20th Century Fox, 1961
Starring Carol Heiss, The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita), Edson Stroll, and Patricia Medina
Directed by Walter Lang
Music and Lyrics by Harry Harris and Earl K. Brent
The Three Stooges and musical fairy tales. Those are not words you expect to see together in the same sentence. The famous knockabout comedians did make one musical fantasy after their careers saw a resurgence in the early 60's. Originally intended as a showcase for Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Carol Heiss, it was inflated into a huge extravaganza, with elaborate sets and costumes and big skating numbers for Heiss and the chorus. How do the Stooges fit into a wintry adaptation of the famous Brother's Grimm story? Let's take a horse-drawn gypsy cart to the Kingdom of Fortunia and find out...
The Story: A king and queen give birth to a child who is white as snow and red as blood, whom they name Snow White. The queen passes away, and the king weds another woman who is beautiful but cold as ice. The new queen (Medina) is vain and selfish, and she's jealous of her stepdaughter's own loveliness and popularity with the people. After the king dies, she locks Snow White (Heiss) away in a tower before sending her out into the woods with her huntsman (Michael David). He's supposed to kill her, but she's so sweet and pretty, he releases her instead.
Meanwhile, the Three Stooges are minstrels and con-men who are house-sitting for the Seven Dwarfs with their adopted son Quatro (Stroll). They come upon Snow White sleeping in the house and are all immediately taken by her beauty and kindness. Quatro falls hard for her, but fears they'll never be together, as she is a princess and he is a mere commoner. As it turns out, Quatro isn't what he seems. Snow White's original intended Prince Charming was kidnapped as a child and is also missing. The Queen will stop at nothing to make sure these two lovers and their comedian friends never end up on the throne...even becoming a hag and giving Snow White that poisoned apple...
The Song and Dance: The Stooges have some good routines here, especially while selling a phony cure-all tonic in a flashback sequence and during their brief tenures as chefs after they sneak into the castle. This is a rare chance to hear Mel Blanc in live-action as the voice of Quinto, Quatro's cheeky ventriloquist dummy. Medina and Guy Rolfe as her henchman Count Olga are wonderful villians, perfectly playing their roles to the absolute menacing hilt. The widescreen cinematography nicely shows off the elaborate Technicolor fairy-tale costumes and sets, including two ice ballets for Heiss.
Favorite Number: Heiss' ice ballets are a real treat, especially for skating fans. We get one in the opening with her and the chorus, "Once In a Million Years," and a darker dream ballet towards the end of the film when a grieving Snow White believes that Quatro has been killed. Blanc's little ditty for Quinto, "I'm In Love," is also cute.
What I Don't Like: Heiss and Stroll are stiff as boards as the fairy tale lovers, and were dubbed to boot. While it's nice to see the Stooges, there isn't nearly enough of them to justify their placement in the title of the film, and they're a bit subdued for them when they do appear. The Stooges' brand of knockabout comedy clashes badly with the romantic fantasy, and works even less well with the genuinely frightening villains. Considering that Heiss' ice-skating is the reason this movie exists, I'm surprised there's only two ice ballet numbers. I guess the writer's couldn't justify Snow White constantly skating.
The Big Finale: Intended as a children's attraction for the summer of 1961, it couldn't get enough families or Stooge fans into theaters and wound up as a fair-sized flop. Most major Stooge fans really hate this one, and the Stooges themselves weren't big fans.
I'm going to disagree with both. While it has its flaws, I mostly find this to be charming and fun, with some great ice-skating routines, two enjoyably hammy villains, and some of the better later-day Stooge routines. If you have princess-crazy little girls, are a figure-skating fan, or are a fan of the Stooges who is willing to try something a little different with the guys, this is worth checking out.
Home Media: This is another one with a cult following that makes it easily available on DVD and Amazon Prime. The DVD features a restored print with glorious color and the widescreen version on a flip-disc.
DVD
Amazon Prime
Reviews of musical films, from 1930s black and white to widescreen 21st century extravaganzas.
I caught this on TV many years ago around Christmastime. I never was a big fan of the Stooges as boys in my grade had the unpleasant habit of clonking other kids over the head or the arm and then excusing themselves to the teacher by saying "But they do it all the time on the Stooges!" But I actually enjoyed this movie, maybe because the really blatant slapstick was toned down. I had forgotten Edson Stroll was in this movie. I used to watch him as part of the MCHALE'S NAVY crew. He played Virgil.
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