Beer and Pretzels (1933)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Jack Cummings

Writers:

Matt Brooks (writer)
Ted Healy (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot Keywords:

Policewoman | Dancing | Beer | Slapstick | The Three Stooges

Cast

Ted Healy	...	Himself
Moe Howard	...	Moe
Larry Fine	...	Larry
Curly Howard	...	Curly
Bonnie Bonnell	...	Bonny
Fred Malatesta	...	Restaurant manager

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The first Stooges "episode".

Movie Connections:

Edited from The March of Time (1930)

Soundtrack:

Steins On The Table

VERY early Three Stooges, when they were second-fiddle to Ted Healy!

Primarily of historical interest, "Beer and Pretzels" is one of a handful of shorts made by Ted Healy and His Stooges for 20th Century Fox in the early '30s. Most of these shorts are difficult to find, but they are sometimes screened at oddball times on cable stations, like AMC, for instance. Of the ones I've seen, this is not one of the best, but it is by no means bad. Basically, the formula was this: take some musical numbers from Busby Berkeley films that got left on the cutting room floor and pad them out with comedy from Healy and His Stooges. His Stooges, of course, are comprised of Larry Fine, Moe Howard, and Curly Howard, who would later gain immortality and fame as the Three Stooges. But, though, they have plenty of screen time, the show belongs to Ted Healy. At the time, Healy was a huge vaudeville star but is virtually forgotten today (except as a footnote on the careers of the Three Stooges). He can best be described as a '30s Richard Belzer or Dennis Miller - acerbic and abusive, a domineering know-it-all who happens to have some charm and a nice tenor voice. Basically, his "boss" role was overtaken by Moe when the Stooges went solo. In the film, Healy & his Stooges play vaudevillians who are fired as the film opens. They soon find work as waiters in a posh nightclub and chaos ensues. Though their characters are by no means as defined as they would become, it's fascinating to see glimpses of Moe's pugnaciousness, Larry's wishy-washiness, and Curly's overgrown kid act.