Three Little Pirates (1946) Poster

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7/10
Curly The Near-Sighted Knife Thrower!
ccthemovieman-127 February 2008
I remember this one best for the film in which Curly wears the ultra-thick black- rimmed glasses with a turban on is head, pretending to be the Raja of Canoli (or something like that).

The story is kind of a time-travel one. The Three Stooges and their garbage scow are washed up along the shore many miles away, off Deadman's Island. They seem to have entered a different period in time where it is now the late 1600s. Immediately, they are called spies and put into jail.

In the first five minutes, this is a very loud episode - at least in prolonged skit early on with guys trying to drill their way out of jail. After that, it's more of a verbal Stooges in that the dialog dominates more than the physical, which is very unusual for a Three Stooges film. Maybe part of that was Curly beginning to fail in his health. However, he seems pretty spry here, but most of his gags come with his dialog with Moe.

The film was done in the short period (mid '40s) where Curly kind of changed his voice. It was higher and that high pitch led to some funny material, although his voice gets a bit grating in this episode. However, you can't help but laugh at his comments.

The story is basically about the Stooges, with help from Rita, trying to escape from the island. She'll help them if they'll take her with them. She (series regular Christine McIntrye) doesn't want to be married to the governor, played by another series regular, Vernon Dent.

The ending is a classic with half-blind Curly (because of the fake glasses) having some knife-throwing contests with "Black Louie" the pirate, and then the boys - and Rita - getting into a brawl with Louie's gang at the saloon. Silly, but fun.
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9/10
Comments about Three Stooges short "Three Little Pirates"
DFRIZZELL12 August 2005
It was only until i first logged onto IMDb.com that i realized this short was one of Curly's last episodes. It is also one of his best. One or two other of episodes with Curly "Idiots Deluxe" & "Micro-phonies" possibly could top this. What makes "Three Little Pirates" special is all the 'SECOND LANGUAGES' that is spoken here. You will find,hopefully, that i took quotes from this episode directly from Closed Captioning and added it to help die-hard Stooge fans decipher what exactly is being said(i still can't figure it out.) I may also take some quotes from the other two episodes i mentioned earlier. In Idiots Deluxe, Moe scorns a black cat for "Stomping Around" and in Micro-phonies Moe exclaims on a radio broadcast that GRITTO spelled sideways is OTTRIGGG-GGG-GGG!!! I wish i could find out why the FCC has deemed their episodes as PG(other than the petty violence). That's exactly what is meant by SLAPSTICK COMEDY!!!
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8/10
fun stupidity
SnoopyStyle23 January 2020
Larry, Curly, and Moe are bumbling sailors from a modern day garbage scow. They shipwreck and find themselves taken prisoner by a old time Spanish settlement. Rita Yolanda needs help to escape the Governor and recruits the three boys. They disguise themselves and seeks the help of pirate Black Louie.

It's such a weird mix for a premise. It's somehow old timey but it has all the modern technology like electricity. I wouldn't mind straight-up time traveling Stooges. Their fish out of water would add another layer of comedy. There is plenty of ridiculous hilarity in this one. It's fun stupidity. It would be nice for them to actually escape as an ending.
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One of the best, but pretty much the end of it all :(
dozanddoz15 January 2003
In 1946, Curly wasn't the same Curly he was a few years earlier. He had had a few strokes, his speech and movements are slow, and he is so skinny here. However, with the help of Moe and Larry, he manages to pull off his last great comic performance, Three Little Pirates was Curly's second to last film. In this entry, the Boys are escapees chased after by A Governor and Pirates. While this short is not the best, it's close. It's hilarious and will have you watching it repeatedly. It's got all the ingredients of a great Stooge short, plus the series' best fight scene, where a crazed hammering pinball machine takes out the pirates. A hilarious series entry for the boys, but they were never again as good as they were here. Shemp was funny and had some hilarious shorts (i.e. Goof on a Roof, Mummy's Dummies, Hot Scots, and a few others), but all in all, they could never fully capture it again.

Bottom Line: One of the top 10 Stooges. A good laugh. 9/10
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10/10
The Finest of Them All!
gmzewski6 February 2006
190 shorts over 28 years, THREE LITTLE PIRATES is the Stooges at their Vaudeville Epitome! This is by far the funniest, most clever piece of any of them, and my absolute favorite of all of them! Choreographed word-for-word by Moe himself, the dialogue is just beautiful, and Curly is at the top of his form. The "MAHA" routine is comic genius! PIRATES is one of the few episodes that departs from the norm of silly slapstick into pure comedy in its classical context! (Another one of the departures would be CASH & CARRY, where their's no slapstick at all, and its story is a heart-tugger, with little Sonny Bupp as the crippled youngster). There ARE a few others, scattered through the years, but THREE LITTLE PIRATES is the benchmark by which all the others are measured! It shows how the Howards & Fine were masters of their craft. It's so funny, it's beautiful! This is the one I show to everyone who's either never seen the true Stooges, or doesn't like them. THREE LITTLE PIRATES is their masterpiece! Gotta love it!!! Perhaps a doctor of neurological medicine could explain Curly's return to his top form, considering his failing health, but none of us can, PIRATES was his swan song! L'Chaim!
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10/10
Excellent Three Stooges short!
Movie Nuttball20 June 2004
The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is a hilarious Three Stooges short and its always been one of My favorites! The part when the Stooges are using the tools is funny! Vernon Dent is very good in this one. Al Thompson, Cy Schindell, and Ethan Laidlaw are also in this. Three Stooges Short! The lovely Christine McIntyre is very good in this one! This is an excellent one! One of My favorites!
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6/10
Curly... we hardly knew ye
Raine-810 June 2002
Many Curly fans are disappointed with his 1945-46 performances during which his health got worse and worse to the point where he was no longer his old energetic self. However, his performance in this is as good as one could hope for (no one can play a maharajah better than Curly!) and fans of Curly and the stooges in general would love this short (which I consider to be their best of 1946). The plot: The stooges are sailors who wind up in ancient times and are sentenced to death by the ruler. Luckily, lady Rita is there to help them escape. Using their wits (disguising Curly as a maharajah) and their fighting abilities (they later face a band of cutthroat pirates who challenge them to a game of knife-throwing), they are eventually victorious. As mentioned, Curly's performance in this is just wonderful and there are memorable sight gags throughout. I consider this and "Fuelin' Around" to be director Edward Bernds's best Stooges shorts. RECOMMENDED
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7/10
Another Time As Well As Another Land
bkoganbing13 March 2014
Three Little Pirates finds Moe, Larry, and Curly managing to drift into another time as well as another land when they loose control of their New York City garbage scow and drift out into the ocean. They arrive in a strange land that looks like the domain of some 17th century pirates with a jealous king Vernon Dent who throws them into jail just on general principles. As if being a Stooge wasn't enough.

But they are not without allies as the king's mistress Christine McIntyre sees the boys as her means of escape. Foolish girl, but she leads them to the pirate den where of course they have some more problems with pirate leader Robert Stevens.

Curly shines in this one as he and Moe play a visiting Rajah and an interpreter. It's a great comic sequence as they shower the king with 'gifts' from the new world like a lollipop ruby and bubblegum.

A really good stooge short.
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One of the Funnier Ones
dls-321 October 2000
I originally saw this flick about 15 years ago (could have been more) on a TV special and it stuck in my mind completely. I'd watch The Three Stooges religiously on television, especially Saturday morning to hopefully see it. Unfortunately I never saw it again until it was released on video and I quickly added it to my collection a couple of weeks ago.

IT STILL DID NOT LOSE ITS EFFECT ON ME!!!!

Supposedly this island that they have landed on is still in the middle ages They are dressed in modern navy garb, while the governor (Vernon Dent) and others are dressed in middle ages dress. At first the governor doesn't recognize the modern navy dress and refuses to believe that they are sailors.

I guess this could be an historical comment when Rita (Christine McIntyre) enters the room and the Three Stooges whistle at her. The governor states that yes they are definitely sailors.

Another funny situation is still in the governor's chamber where he sentences the Three Stooges to death because they whistled at his betrothed. So the governor asks in what way they wish to die and Larry states "old age". Here Moe is ready to give him a slap across his kisser (which he does innumerable times) but the tall guard beats him to it. Moe thanks the guard.

This story supposedly is, like I stated before, taking place in the middle ages. So how come, when Rita comes to help the boys escape, she shows the boys modern day utensils, such as a jack hammer, electricity, axes, chisels etc. hidden under the mattress. It adds to the nonsense and classic Three Stooges mania. JUST LOVE IT!!

Rita gets the boys dressed up in eastern garb and Curly is the Maharajah of Canarsy. He and Moe meet the governor and offer him gifts. The funny thing is, in this scene, that Moe is supposedly a translator to Curly, and he is talking to Curly in english and because Curly doesn't cooperate completely, Moe slaps him on numerous occasions and the governor is oblivious to all of this.

The final scene takes place in Black Louie's Pirates Den where Curly is enticed into a knife throwing contest with Black Louie himself, Larry being the target.

The piece de resistance was the old pinball machine with its unique TILT applicator (I'm laughing as I am writing this), a huge mallet that comes down and conks the player on the head for cheating at pinball. Larry uses this machine to his advantage in the final melee that takes place.

I find it funny how Moe gets into a picture and knocks the bad guys out with a pendulum that was taken from the clock hanging on the wall.

The clanking on a pipe, when someone gets hit on the noggin adds to this very humorous Three Stooges short.

A MUST SEE for Three Stooges fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Gibberish at its finest!
slymusic10 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Three Little Pirates" is a wonderful Three Stooges short containing the boys' classic "Maha? Aha!" routine. Curly may have been seriously ill at the time of filming, but he still turns in a fine performance posing as a half-blind wayfarer bringing rare gifts to a ruthless governor (Vernon Dent).

Obviously, the most celebrated highlight of "Three Little Pirates" is the "Maha? Aha!" sketch, which Moe, Larry, & Curly originated in the 1941 Columbia feature film "Time Out for Rhythm", when Curly's energy was at a much higher level. Other highlights from this short: When the pinball machine tilts, a huge mallet drops down to strike the head of the "tilter". The Stooges pick the wrong wall when they use mallets, chisels, and other tools to escape from their jail cell. Curly throws a knife haphazardly, causing a woman inside a picture frame to suddenly scream and crush a vase onto a pirate's head.

Director Edward Bernds remembered the great difficulty he had in directing an ill, tired, worn-out Curly in the midforties (e.g., "A Bird in the Head" [1946], "Monkey Businessmen" [1946]), but in "Three Little Pirates", Curly was most assuredly in top form. True, his health problems are noticeable, but he nevertheless performs very well in this particular short.
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One of the Last, One of the Best
wileyjp19 November 2000
Only a fool would try to argue that any Stooge short is the "best", but some, like Three Little Pirates, can definitely be termed "one of the best". If you are a Stooge fan, this is the one that you HAVE to see.

The premise is simple: the Stooges, as castaways on an island seemingly locked in the Middle Ages and under despotic rule by an impetuous Emperor, must escape with their lives and take His Majesty's betrothed with them. Easier said than done!

Comedic highlights include the Stooges trying to break out of their cell with a jackhammer, numerous anachronisms (the jackhammer, a pinball machine), Curly's disastrous knife-throwing routine, a painting which comes to life, and jokes about execution.

The highlight, however, is the indescribable "Maha? Aha!" routine. The Stooges are trying to con their way out of the palace as nobility from foreign lands. Curly is the "Maharashi", and Moe is his translator, the "Djinn of Rummi". They chatter in a made-up language, and even though Curly repeatedly bursts into perfect English, and Moe repeatedly slaps him, the Emperor notices nothing.

If you love the Stooges, this is a must-see. It is undoubtedly one of the best ever.
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This should of had been Curly's last short
movifan17855 August 2002
This short is the best one out of all the ones curly was sick in. It was about the stooges being captured on an island and would be burned at the stake (curly's idea) the next day, so the boys are in prison and try to brake out using tools under a bed but they knock down the wrong wall then a woman comes to rescue them and the stooges dress up so they won't get caught then they see the king of the island and the king decide to ask stuff from them this scene it by far the best in the short with Curly acting like the good old days (kinda).
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