Slippery Silks (1936) User Reviews

The Fashion Show Is The Highlight

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 28 August 2008]

The fashion show in the last segment made this Three Stooges effort worth seeing. The last six-seven minutes are a hoot when the boys put on their own version of "modern" fashion and then get into a pastry fight with the snooty patrons. Now that's typical Three Stooges slapstick! Before that, the material in here, pun intended since it's a story about a women's clothing firm, was not the best..... but the extended ending made up for it.

There are two distinct parts to this story, which isn't unusual in a Three Stooges film. The first part has them as carpenters. One day, customer "Mr. Morgan" (series regular Vernon Dent) comes in with a $50,000 Chinese antique. That's probably a million bucks today, at least.

Mr. Morgan wants a duplicate made of it and the boss gives the three boys the assignment. Why he would entrust such a valuable item to these lamebrains is not explained but, in no time, they've ruined the valuable piece and run out of the store, being chased.

When the cops catch them, they think they're headed for the clink but are shocked to find out they inherited a swanky Fifth Avenue store. The cops were just out trying to find the missing heirs.

That sets up a few scenes at the high-end store for women, the boys trying to be tailors and such and, naturally, screwing it up. Soon, an important customer - who turns out to be "Mrs. Morgan" - asks for a fashion show and that's when the real fun begins!

Mode Modernistique And A Cream Puff In The Kisser

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 29 April 2020]

(IMO) - The well-known team of Howard, Fine, and Howard (that's Curly, Larry, and Moe) have got to be 3 of the zaniest stooges, ever, in all of movie-comedy history, bar none.

And, here in "Slippery Silks" (among all of the insults, eye-pokes, face slaps, and belly wallops) the Three Stooges find themselves unexpectedly promoted (through the wackiest circumstances) from being artistic woodworkers to that of high-fashion designers of women's clothing.... (Well - La-de-da!)

And, of course, in this surprisingly sudden career transition you can be 100% sure that the Three Stooges are gonna cause all sorts of hilarious mayhem, and whatnot, that is guaranteed to tickle more than just your funny-bone. Oh - Yes - Indeed!

SLIPPERY SILKS (Jack White, 1936) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 9 February 2008]

The last entry in the Columbia 2-Disc Set of Three Stooges shorts is a standard affair, watchable but not exactly a classic (to be honest, very few of these, if any, were!). The boys cause havoc at a shop selling rare items, then discover they've inherited an atelier; the funniest bit is the climax, with the exhibition of their surreal models – dressed in clothes resembling furniture (complete with drawers wherein to keep their cosmetics)!

These shorts are essentially pleasant and certainly harmless – but they're not in any way on the same plane as their contemporaries Laurel & Hardy; one film of theirs I'd love to rewatch, however, is WE WANT OUR MUMMY (1939) – which I used to watch as a kid (my father owned a copy on Super 8!)...

"These are the men who ruined my cabinet!"

[slymusic · 29 August 2009]

In "Slippery Silks", the Three Stooges (Curly, Larry, and Moe) are furniture designers who inherit a swanky boutique. Just in time, too; they accidentally destroyed a valuable antique Chinese cabinet.

My favorite scenes: For the fashion show, the Stooges create some hilarious new "gowns" based on woodwork! During the pastry fight, a mannequin's hand proves to be a big help in tossing the stuff. During the fashion show, a heavyset woman (June Gittelson) comments that she would look stunning in a riding outfit, and Curly remarks that he'd have trouble figuring out which one was the horse. Mr. Morgan (Vernon Dent) asks if duplication of his Chinese cabinet will be done in competent hands, and Curly replies, "Soitenly! We're all incompetent!"

One question remains: Just before the wild pastry fight, the irate Mr. Morgan confronts the Stooges in a slugfest. But when the delicacies start flying, where did Mr. Morgan go?

Stooges' First Pie Throwing Episode

[springfieldrental · 9/10 · 15 September 2023]

December 1936's "Slippery Silks," the Stooges perform their first pie throwing sequence. Technically, however, their first 'tossing substance in the face" routine is seen in their earlier 1935's "Pop Goes the Easel," where the boys throw sculptor's clay at everyone. In their latest incarnation, the three are carpenters designing and building unique furniture. They soon learn they've inherited a fancy dress boutique from their uncle right after they've destroyed a customer's valuable antique Chinese miniature cabinet. Once ensconced in the new boutique, they're asked to hold a fashion show where the models display the latest in Parisian fashion. Included in the presentation are a couple of dresses designed by Larry that look like cabinets. The show is interrupted by the owner of the valuable Chinese antique the Stooges had destroyed, setting off the hysterically humorous cream puff and pie fight.

Moe Howard claimed he was the only one who threw all the pastries into the actors' faces since, he bragged, he was the most accurate thrower on the set. Over 100 cream puffs were thrown, Moe recalled. But the studio ran out of pastries, so "they had to scrape every ounce of cream off the floor, along with the dirt and sawdust, to finish the short." (Possibly a slight exaggeration on Moe's part). He stated during an interview on the Mike Douglas TV show the "studio auditors claimed I had saved them tens of thousands of dollars with my accuracy in the pie throw." The elder Moe demonstrated his pie-throwing technique to Douglas and his guest Ted Knight while the audiences howled at the antics taking place before the cameras.

Great Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 29 December 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!

One of the most hilarious Three Stooges shorts is Slippery Silks. In this short are Vernon Dent, Symona Boniface, Eddie Laughton, William Irving, and Jack 'Tiny' Lipson. The acting by these actors especially by Dent is very good. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! I recommend this one!

standard Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 28 July 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are carpenters tasked with reproducing a $50k chinese box. They accidentally cut it in half. Everything goes wrong and they're on the run. It just so happens that the cops are looking for three missing boys who look like the Stooges. Now they have new lives in a fashion house. It all ends with a cream fight with the upper crust. This is a standard Stooges short. I want more done with the ridiculous Stooges photo. It would be funnier to have the boy somehow forced into those school boy costumes. As for the food fight, they have better ones than this. All in all, this is solid but not necessarily the best.

Stooges en vogue

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 16 April 2017]

"Slippery Silks" is a 1936 live action short film from the United States. This one here runs for 18 minutes and is in black-and--white with sound. The names White and Adamson probably tell huge film buffs already that this 81-year-old film is just another short film starring the Three Stooges. And they were certainly very much en vogue at that point. So here is their take on the fashion industry. They basically design their own collection of fashion items and they are all a mix of clothes and furniture. The general approach on the comedy here fits and it is probably what you would expect if the Stooges touch this topic. But the problem is once again the story, which is so basic and shallow and uninspired that it basically just serves as a very general framework for the Stooges jokes in here. I guess this one was not remade like many other Stooges short films for a reason. Then again, it is not really much worse than their other highly lauded stuff from that era. I must say most of their work has not aged well at all. This one here is neither one of their most nor least known works. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

So-So

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Slippery Silks (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three Stooges inherit a rich silk shop but of course they manage to screw it up. The second half of this short, taking place in the silk shop, is rather unfunny, although we're treated to another food fight. The first half has the boys in a wood shop causing all sorts of damage and this is here all the laughs are to be found. Curley falling into the nails and all the gags with the glue are among the highlights.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 shorts, all digitally remastered and looking better than ever.