Cheap I'm a Monkey's Uncle (Video) (Larry Fine, Moe Howard) (Jules White) Price

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Customer Reviews of I'm a Monkey's Uncle

I'm a Monkey's Uncle" is a two-reeler finds the Stooges in the Stone Age, dealing with the problems of sleeping, hunting, cooking, finding girls, and avoiding their boyfriend, with Shemp usually getting the worst of every situation. However, things actually end up with the boys on top for once. Ah, the good old days.

"Mummy's Dummies" was the next comedy from the Stooges, with this one set in ancient Egypt where the boys are used chariots salesmen. Brought before the Pharaoh Rootentooten, Shemp turns into Painless Papryus and saves his majesty from a toothache. The boys are rewarded with high positions at court and actually continue to do good deeds, leading to another happy ending (sort of).

The best of this set is "Squareheads of the Round Table," which was the first of these three to be filmed in 1948. The boys are but simple troubadours on the way to the court of King Arthur when they become involved in the quest of Cedric the Blacksmith to win the hand of the Princess Elaine, who has been promised to the Black Prince. The Stooges are eager to help, but serenading the Princess only gets them throw in the castle dungeon. They escape and find there is a plot to kill the king and for the third time in a row on this video the Stooges carry the day.

Is there some sort of deep meaning to the fact that the Three Stooges have much more success in the past than they do in the present? Are we seeing an indictment of the modern condition, a rejection of technology and the trappings of modernity? Come on, get real, people. These are the Three Stooges and we should be impressed by the fact that a couple of these shorts have actual plots.

A Five-Star Tape.
I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE, MUMMY'S DUMMIES, and SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE. There's no best short on this tape. All three are equally funny.

I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE is so funny, especially Shemp with Dee Green. She tackles well. She'd make a good football player. A priceless short. Remade as STONE AGE ROMEOS.

MUMMY'S DUMMIES is also very funny, especially the supporting cast. This should could not have been better, but the quality could.

SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE is possibly the best Three Stooges short set in medevil times. This was great. The quality of the three is best on this one. A great short.

Notice that all three of these shorts take place in a different time period. The quality of the tape comes out darker than usual. I give this 4 1/2 stars.

I'M A DUMMIES OF THE ROUND TABLE
A back-in-time themed video tape, and all shorts ironically come from the same year:

I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE (1948) is disappointing. Set in the Stone-Age. With the Stooges set as cavemen for the whole short, your expectations are high for a great, unique short, but they really wasted the premise. What we get is a lot of weak scenes, another 5 minute scene with Moe doing another poor Curly imitation (see also SHIVERING SHERLOCKS), and a weak ending. Although the interaction between Shemp and Baggie (Dee Green) is funny. But they didn't do much with this premise as they should've. Same thing with SELF MADE MAIDS, which casts the Stooges playing all the parts, even the supporting roles - and that clever premise wasn't handled well at all. Still, worth seeing the Stooges as cavemen.

MUMMY'S DUMMIES (1948) is a better short. Set in ancient Egypt. Some great scenes, and my favorite part is where the guard is quickly unraveling the mummy bandages wrapped around Shemp, sending him spinning though the whole room. Incidentally, this is the only pre-1950's Shemp short that was not remade with the Stooges later on.

SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE (1948) is a wonderful short. Set in Medieval times. Great writing and direction, with a great supporting cast, topped off with a wonderful castle scene makes this one of the best shorts the Stooges ever did.

Starts out bumpy, but the shorts on the tape progessively gets better as it goes along.