Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Three Stooges in Outer Space Jitters (1957)

The Jump 'N' The Saddle Band knew what they were doing when they ignored Joe Besser (ex-The Abbott & Costello Show) in the lyrics to their 1983 hit, "The Curly Shuffle". Besser fit with the Three Stooges about as well as a square peg in a round hole. His sensitivity to physical violence didn't mesh with the team.

To that end, fans never warmed up to Besser, who was chosen to succeed Shemp Howard, because the Stooges' first choice, Joe DeRita, was unavailable, working on his own series of shorts for Columbia. However, once the shorts ended, DeRita would join the team for the feature films and subsequent cartoons.

Besser's only positive contribution to Stooge history would be the more gentlemanly look the Stooges sport in "Outer Space Jitters", in which the guys are on a research trip to Senuv (Venus spelled backwards) as assistants to Professor Jones (Emil Sitka). However, it turns out the Senuvians intend to invade Earth, and that means the guys are thrust into the role of heroes.



The part of the goon was played by Dan Blocker (Bonanza), totally unrecognizable under the makeup, and credited as "Don Blocker". Not so sure about the babysitter........!

Rating: C.

No comments: