My Episode Review on The Three Stooges: What's the Matador? (Plus, a Bonus) · 6:20pm Mar 21st, 2023
Bueno Dias, my friends.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of the Three Stooges' "What's the Matador?".
Here's the rundown of it:
The Three Stooges are vaudeville entertainers who get to perform a bullfighting act in Mexico, with Curly as the matador and Moe & Larry as the bull. However, after they cross paths with an attractive lady named Dolores, her jealous and hot-tempered husband, Jose, vows to kill them. Especially Curly, because he's the one who flirted with his wife.
Like many of the previous Three Stooges shorts I reviewed, "What's the Matador?" was one that I planned on analyzing for quite some time. The main reason is because it was given a direct remake with Joe Besser as the third Stooge, and I was wanting to review all the earliest shorts to be remade anyway. I rewatched this short four times in preparation for reviewing it, mainly so that I'd get my brain going and be absolutely certain of my thoughts on it.
To tell you the truth, coming from a guy who watched "What's the Matador?" more than once, I didn't think it was 100% perfect. The prime nitpick I noted was that there were some comedic-bits that seemed to both halt the narrative progression and drag on a bit, even it they were relatively amusing. An example is the part where Curly is tossing his matador hat in the air only to fail it getting it to fall directly back around his head.
Outside of this, though, "What's the Matador?" was still a fun member of the Three Stooges filmography.
For instance, the direction by Jules White, the story by Jack White (who went under the name Preston Black for the shorts he directed), and the screenplay by him and Saul Ward were deeply well-done in their own right.
When it came to making his comeback with the Three Stooges, mainly by providing as a writer for the directorial ventures of his older brother, it was clear to me that White was a little out-of-practice. Luckily, his time being drafted in the army clearly didn't cause him to be out of touch from writing comedies. Aided by co-writer Saul Ward, White still provided tons of humorous bits and gags that his brother turned into laugh-worthy moments. The parts featuring Curly as he's facing off against the bull were particularly hilarious, because they had an energy and liveliness that helped them be instantly fun to watch.
On top of this, the way Ward and the White brothers made the scene featuring the Stooges in the Sanchez's room one with genuine tension was excellent. Even as someone who's seen this short more than once, I enjoyed how unpredictable and thrilling how the team made the whole part, and I was practically on the edge of my seat wanting to see what'd happen next.
The acting and characters were terrific as well.
Despite the Stooges themselves not being 100% on their A-Game, they were still as charming and amusing as ever. Moe, Larry, and Curly themselves portrayed their onscreen personas with gusto, and their abilities to make even the most awkward comedic moments entertaining is always an enjoyable thing to see.
The performances of the supporting cast members and their characters were also quite delightful, especially Suzanne Kaaren as Dolores and Harry Burns as Jose. Jose in particular had a tremendous amount of development, in that his rage and hatred for the Stooges grew dangerously large.
In conclusion, "What's the Matador?" may not have been one of the Three Stooges' very best members of their filmography, but it's still reasonably pleasurable. It's definitely worthy of being rewatched here and there, that's for sure.
So, I rate "What's the Matador?" 4½ out of 5 stars.
As a special bonus for you guys, I'd like to share with you all a new art paint-by-number I recently completed, which I worked on from November 29, 2022 to February 22, 2023:
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And the painting?
Ah yes, the Stooges. A fond memory from my younger days when I was a mere lad of 97.
I remember paying my 5 cents for a movie ticket. I had an onion in my belt, which was the style at the time. It was one of those big yellow onions. They didn't have white onions, because of the war! Back then, nickels had pictures of bees on them! "Gimme 5 bees for a quarter!" you'd say!