Musty Musketeers (1954)

Why so much hype?

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This short subject with the Three Stooges finds the boys as merry fiddlers courting three women when they get kind of dragooned into an errand of mercy.The reigning monarch is King Cole and as it has come down to us in song and spoken legend the man sent out a call for his pipe, his bowl and those fiddlers three. Meet the three Heifetzes.Apparently these are the only three with which Vernon Dent as King Cole can trust. They have to rescue his lovely daughter from the hands of the evil magician Mergatroyd played by stooge regular Philip Van Zandt. But the guys in their own zany way are more than a match for him.As with a lot of the Shemp features it's a rehash from the Stooge salad days. Still the final dueling sequence is hilarious with 3 Stooges barely able to pull it out over one magician.The value of teamwork.

Directed by Jules White, "Musty Musketeers" is a Three Stooges short that is a remake, with ample stock footage, of an earlier Stooge short titled "Fiddlers Three" (1948), in which the Stooges are constituents in the kingdom of Coleslaw-vania, where they manage to save the king's daughter from abduction. "Musty Musketeers" is okay, but it's not nearly as good as the original. In the original, the Stooges are fiddlers who entertain the king with songs, dances, and nursery rhymes, but in the remake, they do not even come close.Still, "Musty Musketeers" contains its share of memorable scenes. Moe, Larry, and Shemp ride together on one mule upon their initial appearance, accompanied by some fine music that mixes majesty with humor (new footage). While the Stooges are in the blacksmith's shop, Shemp does some crazy antics such as jumping up after sitting in a pile of burning horseshoes and getting a horseshoe nailed to his foot; later, the Stooges get kicked by their mule and fall directly through the floor into the cellar (stock footage). The boys get harassed by saws and swords as they hide in the magician's box (stock footage). And the final sword fight has several amusing bits (new footage).Even with such a great supporting cast as Vernon Dent, Philip Van Zandt, and Joe Palma, "Musty Musketeers" is unfortunately not one of the better Three Stooges remakes from the midfifties, but it IS still enjoyable. Don't forget that the Stooges' intent was always to make us laugh, no matter how good or bad the films are.

MUSTY MUSKETEERS is a pretty good remake of FIDDLERS THREE. The sword fight at the end of this one makes a better ending. I can't say this is better than the original, but check it out anyway.**** out of 4 stars.

This was very good for a remake. I'd say this is the second best remake from the 1953-1956 period. This one gets rid of the stooges playing their fiddles in the beginning and replaces it with a scene in which the stooges propose to their sweethearts and the new footage in the castle is done better than in the original. From there until the new ending it is old footage. But after the magician's box scene in the old footage, it is new footage in which the stooges have a hilarious swordfight with Mergatroyd and his two guards. The new ending is also better than the original's ending. This is better than the original and I highly recommend this one.Grade: B+