Brideless Groom (1947)

Absolutely the worst movie.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Like two weeks ago I found and bought a DVD of The Three Stooges. "Dizzy Doctors" is the title of the DVD and it includes the following short films: Dizzy Doctors (1937), Termites of 1938 (1938), Brideless Groom (1947), Listen Judge (1952), Bubble Trouble (1953) and The Tooth Will Out (1951).Money but not a "normal" quantity of it, actually $500,000, that much money will change what some persons think, certainly those persons will do it just for the money, but what those persons will do? And who are those persons? Well in this the third short film of the Three Stooges from the DVD "Dizzy Doctors" we have that Shemp is a voice teacher and certainly one of those persons who will do it just for the money. Do what? He will try to get married since his uncle, who was for him nothing but a "louse and a weasel" but who now is nothing but a "swell guy", left him $500,000 but he can have the money only if he is married. So and with the help of Moe and Larry Shemp will try to receive a yes to the question "do you want to marry me?" from any of the women that he knows, he will not have any luck and actually this is a painful time for the Stooges. But those women who knew Shemp are also of those persons who will do something just for money and each one of them will be fighting to be the wife of Shemp certainly once they all know that Shemp will be a man with $500,000. As I said, this is a painful time for the Stooges especially while the women try to be Shemp's wife ("hold hands, you lovebirds") and in the end sort of mixed feelings for Shemp, sure he will receive the money but also is sure that he now has a wife! Brideless Groom is great stuff!

I've been a fan of the Three Stooges shorts since I was a kid and I've seen them all. The ones with Curly are usually the best but there are some with Shemp that are equally as good. Brideless Groom is a Stooge short with Shemp, not Curly, but it is every bit as good as anything with Curly; and I love Curly, don't get me wrong. The funniest scene has Shemp as a vocal teacher with a female student who is not only funny looking but has a terrible voice. Larry is a riot as the piano accompanist. I taped this segment and gave it to my singing teacher years ago and she was on the floor in hysterics. There is also a great scene in a phone booth with Shemp and Moe.Five nyuks for this one.

This was my first taste of the long-running trio and, quite frankly, I was left wondering why they remain so popular if this was typical of their output. Then I watched Disorder in the Court, made eleven years earlier, and I understood. This was the Three Stooges long past their prime, rehashing old gags that were performed better by their original owners, and missing the zany touch of Curly, who had suffered a stroke earlier the same year. I really can't understand the high rating and praise for the film on this site, because there isn't much to laugh at here. Only the final scenes, which look like they've been dreamed up by some Eric Stanton devotee, come even close to raising a smile. Avoid this one unless you're an undemanding die-hard fan.

There are one or two other Shemp-era shorts I like more (i.e. SCRAMBLED BRAINS), but I think one can say--without much argument--that in this particular episode, Shemp gives his greatest comedic performance as a stooge after rejoining the team in 1946.Scene for scene, this episode hardly lets up: from Professor Shemp Howard's voice lessons with the glass-shattering Dee Green, to his futile attempts to win a dame's hand in marriage (this is your little snookums... will you marry me *click*) to the uproarious finish, it never fails to keep me in stitches.I would be remiss not mention that immortal scene with Miss Hopkins (the always lovely Christine McIntyre). Btw, isn't she rather under-dressed and over amorous in greeting the man she thinks is her 'Cousin' Basil? Who knows, maybe the actual Basil was a "very" distant cousin, which makes it legal in some states (as far as I know). >:-]