Rumpus in the Harem (1956) User Reviews

I guess dubbing really makes a difference, if you use it right.......

[spiderguy_07 · 6/10 · 1 February 2007]

OK, what was with all of the crying and belly-aching? I don't think they should've tortured the viewers with such screaming and crying in the first scene.

This is a remake of Malice In The Palace (1949). It is good in some parts, but other parts just make you wish Shemp was still with us. In the scene where Shemp is running from the guard with the sword, they dubbed in Shemp's voice screaming, but when all 3 of them jump through the window, you don't hear Shemp scream, you hear Joe Palma's scream (Shemp's double).

Oh well, Moe and Larry did good, considering they had to go on without Shemp. God Bless The 3 Stooges!

rather random Santas

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 18 March 2024]

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard are in The Orient (The middle east). Their girlfriends rush into their room in need of money or else they could be sold by the Sultan. The boys run a restaurant, but don't have the money. Criminals have a map to a 100 carrot diamond. There is a curse for the person who touches the jewel first and they convince the Stooges to retrieve it. It turns out that the Emir of Shmow has already taken it. The Stooges go to steal it back dressed as three Santas.

I always prefer Curly Stooge to Shemp Stooge. There is a weird silliness to all the Arabian nights costumes. It only gets more random when they dress up as Santas. Are they trying to make a religious take with Christmas or is it a clash of cultures? Maybe they just had the Santa costumes handy. It's another weird nonsense turn that kinda works. The puppy is also kinda funny. I would like for the boys to have a dumpier restaurant which would be funnier. This is good for a Shemp Stooge short.

What was Columbia thinking?

[simeon_flake · 1/10 · 23 September 2014]

The fact that Columbia Pictures and the bossman at the time, Harry Cohn, actually put Moe Howard and Larry Fine into a position where they had to make a film with Shemp's name and face in the opening credits, even though Shemp had passed on is incredible--and not in a good way.

I get that Moe & Larry were under contract & Cohn wanted to keep cranking out stooge shorts, no matter what--but could the guys get some damn time off to grieve. Apparently not.

And then there's Joe Palma as the immortal "Fake Shemp." An idea that was doomed from the very start, but somehow they still made this short and then made 3 more after this with the "Bogus Shemp." What's wrong with this film--just about everything to be honest. The original "Malice in the Palace" was great, but I find it hard to enjoy the reused footage from that short here in "Rumpus" given the circumstances.

Moe and Larry certainly deserved better.

The worst Shemp short

[holme-1 · 28 July 2001]

This was terribly pathetic! The new footage in the beginning sucks because it is just Moe and Larry waking up and reassuring their girlfriends that they will not be sold into slavery, and their girlfriends' weeping is so annoying. Plus, there is a stupid excuse why Shemp is not in that scene! The only part that is merely okay is the scene in which the guard is chasing the Shemp double in circles.

Grade: D-

Good Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 19 October 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 good three Stooges short. George J. Lewis, Frank Lackteen, Vernon Dent, Helen Jay, Harriette Tarler, Diana Darrin, Suzanne Ridgeway, and Ruth White all performed well. There and many funny scenes here and The Three Stooges are hilarious! There is another short very similar like this one called Malice in the Palace. I recommend to see both of these Three Stooges shorts!

they flew over the shark with this one....

[octopus_now · 1/10 · 10 April 2003]

1953 would mark the slow, but steady decent of Stooge films due to budget restrictions, an over-reliance on stock footage, and just the general waning popularity of the short-film medium. But this "film" reaches a whole new low, with Shemp having passed on to stooge heaven (I wonder if Uncle Mortimer let him in :]), Moe & Larry had to suffer through this first of four films with the immortal "Fake Shemp". Mix in a good batch of recycled footage & you end up with 16 minutes that will almost make you appreciate Joe Besser and talking horses (almost).

Grade: F

Pathetic and Useless

[stooge60540 · 12 July 2001]

The first Three Stooges short after Shemp's death, and this is a remake of MALICE IN THE PALACE (1949) with Joe Palma doubling for Shemp (with his back faced toward the camera to hide his face) in the new footage. This remake was terrible. The new footage was weak and poorly written and acted. And Joe Palma doubling for Shemp was pathetic. It was so obvious that wasn't Shemp from the first moment the back of the double's head appeared on screen. Who's idea was this? I feel the Stooges should've just called it quits after Shemp died. The Palma/Shemp's are embarrasing, and the later shorts with Joe Besser are terrible. Plus, it wasn't worth it for Moe to go on with the pain after losing TWO of his brothers in just 3 years. That must've been sad.

An average remake

[slymusic · 19 August 2005]

"Rumpus in the Harem" is a remake, with ample stock footage, of the classic "Malice in the Palace" (1949). It is also the first of four Three Stooges shorts applying the disrespectful practice of utilizing Joe Palma as a double for Shemp Howard in the new footage, since poor Shemp had suddenly died shortly before filming. As one Stooge author pointed out, Moe Howard had a lot of courage to keep the act going after watching the deaths of his brothers Curly and Shemp.

As for the new footage of this short, a few scenes are quite overdone, as in the opening scene with the Stooges' girlfriends sobbing profusely over the prospect of being sold to a slave owner, and in one of the closing scenes with the two harem girls beating up Moe and Larry. The chase footage during this scene, with Shemp's voice dubbed in as Joe Palma runs around in circles fleeing the guard, is okay but not enough to save the picture. On the other hand, the stock footage from "Malice in the Palace," particularly the classic scene of Larry chasing a cat and dog in the restaurant, is perhaps the only highlight of this remake.

The new footage of "Rumpus in the Harem" is what brings this short down to a low grade, and I cannot watch it without being distracted by the fact that Joe Palma fills in for the deceased Shemp. Therefore, I usually rely on the stock footage of the restaurant scenes in order to obtain the laughs from this film.

Okay remake.

[crusefamily · 18 November 2001]

RUMPUS IN THE HAREM (1956) is an okay remake of MALICE IN THE PALACE (1949)but it still could've been better. Columbia didn't choose the best possible double for Shemp. The new footage at the beginning is okay, but it's hard to hear what their girlfriends are saying because of their weeping. And I didn't like the scene where the harem girls are beating up Moe and Larry. The only new scene I really liked was when the guard is chasing Shemp's double. They even dubbed in some scenes where Shemp is screaming. But it's obviously a double when Shemp is jumping out the window because they got lazy and didn't dub in Shemp screaming. The double screamed instead. But there's enough of the old footage to have a good laugh!

Grade: B-

This is a commentary on the Stooges short,'Rumpus in the Harem"

[anderman70 · 12 September 2004]

This was one of the unfortunate 'dead Shemp' shorts, but is one I've been forgiving of, since I 've always liked the scene in the harem where Moe and Larry are beaten up by the harem girls. Suzanne Ridgeway was a cute actress who appeared in minor roles in many Columbia pictures. She fascinated me as a kid, and it's a treat to see her pop up in other shorts. The original short ,"Malice in the Palace" was superior overall, but I have to admit to a morbid habit of studying the Joe Palma standing as as Shemp scenes. They found more ways to film the back of his head, and to cut in Shemp's 'meep meep'. It's interesting that the next 'dead Shemp' short, also had Moe and larry being beat up by two military women. Maybe it was an easy answer as to how to squeeze a couple of new scenes on an old short, but it was entertaining to me.