User Reviews

"Pies and Guys" is an American black-and-white short film from 1958, so this one has its 60th anniversary this year. It is another co-production family affair by 4-time Oscar nominee Jules White with his older brother Jack. And of course these 17 minutes are another Three Stooges work. Shemp and Curly were sadly dead already at this point, so it is one of the later works from the trio and Joe Besser had taken over at that point as the third man and he resembles Curly certainly more than Shemp. He was the youngest from the bunch in his early 50s now and Larry was a bit older and Moe was already past 60. Also sadly, there is nothing really new or innovative about this one anymore as it is already the second remake of an earlier Stooges short film from more than 20 years ago. It is about a doctor trying to turn the Stooges into civilized gentlemen, but of course it goes all wrong. And ends in a big pie fight eventually with many innocent victims. I don't hate Besser as much as many others, who love Curly and at best like Shemp, but he is not the problem this one was rather bland and uninteresting to me. The material is good enough for one film, if at all, but honestly not for so many remakes. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.

"Pies and Guys" is, in my opinion, one of the best of the sixteen Three Stooges shorts that Moe and Larry made with Joe Besser. This is largely because this short is virtually a scene-for-scene, line-for-line remake of the last Stooge short with Curly, "Half-Wits Holiday" (1947).

Obviously, the main highlight of "Pies and Guys" is the climactic pie fight after the Stooges prove to Professor Quackenbush (Milton Frome) that no matter how hard anyone tries to make gentlemen of them, nobody will succeed. Some might complain that the pie fight stock footage from "Half-Wits Holiday" is rather stale, as it has been reused in two other Stooge shorts with Shemp ("Pest Man Wins" [1951] and "Scheming Schemers" [1956]). But it is still quite good, with my only concern being that Joe Besser could have made more of a contribution to it in the new footage. (In fact, when he gets hit with the second pie, he appears to be crying!) One author found it very painful to watch "Half-Wits Holiday," knowing that Curly was about to suffer a stroke before filming the pie fight scene. But, as this author pointed out, "Pies and Guys" can be watched without that particular distraction.

Other highlights include the Stooges' hilarious lessons in reading and applying proper table manners, which of course frustrate the professor. I feel that Joe Besser really fits into his childish Stooge mannerisms in this short, and despite the fact that Moe and Larry are well past middle age, they do a bang-up job as well. So overall, "Pies and Guys" is a wonderful Three Stooges short. When given the chance, Joe Besser can be a real treat to watch in his Stooge films with Moe and Larry.