)

As I have mentioned many times before, I recall hearing the news that Joe DeRita had died during a commercial break (while watching the Stooges, ironically enough)! I still don’t get the hate folks aim his way–I imagine I wouldn’t feel that great knowing that I was going to be renamed Curly-Joe; but I don’t think he “hated” the Stooges, he just didn’t like their style of comedy–and I can agree to disagree with him about it. Remember, this was a man who had had a career waaaay before he became a Stooge, so it was not like they got Joe Blow from Kokomo to be the Third Stooge. He had a name (in burlesque, no less), and being a “replacement” just because you were short, and fat (like the most popular stooge) would kinda suck. What did not suck, however, was the fact that Larry wanted him as a FULL partner, not just an “employee,” meaning he would get the same salary, the same benefits, the same everything. Now, whoever was the person who wanted him first (the story goes Larry saw him in Vegas and called him a “combination of Curly, Lou Costello, and the fat lady in the opera.”) However, in Moe’s autobiography, he had wanted him even after Shemp died (and wanted to buy out his contract with Minsky–look that one up, kids!) but of course, Columbia wanted whomever they still had under contract (even though they DID have DeRita under contract…once upon a time.)

Things were going like gangbusters until the late 1960s, with the kids from the 1950s growing into teens who probably wanted to go on to someone hipper… (uh, Tiny Tim?) their popularity was waning, and they decided to semi-retire, but not without their infamous swan song, Kook’s Tour. Now, when Tour was first thought of, it was 1965 and it was supposed to be a world tour by a trio of kooks. In 1970, ain’t nobody got time for gallivanting around the world and whatnot. Instead, they chose to stay closer to home…and go fishing… (insert some fans’ yawning sfx here).

What I’m NOT going to do is go into all the reasons why Kook’s Tour is supposedly the worst (or best) thing since sliced bread, but I will tell you that if another film they were set to do had been their actual swan song, I don’t even know how to describe all the feelings I’d have about it. Let me put it this way: if you are a fan of “so bad it’s good” films, then you know who Al Adamson and Sam Sherman are. As the story goes, Sherman and Adamson wanted to make a western spoof with olde-timey comedians they were fans of…and of course, the first team that came to mind was the Three Stooges. But there was a problem…by late 1974, there were only two Stooges, Moe and Curly-Joe. By the time rehearsals began in March, Larry had already been dead for over a month. So, what to do for the necessary Second Stooge?

Have no fear, Emil Sitka is here! He had been in Stooge films since the Curly era, was one of only two actors that had performed with ALL the different sets of Stooges (the other was “Tiny” Brauer), so there would be no need for lengthy rehearsals. As Sitka himself remembers it, “If Moe were here right now, he’d say we could create a scene right now” (paraphrased).

Proof that the fellows COULD make a scene out of pretty much anything!

Unfortunately, The Jet Set (later called Blazing Stewardesses) was not to be. As the rehearsals progressed, Moe became weaker and weaker due to lung (or stomach) cancer and passed away on 4 May 1975. Apparently, Adamson and Sherman didn’t want the Two Stooges, so guess what they came up with?

The damn TWO Ritz Brothers! What was the difference between having two of one trio or two of another? Hell, if that’s the case, they could’ve dragged out Groucho and Zeppo if we want to have former trios that are now duos.

Okay, granted, there weren’t that many olde-timey comedy teams still around that could work with little rehearsal, hit their marks, and not cause the film to go over budget. So, if you want to see what could’ve been the Stooges’ last film, you can watch it over on the YouTubes,

March Madness & Movie Mayhem (Day 22!)…Nazisploitation!

via Nazi exploitation – Wikipedia

You knew it was coming–there was no way I could talk about Flesh Feast, Hitler, and anti-aging maggots without bringing up #Nazisploitation!

I’d love to think that Flesh Feast (1967, released in 1970) was the first film to explore Nazisploitation, but that would make me forget this…

They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1962)

The Great Dictator

The Nazty Nuisance

And of course, You Nazty Spy!

Of course, it goes without saying…Stooges did it first! But seriously, Nazisploitation was going on even before the world knew of most of the atrocities Hitler (and the allies, but we’re focusing on Hitler/Nazisploitation now) were committing. The “Throw him in a concentrative camp!” joke Moe makes is odd–people were using black humor as the war was going on to stay sane? Granted, that joke was better than the Stooges’ other war efforts, in particular 1944’s No Dough, Boys and  The Yoke’s On Me. (That one is particularly ugggggggggggg….)

So, IS there a “true” beginning of Nazisploitation, or is it a case of many people having the same idea at roughly the same time? I’m thinking a little of both, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a Poverty Poverty Poverty Row studio out there that somehow managed to beat Columbia to the punch and released a short in 1938!

On This Day in 1975…

Los_Angeles_Times__Friday__24_January_1975

Don’t Worry, I Thought of a Title!

For some strange reason, I had an urge to watch You Nazty Spy! last night. Who knows what could’ve drawn me to that particular short (in which an incompetent boob is chosen to run a country) last night of all nights. Call it intuition, if you will.

That’s all I have to say. Oh, there’s this wonderful quote:

(Moe) Hailstone: “What does a dictator do?”

Ixnay: “A dictator? Why, he makes love to beautiful women, drinks champagne, enjoys life and never works. He makes speeches to the people, promising them plenty, gives them nothing, then takes everything! That‘s a dictator!”

(Curly) Pebble: “Hmmm! A parasite! That’s for me!”

Could YOU Get a Job With No Experience?

As you know, there’s been an election, an inauguration, and several press conferences with our new president. If he was analyzed as a hiring manager would analyze you, chances are he wouldn’t even have gotten in the door due to the other, more experienced job seekers (I’m talking about ALL the candidates, so don’t even try it with the “BLAH COULD’VE WON! I ain’t here for that!)

I’ve gone on soooo many interviews. Some were great! Some were terrible! A lot were meh. A few (approximately 3-4) were uber-excellent and felt like I was already in that job. Feeling and being are two different things. Only one of the uber-excellent interviews led to a job, so even though the interviewer has positive things to say, there’s always going to be that other person who may be better, may look better, may appeal to the hiring people more, etc. (Yes, we’re getting into a whole netherworld of “Did I not get hired just because someone didn’t like me?!” but you’re adults. Sometimes you don’t get the job you’re the best fit for. If you’ve got proof of questionable hiring practices, then get on it. If you’ve got nothing, well, that’s life in the big city. Suck it up and keep going.)

I bring this up because if I were a hiring manager, there’s no way in the WORLD I would’ve let our president get further than File 13. Before you say, “Libtard,” I’mma shut you up right now. You would have to be blind, deaf, mentally deficient, and insane to think that the various rantings of the world’s worst winner make a great president, no matter the party. From the least anti-Semite to the all blacks know each other and the broken record that is Hillary, the blame game, Obama, and “I have the most electoral votes EVER!” (How he ignored Reagan’s thorough CRUSHING of Mondale, I don’t know.); Trump (or as I like to call him, The Loaded 45) is just not fit to handle…some things. Two state solution? Meh, they’ll work it out. (??!!!) Did you hear about how many votes I got! I still think I got more–we should investigate! No, I’ve never been to Russia. (Shown photos of visits to Russia). FAKE NEWS!

Am I saying we should have a “do-over” (like sooooo many others are saying)? Of course not. We broke it, we bought it. We should have to wallow in our accident on the carpet for all four (or eight!) years, because, well…remember how successful the whole “birther” movement was in removing Obama? Yeah.

No, we are stuck with a testy man child for at least 4 years. So no matter if you think the Russians put him in office; he has ties to the Russian Mafia; is suffering from end-stage syphilitic brain swelling from his sex tours to Vietnam; is a draft dodger (hey, it’s Bill Clinton!); is a rapist/womanizer/serial cheater (hey, it’s Bill Clinton!); is full of crap (hey, it’s … you get the idea).

So unless you come up with a Watergate, Contragate, Monicagate, or Rosneft…gate (they’re trying!) America will do what America does best: bitch out the other side for being horrible. Well, the joke’s on you–YOU’RE ALL TERRIBLE! (But like Animal Farm, some terrible is worse than other terrible…sometimes.)

Don’t blame me, I voted for Larry Fine!

It’s Gobblin’ Time!

Accidents Will Happen – By the Bombs Early Light — Envisioning The American Dream

Rivaling the Grimm Brothers, one of the greatest stories told by the U.S. Government to its citizens was the safety of the nuclear testing done in Nevada in the 1950’s. Our government insisted that the spate of nuclear atmospheric testings in the American West were no more a danger than the new fangled TV transmissions […]

via Accidents Will Happen – By the Bombs Early Light — Envisioning The American Dream

Because I am terrible and lazy, I couldn’t help but notice that a better writer has written about the very thing I wanted to write about…except it’s not about the firebombing of the GOP office in NC. No matter, there’s another story about it in a previous post. First person to mention Hitler’s unsuccessful assassination attempt in which there was a bomb in a suitcase wins a left-handed spanner and a snipe caller!

Today in Trumpy News…

The Shame of Fat Shaming — Envisioning The American Dream

Some folks believe gaining weight is the worst thing a woman can do. One of them is running for president. Setting the gold standard for misogyny, ( “No one demeans women the way I do, believe me”) Donald Trump has been a fat shamer and critical of any woman who falls outside his definition of […]

via The Shame of Fat Shaming — Envisioning The American Dream

Ah, yes! THIS is the man that tells me “I don’t have a choice” but to vote for him…even though I STILL think we’re being “Trump Trolled.” (It’s like being “Rick Rolled,” but you know, less entertaining, because Trumpy doesn’t have an actual talent.)

Remember! Trumpy’s ideal woman is his daughter! (No, not THAT one! The pretty one–Ivanka!)