Truly Dreadful Film

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"Bubble Trouble" is an American 16.5-minute live action short film from 1953, so this one has its 65th anniversary next year and if you take a look at the people who worked on it in front of as well as behind the camera, then you will find names that make it obvious that here we got another Three Stooges short film and I am not just talking about the lead trio. This is from the days when Shemp had not only taken over from Curly, but Curly had already died sadly and Shemp's death wasn't too far away either. All the Stooges are in their 50s in here. It is a remake of an older Stooges short with some alterations here and there, but as a whole it is really close. In here they are in trouble with the guy they got their lease from, but his wife is more fond of our three "heroes". And an invention may actually bring them glory as they may have come across a miraculous elixir that provides its user access to the fountain of youth. No surprise the antagonist wants his share of it too. Comedy here is typical Stooges and there are some okay moments in here I guess. However, as a whole it was simply done in the past already and comes short in terms of innovation. Besides, it needs to be said that the effects here, such as the woman's transformation, are extremely disappointing. Méliès had done better half a century earlier. So all in all the flaws are bigger than the pros I must say and while I am not one of those Shemp haters, I cannot give the gang a thumbs-up here. I may be a bit biased as I have probably never been the greatest Stooges lover, but this one gets a negative recommendation. Only watch it if you love the Stooges.

Directed by Jules White, "Bubble Trouble" is a fine and funny Three Stooges short. A remake of "All Gummed Up" (1947), it contains much stock footage from that short as well. Most of the Stooge remakes from 1953 to 1956 are not nearly as good as the originals, but "Bubble Trouble" is one of the few exceptions, and there are two reasons for this. First, "All Gummed Up" actually ENDS with the bubble-gum-on-the-cake gag, leaving the short somewhat out of balance (as one Stooge author wrote, it was a sign of poor judgment on the part of Jules White). Second, the original short has the Stooges' grouchy old landlord Amos Flint (wonderfully played by Emil Sitka) transform into a baby when he tries the boys' fountain-of-youth serum. So Jules White must have figured that "Bubble Trouble" would be a lot funnier if the bubble gum gag was placed in the middle and if Flint transformed into a talking gorilla. White was correct in his assumption.Undoubtedly the main highlights of "Bubble Trouble" are the two key gags mentioned above. In another classic Stooge moment, the boys mix all kinds of weird ingredients to make their serum, and they shake up the concoction in an old boot (a gag used in other Stooge shorts as well). And please, let us not overlook the contributions of Emil Sitka as the hilarious Amos Flint (whether a human or a gorilla) or Christine McIntyre as Flint's wife Cerina, who turns into a lovely young woman upon tasting the boys' serum. McIntyre even gets a chance to use her beautiful soprano voice, as she does in a few other Stooge shorts, too; when Cerina proudly carries her cake out of the back room, she sings the first two lines of "I'll Take Romance," written by Ben Oakland and Oscar Hammerstein II.To summarize, "Bubble Trouble" is a must for all Three Stooges fans.

For this one time, that I can think of, the "remake" is actually better than the original. The original "All Gummed Up" just stops at the birthday cake scene with everybody blowing bubbles then...that's it. It just seems normal that there should be another sequence added on to wrap up the fountain of youth concept, but there isn't. Obviously, in this version, someone in the studio actually realized the error and brought it to everyone's attention. So the ending is added where Mr. Flint demands that he wants to be young again like his newly transformed wife but it has a surprising effect on the male species. It turns them into apes! Now he turns into an angry and powerful gorilla and chases the boys around the drugstore. This is what was totally lacking in the original. That sense of urgency, tension and fear that is so much a part of a good comedy. I don't mean to discount the original and most of the footage from that one is used here but go for the remake first and then compare. You'll see what I mean. Enjoy!

"Bubble Trouble" is a great step up from "All Gummed Up" since much has been corrected. The first thing that was corrected in this remake was the original's poor set-up. In the original, the bubble gum cake scene was tacked on at the end, but its fixed in this one since the bubble gum scene is placed in the middle, where it should've been in the first place. Another problem was that there wasn't too much excitement to be had here. This was fixed in the remake with a new ending which lasted 5 minutes in which the stooges are attacked by Mr. Flint, which is fast and funny. Overall, one of the most successful of the 1953-1956 remakes.Grade: B+