Don't Poke until you see the Whites of their Eyes... in 3D!

Well, the Stooges tried to keep current on all the latest Hollywood fads, but they didn't stick with all of them.  They only did two shorts in 3D.  Now, Spooks I can understand... but Pardon my Backfire?  In retrospect, the daily goings-on at a car mechanic hardly seems like the stuff of 3D... and the Stooges must've thought so too!
But back to the instant case.  After retiring from the force with a nice pension in Tricky Dicks, they just can't quit the detective business.  It gets in the blood, and stays there, like strep or herpes.  But it's a hard business and a detective needs to get a lot of sleep.
In comes their latest case: a missing persons job.  It's a young lady, and she must be a young starlet on the make, because the photo of her looks like one that casting agents would normally look at.  Shemp says "That girl has a beautiful pair of eyes!"  Filthy old devil!  ...hey!  The hyperlinks are back!!!
Hmm... this plot seems familiar.  I know, I know, it's a little late to be thinking that.  But ... SPOILER ALERT... the ending does seem familiar.  The Stooges conquer their enemies with pies, and then the Stooges get pies thrown in their faces by a guy in a gorilla suit... I mean, an actual gorilla.  Not all the 3D effects are done to maximum effect here.  The pies, for instance.  They're thrown just past the camera too quickly to register.  But there's still one facet of Spooks! that makes it worth watching: the Shemp Bat!  "What a hideous, monstrous face!" says Shemp of the Shemp Bat, and Shemp quickly covers his own face.  Philip van Zandt's terrific as always as yet another evil scientist.

***1/2
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan