Have Rocket -- Will Travel (1959) User Reviews

First Stooges Starring Feature is their First Made for the Kiddies Movie!

[redryan64 · 7/10 · 29 March 2005]

The Three Stooges had about the longest run of any act in the Short Subject field. As an act on their own (after Ted Healy),their career went from 1934 ("WOMAN HATERS") to 1958, when the last of the 2 reelers featuring Joe Besser as the third Stooge was released. It was just about then that COLUMBIA PICTURES decided to release their backlog to Television.After all, the Stooges were now out dated, has beens.Curly and Shemp Howard, who both gave so much energy to the act, were both now gone.

Well, the shorts made it to local TV stations, and kids who had never heard of finger pokes and tearing out of tonsils rapidly became their greatest fans. Everyone was watching. All of a sudden, The Stooges were a hot item. Personal appearances,comic books, records, bubble gum cards and all sorts of other merchandising appeared on the scene.

Ironically, the Stooges got no financial rewards for their old Columbia Shorts being shown on TV. But if it weren't for their timely release, none of the rest would be possible.

Naturally, there would be more motion pictures, but the short subject field was really nothing by now. So, it was decided that "the boys" would go into feature films. The first, HAVE ROCKET WILL TAVEL was produced and played the neighborhood shows in 1959, in the Autumn I think.

Well, when we saw the advertisements on TV, we (there were 5 of us Ryan Kids)let out a cheer. It was at our neighborhood theater, and it was Saturday. We went to the Matinée that day. Well, it was us and every other kid in the neighborhood at the Ogden Theater that day. The Stooges' comeback was in full swing now.

As a Stooges'picture,it was both familiar and different. They had been in features before, but not as the starring act. They went through the sci-fi story well enough. The story did incorporate a lot of schtick from their old 2 reeler days. The 3rd Stooge was now veteran Burlesque Comic Joe DeRita (nicknamed 'Curly Joe') who bore some general resemblance to Curly Howard, who of course died in 1952. The story had a sort of romantic sub-plot between two of the professors at the space institute. (the female character called 'Dr. Ingrid', played by Anna Lisa a Scandanavian actress who looked sort of like a 'road show' Ingrid Bergman. They even had a short musical interlude, using a forgettable song.Oh well,at least it gave us a good time to slip out to the lobby and get some popcorn.

When we left the show that Saturday, we were a little disappointed with Have Rocket Will Travel (the title a spoof of a popular western TV series of that day). Just about every kid thought that it could have been better.But, on the other hand, it was a new Stooges picture, and that was truly good news.

Perhaps the greatest irony of this "comeback" film was that it is the first Stooges film that was made for the juvenile trade. Even though it was those kids who were responsible for the Stooges' resurgence, their previous movies were made for general audience viewing.

The Stooges Return

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 11 August 2009]

How well I remember the long lines at the box office for Have Rocket, Will Travel. Harry Cohn may have died a year before, but his successors at Columbia Pictures realized they had a gold mine on their hands when those old Three Stooges shorts were gaining a new generation of fans of which your's truly was one of them at the age of 11. The lines were comparable to those for a new Harry Potter film, I kid you not.

The Three Stooges had their half hour comedy show with Officer Joe Bolton on WPIX Channel 11 in New York and other similar venues throughout the country. So with only two Stooges still on this mortal coil (Joe Besser was never really a Stooge), the search was on to find a third one to fit in with Moe Howard and Larry Fine.

Character actor Curly Joe DeRita was hired to pinch hit for the late Curly Howard. Movie audiences if they had noticed would have also seen him in 1959 as a treacherous hangman in the Gregory Peck western, The Bravados, but here he simply steps in as a kinder, gentler, and somewhat less zany version of Curly.

Looking back, Have Rocket, Will Travel borrows quite liberally from the Abbott&Costello film, Abbott&Costello Go To Mars. The same premise happens, three nincompoops instead of two accidentally get launched into space and head for Venus where they establish interplanetary relations.

The film does not have the Stooge zaniness, there could only be on Curly. But Joe DeRita is not the only problem. Moe and Larry had aged and the physical comedy they did in their younger days, just isn't present any more.

For the kids back then it was satisfying enough, but Have Rocket, Will Travel just doesn't measure up to the Three Stooges in their prime.

"The Three Stooges" First Feature Film

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 22 September 2016]

The Stooges were Blessed with "New Life" after Their Catalog of Columbia Shorts (20 min) were Shown on TV in the 1950's and Baby Boomer Kids became Three Stooges Fanatics, to the Dismay of Worried Mothers and Nannies across the Nation, Fearing the "Monkey See - Monkey Do" Nature of Children.

There was No Shortage of Outcries and Protests from Parents and Other "Censorship" Types. Eye Poking and other Outrageously Violent Slapstick, like a Saw Across the Skull, was Typical and Routine for a Stooges Short and the Grown-Ups were Appalled.

But that's exactly why Moe, Larry, Curly, and later Shemp, were so Loved by the Youngins. They were like a Real-Life Version of the also Immensely Popular Cartoons, also finding "New Life" on TV. This brings Us to the Late Life Feature Films of "The Three Stooges".

Well Past Their Prime, and with Curly and Shemp Gone, the Stooges were asked to Cash In on Their Popularity and the Boys Needed the Money. So this Enterprising Series of Entertaining, but far from Their Best Work, Feature Films Resulted.

Financially Successful, the Films were Mild, Toned-Down Fluff and Fans went more to Pay Homage to Their TV Friends, and didn't Expect Greatness. It was a Mutual Admiration Event by both "The Three Stooges" and Their Adoring Public.

Overall, this was the First in the Movie Series and has its Moments. Ironically, but maybe not, the Best Stuff in the Film seem to be the Recycled Gags from the Two-Reelers. The other Stuff here is Forced, sometimes Amusing, but it's the Classic Routines that Highlight. Every once and while there is a New Surprisingly Funny Thing, like when Moe says to Larry and Curly Joe..."You're knuckleheads...All three of ya.".

Strangely lovable

[horrorfilmx · 27 July 2009]

This movie is the equivalent of a satisfying trip to your favorite fast food restaurant. Let's face it, if you're in the mood for a quarter pounder with cheese than the most delicious sirloin steak isn't going to satisfy you --- only that greaseburger will do. By the same token if you're looking for some low-brow Stooge fun then Ernst Lubitsch at his peak ain't gonna do it for you but this film will. Sure, it's not even the Stooges at their best, their glory days were almost twenty years in the past, but they still had some of the old zip and all the old shtick is trotted out like it was brand new and mixed with enough fifties sci-fi clichés to provide a satisfying junk meal. In fact a straight sci-fi movie like QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE could have used some of this movie's imagination and energy. I particularly liked the giant fire spewing tarantula, an effect pulled off quite well I might add, at least as well as Universal's "classic" TARANTULA. And I have to admit I find the title song kind of catchy. So sue me.

The Stooges reborn....

[simeon_flake · 5/10 · 20 March 2017]

After having a batch of their old short films with Curly Howard released to TV in the late 1950s, the Three Stooges were back in demand and Columbia Pictures finally gave Moe Howard and Larry Fine the opportunity they always wanted for all the years they were making shorts--the chance to star in feature length films.

Joining Moe & Larry as the new 3rd stooge was show-business veteran Joe Derita, nicknamed Curly-Joe--presumably because of his somewhat physical resemblance to Curly Howard.

And the thing you might notice with this new stooge lineup is that these are not the stooges of old back when they were in their prime with Curly and Shemp. In fact, these stooges are old & maybe with old age came a softer approach. Whether or not that's a good thing is a matter of personal taste, I suppose--although I would point out the problem with the majority of the Derita era was the softer approach & how the stooges seemed to have gotten pegged during this point in their careers as being just "Children's entertainers."

Definitely, the cutesy talking unicorn angle of this movie seemed expressly aimed at pleasing the younger kids in the crowd--although if you're like me, you know that when the stooges were in their prime, their act with Curly and Shemp was hardly cute and whimsical. Indeed, during those days, a little petty larceny by the stooges was considered a good thing.

Who knows what the stooges could have done if they had been given the chance to make features during the 1930s, 40s, or 50s, but "Have Rocket" was not exactly the greatest vehicle they made, but it does have its moments.

5 stars

Short in stature, short in humour, short in compensation

[futuretype · 6/10 · 22 April 2018]

This wasn't up to the standards of the shorts shown on TV. Moe just just wasn't himself - he seemed kind of bewildered delivering his lines - not his self-assured meaness. Larry was just fine. Joe DeRita didn't cut it at Curly Joe but he sure tried.

Speaking of short I didn't realize how short they were. And it is a shame how they were shorted on earnings never being paid more than $20,000 a year each.

If their movies ever came to my hometown I never saw them - it was the first time I had seen DeRita as a stooge. I wouldn't have liked the musical/singing numbers. Not very stooge like. The whole film seemed lacking and a far cry from the superior Abbott & Costello Go to Mars (even though it was Venus) made six years earlier. As Svengoolie stated "the Abbott and Costello vision of Venus was the preferred one."

Why is this not on DVD?

[forwardintothepast · 5/10 · 27 December 2010]

Granted, "Have Rocket, Will Travel" isn't the Stooges' best work--it's not even their best feature with Joe DeRita (I'd vote for either "Around the World in a Daze" or "The Outlaws Is Coming"). Nevertheless, it's pleasant and has some good moments. Strangely, it's just about the only Stooge film that's not on DVD as of December 2010. I have the VHS release, which looks fine, so decent source material exists and I wouldn't think there would be a rights issue. Maybe Columbia-TriStar is withholding it so that we'll buy it in a box set of the complete Stooges Columbia features (and buy all of the other features, which are on DVD, all over again!). Certainly, now that they've done a spectacular job with all of the shorts in chronological multi- disc volumes, a box set of the other Columbia Stooges films would be a logical release. Anyway, I hope this makes it to DVD soon.

Flawed attempt to back the famous Stooges as new line-up at glorious days, instead they sent them to Venus!!

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 28 June 2023]

As I'd said on previous review about the Stooges whom were my first heroes on my tender years, we used to do teaming up a lot of kids which didn't have TV at their home in that period of time in a large room to watch those funniest clumsy adventures of Moe, Curly and Larry, then came up Shemp, that was more moronic than Curly, after his death Joe Besser replaces him in scarcely way, ends up with the fat Joe DeRita on those full-length feature, in fact it was the first Stooges endeavor.

It sounds to me the first half part was more Stooge's trademark, the final outcome is too contrived with an odd presentation at Venus when they meet an already death civilization plainly controlled by a sort of energy-computer that ruled the empty planet, well starting to best part where the Stooges work as cleaner in a Space Institute which has the target travel through the solar system, lead by the female scientist Dr. Ingrid Naarveg (Anna Lisa) that was in trouble with rocket's fuel that didn't get enough shigh octane to launch the heavy rocket, then ours friends developed a special fuel mixing several elements to reach in a perfect formula, well Larry accidentally adds sugar on this haphazard mixing that seemingly work out the next step will be bomb it into rocket nearby, somewhat they enter in the rocket that finally breaks the barrier of our atmosphere outer space, staying adrift for a while ends up landing on Venus.

There they meet a talking Unicorn, that display to them an advanced and futuristic Venusian city near on sight, here forward the picture dropped wretchedly as described above, uninspired sequence spoils the whole thing with a sort of monstrous high computer of pure energy calling yourself as lonely, then through the Stooges bodies such computer will duplicate all them in human computer alike to talking to in those endless boring days, among it giant spider in the way firing flaming rays toward ours friends, the final outcome party is also a weak point as well, Robert "Doug" Colbert had a little role passing all time trying convince the scientist Ingrid getting marry him, in an absolute worthless acting, back in the picture looks like the writers and producers had lost the point in this weak offer.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1977 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.25.

Not a Stooges fan but...

[jamesrupert2014 · 5/10 · 24 September 2016]

...I will watch any movie with a 'rocket ship' in it. HR,WT was a weak science fiction spoof with typical Stooge hijinks. The film starts slowly and other that a few good gags (Larry stuck in the plumbing) was not particularly funny. The treatment of the female scientist was classic '50s, so much so that it belongs in some post-feminist doctoral thesis on changing attitudes towards women professionals. The fire breathing tarantula was worth the time spent on the couch, but only barely. Although playing their Stooge roles to the hilt, the boys seem like real professionals, especially in the brief scenes when they are handling the monkey.

Not as bad as some make it to be

[cujoe_da_man · 5/10 · 5 October 2021]

We can all agree that the original Stooges with Curly and Shemp will always be the best, but this at least tried to do something different. Did it work? That's up to the person watching, but it could have been much, much worse.

I think the biggest issue is that this doesn't seem like a traditional Stooges sketch (obviously), but what I mean is that it feels like you're almost watching two completely different movies. You have the Stooges and then you have a sci-fi movie. The Stooges are doing what they do best (even if the slapstick is toned down by this point in their career because of Karen's , they existed then too]) and the sci-fi is just doing sci-fi. It feels like it's to conflicting genres that don't meld together, like someone had an idea for a movie, but they didn't have enough to fill it and someone said "hey, let's throw in the Three Stooges" or the other way around. The sci-fi wants to be serious and the Stooges wants to be goofy and that just doesn't work well together.

It's well known that movies from this era always pictured the lead male characters as bull-headed with a "take what I want" attitude. You have to forgive them for this because that's what it was like when making these movies back then and it may seem sexist by today's standards (I'm not going any further than that). However, Dr. Ted Benson just needs to be smacked upside the head. Even by 50's movie standards, I thought this character was way out of line and the fact that the love interest, Dr. Ingrid, even fell for him was a slap in the face of everyone watching. I understand that none of the Stooges would have ended up with her (it's not their style), but I felt really uneasy watching his performance and the way he literally forces himself on her.

At a budget of $380,000 (only 3.5mil adjusted for today), it does have some rather decent practical effects, especially considering this is a Stooges movie and not a dedicated sci-fi movie we're used to from this era. While the giant spider is just a silhouette, it's at least convincing that it's really there on the ground with the other actors. There's a scene where the Stooges are made smaller and stuffed in a cage that was done very well and it was almost seamless from closeups to wide shots showing the difference in sizes. There is also a scene of Stooges doubles that appear on screen with the real Stooges and while I know matting techniques aren't really anything new, it's rare to see an actor playing his literal clone on the screen with himself at the same time (let alone three) in movies like this.

I can't say this would have worked better as a traditional Stooges sketch, but it was apparent that the writers didn't have much to work with and tried to pad out the run time by making many scene unnecessarily longer than they needed to be. Then party scene at the end is a perfect example, it just seems like it should have been half the length, but they kept drawing it out longer and longer. There are a few scenes where you will be wondering when it ends.

Overall, this was still a fun movie to watch, but it probably would have been much better if it had been done earlier in the life of the franchise.

A Great Film For All Stooge Fans!

[schmow3 · 8/10 · 15 January 2001]

Have Rocket, Will Travel is a hilarious film starring The Three Stooges,Anna-Lisa,Jerome Cowan.It is directed by David Lowell Rich. The Stooges play janitors at a space research center that get blasted off into orbit. The film is fast paced and funny, but lacks on the Stooges trademark physical comedy that was performed from the 1920's from the 1950's. The Stooges film "The Three Stooges In Orbit" is similar to this because there is a comedy plot that has to do with science fiction and aliens. A "must-see" for every fan of the Stooges.

Mind numbing non comedy

[donofthedial · 3/10 · 5 August 2007]

Three Stooges - Have Rocket, Will Travel - 1959 This was the first feature length film to star the Stooges and it is pretty bad. It makes THE THREE STOOGES GO AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE (from 1963) look like a masterpiece.

The Stooges are janitors at a rocket place. They climb into a rocket and it goes to Venus. They meet some stuff there including a talking unicorn they call "Uni" which they bring back to Earth with them. "Uni" speaks like an average, pleasant person - 'Oh, hello. How are you? Lovely planet here. Hope you like it.' Hilarious.

Very few gags and so many of the scenes just go on and on and on.

The Stooges arrive back from space and the film is over as far as the story goes, but no one told that to the film makers for the picture continues for another 10 minutes or so at a party where nothing much happens. The Stooges leave the party and then the film is almost over.

High point of the film - the end where the Stooges sing a dapper little song about their journey. The Larry and Curly Joe hit Moe in the face with two pies. Brutal.

Another writer mentioned the fine musical score. Huh? The only music I even noticed were two classic tunes - I'LL TAKE ROMANCE and THERE GOES THAT SONG AGAIN, both of which are played at the party. And *that* really is the high point of the picture - music from old Columbia films.

The tall sexy blonde was nice.

Awful - a brand new VHS video from the 99 Cents Only store.

An exciting comeback for the Stooges!

[slymusic · 23 August 2005]

"Have Rocket--Will Travel" is my favorite Three Stooges feature film. After years and years of making two-reelers at Columbia, the boys were finally given their shot in features, even if Moe and Larry were well past middle age. With a fantastically witty music score, this picture is, for the most part, quite entertaining and lively. I must, however, agree with one particular Stooge author who wrote that the only time the picture drags is when the Stooges land on Venus, particularly when they meet the talking electrical energy device, which shrinks them and locks them in a cage. Fortunately, as this same author pointed out, the pace picks up rapidly again once the Stooges leave Venus and return to Earth.

Here are some of the highlights from this excellent comedy (don't read any further until after you watch the film). While on board the rocket ship, Larry accidentally sticks his finger in an electrical socket, shocking not only himself but also Moe and Curly-Joe as they try to grab hold of him. While searching for a key that slipped down a drain, Curly-Joe performs a variation of Curly's classic maze-of-pipes bit from the short "A Plumbing We Will Go" (1940). Evil robot Stooges chase the real Stooges in a corridor with six doors. The Stooges apply shovels and picks to dig their way into the rocket in order to rescue a monkey, and while they're inside, they just cannot seem to prevent the rocket from falling over a cliff. And finally, the dance sequence at the society party is wonderful not only for Larry's losing his shoe and jostling with dancing couples to retrieve it but also for Curly-Joe's spring-on-the-trousers gag (reminiscent of the classic Stooge short "Hoi Polloi" [1935]).

"Have Rocket--Will Travel" was a huge moneymaker for Columbia Pictures, and no wonder. It succeeds in entertaining and providing a number of good laughs. Supporting actor Jerome Cowan, playing the head of the space center and a marvelous foil for the janitorial Stooges, manages to get a few laughs as well. It is also a nice touch to hear the boys sing, not only during the opening credits but also during the Stooges' stroll with the talking unicorn while on Venus.

There's more space between their ears than there is outside the earth's atmosphere.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 7 July 2015]

The planet Venus is populated by energy…that and a lonely robot. Make energy, a lonely robot and a tarantula which shoots fire out of its fangs. Oh, don't forget a squeaky voiced unicorn whom the Three Stooges rescue when they discover it caught with its horn caught in a rock. How the boys get to Venus is pretty forgettable, but unfortunately, it takes them forever to get there. They are good hearted, however, determined to help kind-hearted scientist Anna-Lisa invent a fuel which will get the rocket tipped upside down outside their shack upside right and prevent her boss (Jerome Cowan) from firing her. In the process, they pop popcorn, discover that sugar makes a great fuel (especially when Moe drinks the fuel by mistake, thinking it's coffee), and turn the plumbing business back fifty years in an effort to find the key to the spaceship which fell down a drain. Kids of the late 1950's might have found this funny, but this wouldn't cure the A.D.D. of today's youth who would find this instantly idiotic. Robert Colbert, the hero of "The Time Tunnel" and the original patriarch of "The Young and the Restless", is pretty much wasted as a fellow scientist in love with the pretty Anna-Lisa, basically standing back observing the goings-on of the foolish Three Stooges whose comedy even 30 years after their first appearances together is violent and dated, especially when presented to a young audience. An attempt to bring slapstick in with three robot versions of the boys coming down to earth after harassing the shrunken ones on Venus just falls flat. Then, there's a fight started at a lavish social gathering to honor the returned stooges, crowned heroes, in the film's ridiculous finale. Joe DeRita is a poor substitute for the late Curly, and the title song is weak as well. Stick with the shorts. At least they are over within 20 minutes.

About as good as you'll find with 'Stooge-lite'.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 23 December 2018]

When most Three Stooges fans talk about their best work, in 99.9% of the cases they're talking about the Stooges with Curly Howard. His later replacements (Shemp, Joe Besser* and Joe DeRita) were a second or third-rate lot and the energy in their later films was lacking. However, by 1959, the Stooges had undergone a revival with the success of their shorts on TV, so it's not surprising they recruited the generally unfunny DeRita and began making feature-length pictures. As for DeRita, he was reasonably funny on his own before the Stooges...but despite renaming him 'Curly Joe' he just wasn't the Curly we all loved. DeRita, in contrast, was much more conventional, low energy and dull. Despite all this, I somehow watched "Have Rocket--Will Travel"...mostly because it came on TV when I was too busy to get up and change the channel.

As far as the DeRita films go, it's the first and, possibly, the best. This is because the Stooges hadn't completely given up their violent ways....like they would in subsequent films. Violence was what folks wanted...not a 'nice' Stooge...and DeRita was nice as were his films with the Stooges.

The story is much like the earlier Abbott & Costello film "Abbott & Costello Go to Mars". Just like this other film, the comedy team is working as janitors and gofers at a rocket base....and like the other film, eventually the Stooges accidentally blast off and go on adventures on another world...albeit lame ones. While the earlier film ain't great...it's significantly better than "Have Rocket". While the first half isn't bad, when they go to space and discover a talking unicorn and begin singing...well, it made me want to rip out my eyes and ears! Limp and cutesy...no two ways about it...and not what the Stooges should have been. And, it only gets worse from there!

Overall, a film for only the most devoted of Stooge fans, as the film lacks humor and the usual violence most fans want. Instead, it's a bit emasculated, of sorts and strictly for kids.

*Although I am NOT a fan of DeRita with the Stooges, his joining the team was a HUGE improvement over the previous third Stooge, Joe Besser. Besser simply didn't fit in at all and his brash and unapologetically annoying style made his shorts incredibly tough to enjoy.

Mildly enjoyable, but with little lasting value

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 16 January 2024]

The Three Stooges invariably count among those performers that one becomes nominally familiar with long before ever especially watching any of their works. Though their brand of humor is built on situational humor, gags, witty dialogue, and abject silliness just like any of their contemporaries or forebears, it's safe to say they're most known for their slapstick, to the point that the Stooges without slapstick just wouldn't feel like the Stooges at all. That isn't necessarily a point in their favor, however; I'm glad for those who get more out of the troupe than I do, but there's more of a mean streak to their comedy than with some of their kin, and the regular knocking of heads and sound effects do grow tiresome after a time. That doesn't mean that they're never funny, only perhaps that their style was best suited to short films where it wouldn't have the chance to wear out its welcome. Kind of emphasizing the point, while I've not yet seen all the full-length features the Stooges were involved with, most of those I've seen so far have been troubled by thin writing, or a shtick that grew old well before the full runtime had elapsed. The movies are enjoyable, in varying measures, but hardly demand viewership.

For better and for worse, 'Have rocket, will travel' fits right in among its brethren. Some bits are delightfully funny, and many others are just mildly amusing, the sort of thing one can keep on in the background without actively engaging. Matters would be helped if there were a more meaningful sense of dynamics to the proceedings to provide contrast, but the film is characterized by a steady stream of yelling, loud noises, running around, and general raucousness, most of it all not clever or fun enough in and of itself to make much of an impression. Those quieter moments, meanwhile, are defined by a fair bit of classism and sexism - some of it part and parcel of the narrative Raphael Hayes penned, yes, and some of it simply reflective of real-life condescending, paternalistic attitudes towards women, and the tawdry "logic" of cinematic storytelling (i.e., if a man and a woman share the screen they MUST fall in love). Somehow worse is that there is a sad lack of vitality in these seventy-six minutes; it somewhat feels as if Larry Fine, Moe Howard, and Joe DeRita were just going through the motions, and likewise director David Lowell Rich and others involved.

Though sharing more in common with the more modest side of 50s genre fare (replete with stock footage, cheap effects, and simple sets), those operating behind the scenes still turned in fine contributions overall. There are good ideas here, and there was never any intent but to entertain. It's fair to question how successfully that goal was achieved, however, and for as humdrum as the overall vibe is in the second half - you know, when the Three Stooges actually go into space, as the premise suggests - a lot of the writing just comes across as helplessly stringing various thoughts of science fiction together in the hope that it might provide the spark this was otherwise missing. By the time late in the length when we get a scene with the classic gag of characters running through multiple doors toward or away from each other, it's all too easy to just sort of check out of the viewing experience, and we realize that the entirety of watching has been passive and a tad dull, and discouraging of more committed focus.

It's not bad. It does, to some extent, provide a good time. It's just that the lasting value of 'Have rocket, will travel' isn't especially high; it's already little more than a footnote in the annals of cinema, and if the Stooges weren't involved then I have to imagine it would have slipped completely into the memory hole of the medium. The harder the picture tries, the more hollow it shows itself to be. There are far worse ways to spend one's time, yet the whole thing is that unless one is a diehard fan of those participating, there's no real reason to check it out in the first place. This is a title best reserved for a lazy day when you want to decompress and put something on that neither requires nor inspires major involvement on our part as viewers; watch, by all means, but definitely don't go out of your way for it.

Curly-Joe

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 1 March 2020]

Larry, Curly-Joe (Joe DeRita), and Moe are three lazy maintenance workers. They are waken when a rocket lands nearby. They fuel it up and launch into space. They land on Venus where they encounter various creatures and their evil clones.

There are some comedic bits from before. It has the space element. What it doesn't have is the classic Curly. DeRita has some of the looks but he is nowhere near the charisma. He doesn't have the same moves. The spring bit is possibly the closest. The guys are old now and replacement Curly can't carry them. I did not laugh but I do recognize the jokes.

Have Rocket -- Will Travel was a good intro of Curly Joe as the new member of The Three Stooges

[tavm · 8/10 · 8 February 2018]

After years of only doing supporting work in occasional feature films since they were mainly stars of shorts, The Three Stooges finally got to be the main stars of their own feature after their reruns of their shorts played frequently on TV during the late '50s. So Moe, Larry, and new member Curly Joe play janitors at a space station who stumble unto a rocket that blasts them into the planet Venus. I'll stop there and just say that the Stooges are as funny as ever with Curly Joe a fine addition to the group. By the way, I watched this on YouTube on TV which showed it in a size that would have looked pathetic on a computer screen but seemed okay for the much-larger TV one. Next, I'll watch Stop! Look! and Laugh! which consists of old Stooges shorts that Curly appeared in mixed with new footage of Paul Winchell and his dummies...

1959: The year of sci-fi comedies!

[Bruce_Cook · 11 December 2003]

Even non-Stooge fans will be mildly amused by this modest little sci-fi comedy -- which, along with the TV reruns of their feature shorts, resurrected the careers of the famous trio just when it seemed they would be put out to pasture. Big budget science fiction films were out of fashion by 1959, so Columbia Pictures didn't invest much in this one about three knuckleheads who accidentally rocket themselves to Venus.

Abbott & Costello had already done it in 1953, even though the title of their film claims they go to Mars.

The Stoogemania version of Venus may lack the gorgeous women which Abbott & Costello's trip gave us, but it does have a talking unicorn, a futuristic car, a giant fire-breathing tarantula, and three evil Venusian Stooge look-a-likes who follow the boys back to Earth.

Comedy science fiction was an active sub-genre during the late 1950's/early 1960s. In addition to `Have Rocket, Will Travel', there was `The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock', `The Absent Minded Professor', `Visit to a Small Planet', `Son of Flubber', `Invasion of the Star Creatures', `The Three Stooges in Orbit', and several others.

Decent Comedy for the Kids

[Michael_Elliott · 10 August 2009]

Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959)

** (out of 4)

Mildly amusing comedy has The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curley-Joe) accidentally setting off in a rocket and going to outer space. Once there they land on an unknown planet where they encounter a talking unicorn and an electronic creature. This was the Stooges big comeback after having been written off and pretty much overlooked. The trio had their shorts showing up on television where they gained new fans in the form of kids so this film was quickly released with the kiddies in mind. There's really no reason to compare this set of Stooges to the early Columbia shorts because it's obvious this film was made for a different group of people. Most of the comedy in terms of violence is watered down and a lot of the jokes are more slapstick than anything else. This film was certainly better than I thought it would be but it's still not quite what I'd consider a good film. There are a fair number of laughs scattered throughout with one of the best coming during a long sequence where the boys are trying to create fuel to make the rocket go. Larry ends up drinking the toxic fumes, mistaking it for coffee and the pay off here is quite nice. Moe and Larry were certainly getting up their in years and couldn't really do any of the more physical stuff but they're still pretty good here. Joe DeRita certainly isn't Curly but he manages to get a few smiles. A lot of comedians, including Abbott and Costello, were testing their jokes in space and I don't think too many of them ever really worked. The jokes here are certainly aimed at children and while a few of them work there's just not enough to carry the 76-minute running time.

Not So Good

[sloan123 · 4 June 2002]

It seems by this point that the Stooges seemed apologetic about their work. There was once a time when the Three Stooges could hit each other all they wanted without fear, but by 1959, when they were re-discovered by kiddies on TV, they had to tone down the violence a little. `Have Rocket, Will Travel', their first feature, has less slaps and eye pokes than their average two-reeler, thus resulting in less laughs. The Three Stooges play…The Three Stooges, and this time they're janitors at NASA. A pretty scientist (Anna Lisa) is about to be fired because her attempts to send a spaceship to Jupiter have been unsuccessful. To help her, the Stooges figure out what was wrong, but accidentally send the rocket while they're still in it. They land on Jupiter find a talking Unicorn, and get into some trouble with an evil computer that makes evil mechanic clones of them. Will they survive? The problem with `Have Rocket, Will Travel' is that it's talking down to a juvenile audience and trying to please the kiddies instead of being funny. What we're left with is Three nice Stooges and a talking Unicorn, which is so silly that it's virtually indescribable. And what about the Jupiter scenes? They appear to have been hastily filmed in a national park hoping the audience wouldn't notice the obvious flaws. `Have Rocket, Will Travel' is certainly likable, and it has one or two enjoyable musical numbers, but it just doesn't have the primitive humour and the laughs of their shorts from the 30s and 40s. However, it did spawn a Three Stooges feature film series that included `Snow White and the Three Stooges', `The Three Stooges in Orbit', and `The Outlaws is Coming!'

Not the Stooges' Best work

[AL01-3 · 27 July 2000]

Avid fans of the Three Stooges will likely be disappointed by this feature length film. There's no Curly and no Shemp, but on the plus side, there's no Joe Besser either. (Joe DeRita is much better suited to this role than Besser was) By the time this film was made, the Stooges' act was well past its prime and most of their gags had a "seen it before" quality to them.

There are some entertaining moments for those die hard stooges fans as the Moe, Larry and Curly Joe are sent into space and encounter Alien life forms. However, there are few laughs and a better bet would be to watch one of the many brilliant Stooges' shorts from their glory years. It's a shame that the trio didn't begin doing featured films earlier when the team was still intact and the jokes and sight gags fresh. This is recommended only for those completely obsessed with the Stooges.

Not a great movie

[stooge60540 · 19 August 2001]

I saw this film and was pretty disappointed. No, it's not because of Curly-Joe. I saw other Stooge movies prior to this one with Curly-Joe and he seems alright, better than Besser at the least. Anyway, this film is kinda weak, and seems like something left over from the Besser-era, probably because this is only the first movie they made. But the boys have done a better sci-fi movie, in THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT. Curly-Joe also looks like he's having trouble settling into his "Stooge" character, and he has to copy off of Curly's mannerisms quite a few times. This was somewhat fixed a little later on. Anyway, not a terrible movie, but not great either. The Stooges made better.

Enter DeRita

[lzf0 · 21 July 2009]

What wrong with this Stooge movie? Well, there's quite a bit wrong. The later day Stooges features are said to have less comic violence than the Columbia shorts. That's not exactly true in this film. The violence quotient is about the same as a typical Ed Bernds directed short. Even the dreaded Stooge eye poke is used. (Bernds wrote that he never used this move, but he's lying. He just didn't use it as often as Jules White did.) There is a problem of tone in the film. Is this a Saturday matinée item or a typical Stooge comedy? Director Rich and Writer Hayes don't seem to be able to make up their minds. Neither had worked with the Stooges before. The comedy set pieces, probably due to the suggestions of Moe and Larry, are typical Stooges, but that unicorn sends us into kiddie land. In addition, the romantic leads are unlikeable and a waste of footage. The female lead, Anna Lisa, would be better suited to play an escaped Nazi spy. She is so unlikeable that Moe must remind us that she is "a nice girl"! Bob Colbert adds absolutely nothing and is about as charismatic as a snail. Their whole subplot is unnecessary to the film. But the biggest problem with the film lies with the "third stooge". Joe DeRita is so lethargic that the sick Curly Howard of the 1946 shorts seems like a dynamo. DeRita may fleetingly resemble Howard, but he does not have Howard's skills or imagination. He tries to perform the proved gags of the Stooges, but his lack of energy sabotages the comedy. Some have tried to cover for DeRita by saying that he was past his prime when he joined the Three Stooges. Those apologists have probably not seen his shabby work in his own starring Columbia short subject series of the 1940s. He NEVER had much energy. Some say he is an improvement over Joe Besser, who really didn't fit in with the Stooges. However, Besser had a strong character and was loaded with energy. It isn't his fault that the budgets on the Stooge films fell to an all time low. On the plus side, Moe and Larry are excellent as usual, the title song is cute, and it's great to hear Columbia standards "I'll Take Romance" (Oakland-Hammerstein) and "There Goes That Song Again" (Styne-Cahn) during the party sequence. When Ed Bernds returned to direct later features, the quality improved since he knew Columbia comedy well and had lots of experience as the referee on Bowery Boys features. If you want to see how the Stooges fared in feature films, try "Time Out for Rhythm", "Swing Parade of 1946" and "Gold Raiders".

Film is satisfactory, cubed.

[oscar-35 · 28 August 2009]

*Spoiler/plot- 1959, Have Rocket, will Travel, The Three Stooges travel to Venus with new rocket fuel formula and encounter giant spiders, talking unicorn and baddie master robot and so forth.

*Special Stars- Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe De Rita as the boys. Don Lamond a soon-to-be son in law joins them in many film duties.

*Theme- The boys have the 'yuks' on us.

*Based on- The Three Stooges, Columbia Studios film shorts.

*Trivia/location/goofs- It's online. The Threee Stooges first full length feature film. Clearly shot in the NW SF Valley area near Chatsworth, Calif.

*Emotion- This film is satisfactory, cubed. But, it is a gimmick-riddled film of little note to their long 50+ year funny entertainment careers. It's a forced gimmick exploitation of the Stooge genre. This film's title is a 'spin' off the popular TV series with Richard Boone, "Have gun, will Travel". And in real life, Don Lamond helps the Stooges get into the TV craze.