"Spooks!" is a 16-minute black-and-white short film from 1953, so this one will have its 65th anniversary next year. If the names White and Adler don't tell you already what to expect here, then the names Howard² and Fine definitely should. This is another Three Stooges short movie, but despite the age it is far from one of their early ones. The days of War were long over already, so no anti-German propaganda in here and at that time Curly was also dead already and Shemp was his permanent replacement after his own untimely death. The story here with slight not too creepy horror elements was nothing too usual for the gang, but it worked very well I must say and had a bit of a cartoon touch to it. Moe, Larry and Shemp need to save a damsel in distress from a mad scientist, his assistant brute and a hairy gorilla. Lots of mayhem ensues, but also a funny scene here and there next to the usual overthetopness. I am generally not a huge Stooges fan, but I somewhat liked this one here. One of my favorites from the gang and looking at how many of their works I have seen, this means quite something. Oh yeah and I also realized how much Moe and Shemp resemble each other physically. All in all, I enjoyed the watch and I give this quarter of an hour a thumbs-up. Worth checking out.

This is the continuing blog of the Blu ray 3D Mad Magician,which include this short.Back in 75 I had gotten the 8mm 50 foot version.This was the first time I saw the movie in 3D at home .I saw the full sound version in 3D on t.v. back in 82.This version ,the print, was so digitally cleaned up that it revealed the special effect techniques that the film maker did not want you to see.In the Anaglyph version,in the beginning title,you saw a black black ground and the three stooges heads floating to the camera and back.In the digital version their bodies wearing black sheets are revealed ,in three Dee ,and you see that they are walking up to the camera and walking back.I did not see this in that Anaglyph version.That is what I call clarity.It's a typical story about kidnapped girls and the boys being detectives, with mad scientist and gorilla added to and a 3D pie throwing .The scene where the mad scientist, played by Philip van Zandt, is chasing the boys with a needle.I did not realize until I saw this clear version that it was large one for the 3d effects It had the typical burlesque violence in a 3d coming out at you style.It was shot in Vitascope ,actually 1:85:1Presnted this way in it's ratio.Fun. 01/15/16

Directed by Jules White, "Spooks!" is a pretty good Three Stooges short starring Larry, Moe, and Shemp. As the title suggests, this film takes place in a haunted house full of spooks! The Stooges are amateur sleuths posing as pie salesmen in order to recover a pretty lady (Norma Randall) from the clutches of a mad scientist (Philip Van Zandt) and his assistant (Tom Kennedy), who abduct her for a brain transplant experiment. The Stooges decide to use their most common weapon against the two fiends: pie-throwing!Highlights from "Spooks!" include the following. The Stooges encounter a bat with Shemp's face! At the end, the scientist's gorilla throws pies at the Stooges and the girl. When Shemp describes the gorilla to Moe and Larry, he calls it a "chimney-panzee" and says, "He looked just like my mother-in-law!" As the Stooges try to escape through a window, Moe gets bashed in the head twice."Spooks!" was the first of two Stooge shorts in 3-D! The only real problem with this format is that the slapstick, when directed toward the camera, is quite exaggerated when you watch the films in 2-D. On the other hand, the one shot of the scientist approaching the camera (representing the gorilla) and holding up his hypodermic needle directly in front of the lens is quite frightening indeed!

This was a truly hilarious short, 3-D or no 3-D. There were so many visual gags, including the one where the bat is actually Shemp barking like Curly.But one of the most notable things about this short is how Shemp shows himself as a hipster when he learns they are looking for Bea Bopper. He responds by saying such hip terms as "Hey man!" and "Cool, Daddy-O!" It begs the question: Who came first, James Dean or Shemp Howard? And I think I know the answer to this one! I almost think Shemp was a a '60s person before his time: A meek guy who had longish, limp hair, who used hip expressions!!! Oh, the things you learn in Stooge shorts!!! No wonder why these shorts are great!! Chalk up another classic for these three goofs!!