Punchy Cowpunchers (1950) is about as far from the adult Westerns of the 50s (such as the same year’s Winchester ’73) as you can get.
It’s a Three Stooges short (a Shemp) co-starring Jock O’Mahoney — and it does a pretty good job of spoofing singing cowboy pictures, scattered among all the usual Stooge nonsense.
You can watch it on Youtube here. And it appears on The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949 – 1951 DVD set. (By the way, be sure to check out emilsitka.com, one of the most comprehensive, exhaustive and obsessive film-related web sites I’ve ever seen.)
I haven’t devoted near enough blog space to Mr. Mahoney. Time to pull the trigger on that bootleg DVD of George Sherman’s Last Of The Fast Guns (1958).
My favorite Stooges western spoof was actually their 1965 swan song, THE OUTLAWS IS COMING! with Curley Joe. Really good support with Adam West, Nancy Kovack and Henry Gibson and a good script that didn’t rely on the slapstick so much (since the Stooges weren’t really up to the physical stuff by that time). On DVD and worth checking out if you’re a fan.
I do need to see GOLD RAIDERS (1951) again though; I think that was their only feature-length film with Shemp, and another 50′s Western. I haven’t seen it since I was little.
I’ve been saving Gold Raiders for a post of its own. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen it.
Punchy Cowpunchers is discussed on http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=14239 and there also is mention of The Three Stooges Beer in the comments. I actually drank most of a case of the beer and survived!
Anyone used to my ramblings on this blog will know of my moaning
on about the lack of Jock Mahoneys fine Universal Westerns on DVD.
Well now Sidonis in France have two of them due in March.
Not only LAST OF THE FAST GUNS which I have mentioned before but
even better; the rather splendid JOE DAKOTA.This finds the master
cowboy supported by a formidable cast:Charles McGraw,Lee Van Cleef
Claude Akins and Tony Carusoe.
Not only that but Sidonis also have the superior Rory Calhoun/Jack Arnold
Western RED SUNDOWN,also slated for March.
Thanks Colin if you are out there about your tip on the Koch release of
THE GREAT SOUIX UPRISING not a great Western,but rare and good to
have.Anything with Lyle Bettger!
I hope that this means Koch are re-starting their fine Universal Westerns
series!
Thanks for the March release dates on the two Mahoneys and RED SUNDOWN John K.
These are all first-rate and really want to have but could you remind if they are subs burned in–I kind of had that impression.
Hi Blake;Happy New Year!
The French Sidonis DVDs have “Forced” subtitles which can be removed
but sadly not from the DVD remote.
They seem to be remastering all their Universal titles so the quality
should be first rate.Their recent DVDs contain several trailers (in English).
The French Western Fansite normally provide screen-grabs of all Sidonis
DVDs so you can check the quality before ordering.
http://www.westernmovies.fr
Also due in March is Hugo Fregoneses striking UNTAMED FRONTIER.
The Koch German DVD of THE GREAT SIOUX UPRISING also includes
a trailer and has removable subtitles.Their recent Westerns have been packaged in lovely “hardbound book” type slimline cases.
The film was one of the last from veteran Lloyd Bacon who goes back
to the silent era and was best known for his work as a Warners contract
director.Sidonis are really churning out Westerns at the moment;if
A DAY OF FURY is forthcoming I will be convinced that they are taking
nortice of the e-mails that I keep sending them!