Gents in a Jam (1952)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

And Ed Bernds seemed to get out of Columbia at just the right time, as it wasn't too long after this short that the decline with Jules White using stock footage in many of the shorts would start. And I've always been a Jules White fan, but I admit that the quality of the stooge shorts went downhill starting in 1953.All that aside, "Gents" is a great one and perhaps--in my mind--Emil Sitka's greatest performance in a stooge comedy, as poor Uncle Phineas, who seems to get bumped and knocked around more than the human body can endure. And watch for that great knee-shot he takes in the closing minutes of this short, heh.A great three stooges comedy--Ed Bernds went out on a high note.

This is another brilliant Shemp short, topped off by Emil Sitka's delightful performance. The boys are in a fix: broke again and facing eviction. Worse yet, Shemp and Larry are petrified of the landlady, Mrs. MacGruder. Moe has a great scene when he soliloquizes on his mastery over women. He shows his true colors when Mrs. Battleaxe, oops, I mean Mrs. MacGruder, comes on the scene (and you must check out Shemp and Larry when this happens). Sitka portrays Shemp's wealthy Uncle Phineas, and an air of mystery is imparted when the landlady repeats out loud, "Phineas Bowman" in an obvious tone of recognition. Then, of course, we have the jealous-husband-beautiful-wife subplot (thankfully, plots never matter where the Stooges are concerned). Rocky Duggan, the strongest man in the world, performs his service to humanity by asking people if they have any phone books they would like torn in half. He would have little to do here in the Virgin Islands; our phone books aren't that thick, and that's even with the British Virgin Islands thrown in. Nonetheless, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side, which is exactly what the Sttoges do through no fault of their own. Except for the scene when Rocky throttles Shemp's double, it is Emil Sitka who inadvertently takes the brunt of Rocky's wrath. Emil truly shines here. But if I were Uncle Phineas, I'd think twice about marrying a woman with the most devastating right cross in history. Rocky's still spitting out his teeth.

"Gents in a Jam" is the last Three Stooges short directed by the dependable Edward Bernds (before his and producer Hugh McCollum's falling-out with producer/director Jules White), and the title is very appropriate for all the trouble the Stooges endure.Without revealing every single gag in the short, let me just state a few highlights (if you have not yet seen "Gents in a Jam," don't read this commentary). Moe, Larry, and Shemp go through plenty of great gags in trying to spruce up their apartment as a clever way of paying their rent, but, as expected, they foul up and make a gigantic mess of things; perhaps the funniest gag of all is that of Shemp making a cake, with an appropriate sound effect as the cake batter flies in the air and lands on Moe's head. Additionally, "Gents in a Jam" offers Stooge fans a special treat: Beloved character actor Emil Sitka portrays arguably his best physical role in this short as Shemp's rich, aging Uncle Phineas (Sitka was only in his late thirties at the time, yet he had played old men numerous times on stage and with the Stooges). When Phineas pays the Stooges a visit, he gets shoved, pushed, kicked, trampled, and knocked silly, when all he wanted was a quiet, peaceful visit.In conclusion, Three Stooges fans will surely get a big bang out of this wonderfully funny short. The directing style of Edward Bernds has taught us to never overlook the supporting actors, as they receive a share of the spotlight as well.

Excellent, fast-paced short dealed with Moe, Larry and Shemp facing eviction from their landlady, and the only bright prospect being a financial rescue by Shemp's rich Uncle Phineas (hilariously played by Emil Sitka in a stand-out performance). One of the last really outstanding Stooge shorts featuring Shemp, before increased budgetary restrictions by Columbia forced the team to rely on a significant use of stock footage from earlier films.