3 Stooges: Crash Goes Hash [VHS]
"Crash Goes the Hash" (1944, short number 77 in the Columbia series) is pretty much a rehash of material often used by the Three Stooges. Mistaken for reporters, they are sent to a highbrow party to get a story. They pose as cook and butlers, causing the expected chaos, even down to the old parrot-in-the-turkey routine and the one in which a Stooge has one arm in the baddie's jacket sleeve during a fight. Perhaps it is as an acknowledgment of all this recycling that we have the butler commenting that they remind him of the Three Stooges, to which Curly replies, "That's an insult.""From Nurse to Worse" (1940, number 49) has a rare bit of symmetry in that a "friend" who gets them involved in an insurance scam at the start of the film gets his comeuppance at the end of it. Curly gets to do an extended dog imitation to prove he's nuts and collect on the insurance; but when faced with surgery, it's time to escape--into a dog catcher's wagon to facilitate an extra routine inside a fumigation room.The third film, "G.I. Wanna Go Home" (1946, number 94)--the wordGois missing on both the box and the tape label!--starts with a touch of realism as the boys are in uniforms looking for a lift. Because of the housing shortage, they cannot get married and take up residence in an open yard; but after another tired round with a parrot in a turkey, a truck arbitrarily ruins their domicile. They manage to find a small dwelling, the bedroom of which consists of two sets of three-tiered bunk beds. The brides simply disappear into the bathroom as another old routine of Curly having to take the top berth is repeated. This is not a particularly satisfying entry as Curly is restrained by health problems.--Frank Behrens