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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301574648
Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 6301574648
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: January 28, 1997
Running Time: 17 minutes
Sales Rank: 24310
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: June 20, 1946
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
'Beer Barrel Polecats' (1946, short number 88 in the Columbia series) should never have been released. It begins, promisingly enough, as a rewrite of Laurel & Hardy's Pardon Us where the Stooges decide to brew their own beer and Curly sells a bottle to a policeman. However, because of Curly's failing health, once they are in prison, Columbia decided to tack on the last half of 'So Long, Mr. Chumps' (1941) in which the three have promised to get a certain person out of jail. Viewers not having seen the earlier film will be utterly baffled by the sudden introduction of new plot material without a discernible link.
'Three Smart Saps' (1942, number 64) also concerns their efforts to get into prison, with obvious references to O' Henry's The Cop and the Anthem. This time they have to release their father-in-law-to-be who is the warden of a prison that the corrupt administration has made into a country club for thieves. The best part of this short is Curly's absurd dance steps, made possible by his real-life skills as a ballroom dancer. And the ancient routine of the formal-dress suit that slowly comes apart gets its umpteenth treatment in the same sequence.
'Monkey Businessmen' (1946, number 92) concerns another phony establishment, this time a sanitarium, through which they are chased by the heavies for most of the film. Another item rare in this series is the actually believable acting of the tall, attractive nurse (Jean Donahue) as she seeks for words to announce the boys' arrival at the sanitarium. The mayhem of the opening sequence in which the team tries to act as electricians is quintessential Stooging and good fun as such. --Frank Behrens
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - 2 1/2 stars.
BEER BARREL POLECATS is a pretty disappointing short. The scene where the Stooges make beer is funny. But the scenes in jail are disappointing. The new scene where Curly mistakingly socks Vernon Dent is funny, but Curly was sick here. To make the short easier, they reused large amounts of stock footage from IN THE SWEET PIE AND PIE and SO LONG, MR. CHUMPS. Those original shorts were better and funnier. Plus, if you didn't see SO LONG MR. CHUMPS in the first place, you wouldn't understand this short. ... Read More
Rating: - Another little batch of laughs
For stooges fans it is of course a beer barrel of laughs. For the avg fan we see the avg stooges skit. The boys get them selves into a mess, get chased and get their cumuppance.
Dry but pleasnt. Nothing spectacular over their normal work but the same stooges fun. For the stooge fan rather than the novice.
Rating:  - THREE SMART BEER BARREL BUSINESSMEN
BEER BARREL POLECATS (1946) - My least favorite Curly film. They reused way too many footage from two earlier shorts, and the reused footage from SO LONG MR. CHUMPS had nothing to do with the short at all and leaves many things unexplained. I understand they wanted to take it easy with Curly since he had just had a stroke, but they could've done a better job than this. Pretty lousy short. Only highlight for me: the line, "We ALL put the yeast". Plus, at least this short spawned off "Three Stooges ... Read More
Rating: - Stooges are GREAT!! Video is BAD!!
There is only one reason to purchase this video: "Beer Barrel Polecats". While all of the shorts on this compilation are hilarious and grade-A Stooge shorts, the video itself has a big downfall. The first short, "Beer", looks like it has been given the pristine transfer treatment but the other two shorts look as if someone held a hand camera up to a 16mm screen. They are washed out and shady. I've seen these on AMC's airring of the Stooges and they look a lot better. I would expect this from the low ... Read More
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