Squareheads of the Round Table (1948) User Reviews

In Days of old when a stooge was bold?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 11 February 2014]

Some years later this Three Stooges short subject was remade as Knutsy Knights with the same cast just about. I guess we can call this the director's cut. It's also rated a couple of notches higher than the remake.

Moe, Larry, and Shemp play a pair of wandering minstrels who befriend Jock Mahoney, a poor, but humble blacksmith in love with King Arthur's daughter the fair princess Elaine played by Christine McIntyre. She loves him, but it's that class thing.

Who does want to marry her is the evil Black Prince Vernon Dent who plans to usurp Arthur himself once he's in the family. Not that I'd look to Moe, Larry, and Shemp for aid and assistance, but they're the blacksmith and the princess have. And they do come through, kind of, sort of.

Some nice gags, especially that cake which seems to have the storage capacity of a TARDIS.

fine Shemp Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 7 January 2020]

In Days of Old, when Knights were Bold and Suits were made of Iron. Larry, Moe, and Shemp are troubadours on their way to King Arthur's court. Knights are searching for Cedric the Blacksmith. He's in love with Princess Elaine but the King had promised her hand to The Black Prince. This is fine for a Shemp Stooges short. There is a fun corridor chase although the knights could do something funnier. Everything could be funnier but they just don't have Curly. This is perfectly fine.

Score another for Christine McIntyre

[mhettler · 9/10 · 17 January 2005]

In addition to an above-average performance by the Stooges themselves, we get an early look at future Tarzan Jock Mahoney, and see Christine McIntyre demonstrate, albeit briefly, why I consider her to be one of the great unrecognized musical/comic actresses of the 20th century. It's a mystery why her career never attained the level of visibility and recognition she deserved. Here, although "Oh Elaine" is primarily the Stooges' number, it is her brief aria in the middle that elevates this short above the level of just another Stooges flick. The juxtaposition of her beautiful operatic delivery with such absurd and banal lyrics is nothing short of hilarious. Years after seeing this, I've forgotten most of the gags and pratfalls, but I can still picture and hear Elaine's impassioned musical promise to signal the threesome "when the coast is clear." Doesn't showcase her pure vocal skills to the degree of "Voice of Spring" in "Micro-Phonies," but by inserting her beautiful singing into the absurd setting of what we have here, we see her at her best as a musical comedian.

Lots of fun.

[yarborough · 25 October 2001]

This short is a different version of many of the episodes that feature Christine McIntyre; she is being forced to marry a man she hates while the man she loves is locked up in prison, and the Stooges come to her rescue. This episode contains the usually high laugh count of the Stooges with outstanding laughs in the scene in which they attempt to break out of prison. But the real classic scene here is one of the best scenes of all Stooge shorts. It is when Shemp thinks he is talking to McIntyre (covered up in bed) but is really talking to Vernon Dent, the man who plays her father. In one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen Shemp do, he makes a couple of jokes to "McIntyre" about her father and, while hysterically laughing, gives her a punch-line punch, as if she is one of the guys. Hilarious.

Good Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 8 March 2005]

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 different Three Stooges shorts is Squareheads of the Round Table. In this short are Christine McIntyre, Philip Van Zandt, Jock Mahoney, Vernon Dent, Tiny Brauer, and Joe Palma. The acting by these actors are good especially by McIntyre. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one!

Boreheads

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 10 January 2018]

"Squareheads of the Round Table" is an American black-and-white short film from 1948, so this one has its 70th anniversary this year and it was written and directed by Edward Bernds about a decade before he scored his one and only Oscar nomination. This one we got here is a nother Three Stooges short film, runs for a bit over 18 minutes, and it is one of the earlier Shemp appearances after he took over from sick Curly. The title already gives away the times and locations included in here and it's the days of knights, kings and damsels in distress. And the Stooges may not be one of them, but they are the ones surrounded by all of them, so you will certainly find more than just a few different genres here. All in all, I was not too impressed by the story or comedy in this one. I have seen many Stooges shorts and they have done better many times. I also think this one is really impacted negatively by the decision against color as the sets and costumes would have looked so much nicer otherwise and this could have been a far more entertaining film that way. It's more about the story and supporting characters and not about the Stooges too much, but nothing here was really on a level that impressed me. Still it was kinda nice to see Larry getting some attention as he could show us his nice violin skills this time. This alone, however, is obviously not enough for me to give hand out a positive recommendation here. My suggestion is you watch something else instead, but then again I am sure you don't need any recommendations as you probably have seen enough Stooges stuff for yourself if you consider seeing this one, definitely not one of their best or most known. And take into account that I am writing this review as somebody who isn't a great Stooges fan in general, so personal bias cannot be denied. That's all folks!

Absolutely charming

[slymusic · 10 May 2007]

Under the helm of such a wonderful director like Edward Bernds, "Squareheads of the Round Table" is undoubtedly one of the best Three Stooges shorts featuring Shemp Howard as the third Stooge. Set in medieval times, the boys are troubadours who help the struggling blacksmith Cedric (Jock Mahoney) win the good graces of the very stern King Arthur (Vernon Dent) in order to marry the king's daughter Elaine (Christine McIntyre), who has been pledged by her father to the Black Prince (Philip Van Zandt).

Highlights from "Squareheads" include the following. The Stooges' act of serenading Princess Elaine (to the tune of the famous Sextet from Donizetti's opera "Lucia di Lammermoor") is the best scene in the whole short; it is equally appealing to hear the princess herself join in on this tune with her own fine singing voice. Two guards (Robert Stevens and Joe Palma) chase the Stooges around the castle corridors. And the Stooges perform a hilarious dance (to the accompaniment of Stephen Foster's "Swanee River") inside their armor disguises.

Ed Bernds must have known that good directing involves good casting, because "Squareheads of the Round Table" contains a BRILLIANT supporting cast with the Three Stooges. Christine McIntyre, the most well-known actress to frequent the Three Stooges shorts, absolutely fits the part of the beautiful Princess Elaine with her wonderful singing voice. Jock Mahoney (probably best known by Stooge fans for his klutzy stunt work in "Punchy Cowpunchers" [1950]) is terrific as the shy, warmhearted Cedric. Vernon Dent, who appeared in more Stooge films than any other supporting actor, is great as the menacing King Arthur, sworn to have the heads of Cedric and the Stooges. (As a polar opposite, consider Vernon Dent's jolly, lovable Old King Cole character from the Stooges' next short, "Fiddlers Three" [1948].) And Philip Van Zandt, one of the most familiar villains in the Stooge films, was most definitely meant to play the part of the scheming Black Prince.

Stooges sing "Oh, Elaine"

[angus_dei · 30 August 2003]

One of the Stooges' very best shorts. Their roles as troubadours affords them ample opportunity to show off their singing and dancing talents. They serenade Princess Elaine on Cedric the Blacksmith's behalf with their immortal rendition of "Oh Elaine," sung to the tune of the Sextet from Lucia. Later on they do some soft-shoe in knights' armor while "Swannee River" plays on a medieval radio. In the beginning of the short, they receive a classic triple-slap in the face for singing "Oh...we...stuck our little tootsies in the water... ." There are plenty of gags, right up to the end when Shemp gets a face full of mashed fruit, "Well, fruit salad, what do you know?" Great performances from all three!