The Passion of the Larry

We're getting to it sooner than I thought!  Time for that Stooge short of record called Corny Casanovas.  Spoiler alert: for those of you Name-ists out there, I think we can all agree... not corny enough!  The premise this time: once again, the Stooges are on the brink of marriage.  And once again, they're all roommates, which is never a good idea to begin with.  They nearly kill each other several times during the seemingly simple task of cleaning up their apartment.  Shemp tries to apologize to Moe by saying "What Moe can a fella say?  That's all there is!  There ain't no Moe!"  Needles to say, it doesn't help smooth things over.
Next challenge: fixing their busted couch.  As a sociological experiment, they should play this part on the History Channel, or maybe have some modern types do a re-enactment.  You know, something along the lines of "Final cost of DIY couch?  $73,592 including legal fees, $582,028 including hospital bills."  Then, have the word "BANKRUPT" stamped on the screen in red army lettering with a stamp outline around it.  That kinda crap.  It writes itself!  On top of that, the whole idea's silly and goes against the Stooge repair ethos.  I mean, why repair the back of a couch when you can just hide the damage against the wall?  Duh!  But that's what love does to people.  You end up doing stupid little things like fixing the backs of couches because you're in love.  Sheesh.  (hand to forehead)
Oh, I almost forgot.  I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to my friend who likes the double boom when Moe hits Larry AND Shemp simultaneous-like in their guts.  Good work, Cannery Row sound FX team!
With the couch episode, this Stooge short proves once again that Moe tends to get the worst of it.  Take the tacks, for example... I'll leave it at that.  Meanwhile, Shemp seems to be having buyer's remorse about this career move of his.  Moe hits him in the face with some shaving cream and he mutters "You're always picking on me!"
I'll tiptoe lightly around the plot surprise, and just cut right to the chase, and point out that I've never seen the Stooges so mad at each other!  Apparently, with the threat of marriage looming down on them, they got excited at the possibility of having a private space where they wouldn't have to see each other.  This got violated, and hence the anger... did I ruin the surprise yet?  This is also perhaps the most tragic of the Shemp shorts, as it pits Moe against Shemp at one point.  Shemp does his boxing routine, and I don't think Moe finds it amusing.  Shemp gets cast aside all too easily, and now it's Larry's turn.  Moe goes to work on Larry with a fireplace bellows, but he does seem to show some remorse when he realizes the full consequences of his actions.  Unfortunately for Moe, Larry comes to and starts going to work on Moe with a fireplace shovel, thereby informing the Coen brothers and the big final showdown between Johnny Casper and The Dane in Miller's Crossing.
Once again, the Stooges end up in a heap on the floor, having once again lost almost everything.  But they still got each other!  In his semi-conscious state, Shemp ends up doing "She loves me, she loves me not" as he tears out clumps of Larry's hair, and he gingerly rolls each bloody clump through his fingers as it falls to the floor, lol.  In my adolescence, I'm pretty sure I couldn't help but think that the boys went a little too far this time... but it won't be the last time.  Take Pardon My Backfire, for example... ah, we'll get to that one soon enough.

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-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan