"Rockin' Thru the Rockies" may not rank among the best of the Three Stooges shorts, but it is still fairly wild and funny. In this film, the Stooges are hired as guides for a small theatre troupe known as Nell's Belles, who travel all across North America to open a show in San Francisco. Problem is, Nell (Kathryn Sheldon) realizes something that we Stooge fans have known all along: If you want a particular job done professionally, don't hire the Stooges!
Highlights from this short include the following. The ice-fishing scene is quite a barrel of laughs, especially when Curly's and Moe's fish lines accidentally hook together. Curly accidentally discharges a rifle in the air and down drops a few ducks from the sky, but the gunshot frightens the troupe's horses so much that they break from their harnesses and run away; while the Stooges and the girls watch the horses flee, all Curly can say is, "Look at the ducks!" In probably the funniest moment in the whole short, Moe and Larry noisily toss Curly out of their bed and make him sleep on the floor by himself when he begins to bark like a dog in his sleep; Curly later causes a huge pile of snow to drop down from the sagging canvas roof on top of Larry and Moe.
Directed by Jules White, "Rockin' Thru the Rockies" is a good Three Stooges short with a few oddities. For one thing, the ending is quite strange as a sudden gust of wind rushes in to blow the troupe's carriage (now rigged with a sail) all the way to San Francisco, presumably (!). For another, the Native Americans (particularly the chief portrayed by paleface Dick Curtis) are probably the worst manifestations of Native American stereotypes in Hollywood, even though their dialogue together about "making whoopee" with the girls gets a laugh.
Highlights from this short include the following. The ice-fishing scene is quite a barrel of laughs, especially when Curly's and Moe's fish lines accidentally hook together. Curly accidentally discharges a rifle in the air and down drops a few ducks from the sky, but the gunshot frightens the troupe's horses so much that they break from their harnesses and run away; while the Stooges and the girls watch the horses flee, all Curly can say is, "Look at the ducks!" In probably the funniest moment in the whole short, Moe and Larry noisily toss Curly out of their bed and make him sleep on the floor by himself when he begins to bark like a dog in his sleep; Curly later causes a huge pile of snow to drop down from the sagging canvas roof on top of Larry and Moe.
Directed by Jules White, "Rockin' Thru the Rockies" is a good Three Stooges short with a few oddities. For one thing, the ending is quite strange as a sudden gust of wind rushes in to blow the troupe's carriage (now rigged with a sail) all the way to San Francisco, presumably (!). For another, the Native Americans (particularly the chief portrayed by paleface Dick Curtis) are probably the worst manifestations of Native American stereotypes in Hollywood, even though their dialogue together about "making whoopee" with the girls gets a laugh.