Editorial Review of The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, courtesy of Amazon.com
Very much in the tradition of such Columbia Three Stooges period shorts as “Back to the Woods,” the 1962 costume epic The Three Stooges Meet Hercules is 100% pure Moe–Larry–Curly Joe comedy, with the barest of a ho- hum love interest to detract from the nonsense at hand. Working at the pharmacy of an ill-tempered boss (George N. Neise) and friends of a budding time-machine inventor named Schuyler (Quinn Redeker), the Stooges and Schuyler, along with the obligatory attractive female, Diana (Vicki Trickett), are transported back to the time of Hercules. Here the legendary hero (Samson Burke) is the enforcer for King Odius (Neise in a double role), and anachronisms are rampant in an English-speaking ancient Greece.
Twice condemned as galley slaves, the Stooges see that Schuyler now has the muscles … But not the self-confidence to rescue Diana and the rest of Greece from the odious Odius. Schuyler is tricked into thinking himself all-powerful. He performs many Herculean labors (with many a stuffed animal and some decent backscreen projection).
Although Curly Joe seems a few notches above his namesake in the brains department (which is not saying all that much), his reactions at times of real and supposed danger are quite ordinary compared with the old Curly. In fact, it is Moe who takes on the Curly bark at a recalcitrant prop. But the old sound effects are there to punctuate blows to belly and head, although eye pokes are out, due to parental objections to the influence of the trio, newly popular on television. —Frank Behrens
Description of The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
The Three Stooges hop in a time machine and are transported to the era of the Roman Legion in Greece. Dressed in sandals and togas, they are trapped on a galley ship, battle cyclops, and wind up in a madcap chariot chase. Former professional football players and real-life twins, Mike and Marlin McKeever, are along for the ride, playing a Siamese-twin cyclops.
Trivia about The Three Stooges Meet Hercules:
- Larry Fine and Joe DeRita fell out of a moving chariot in one scene, with 250-pound Joe falling on top of Larry. Larry was knocked out cold and rushed to the hospital. Though he did not sustain any injuries, a doctor’s report revealed that Larry had diabetes.
- First Three Stooges film written and produced by Norman Maurer, who was the son-in-law of Moe Howard. Maurer had written and drawn the Three Stooges comic book for many years before branching into films.
- The film was such a box office hit that Columbia offered the Stooges’ production company, Normandy, a three-picture deal.
Funny movie quotes from The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
Larry: I wonder where we are.
Schuyler Davis: Maybe the sign will tell us.
[the sign is written entirely in Greek letters. Curly-Joe and Larry try to sound it out]
Larry: [laughs] You know, I…
Moe: I’ll smash the first guy who says it’s all Greek to me.
Larry: [waves a thumb at Curly-Joe] Well, it’s all Greek to him.
Schuyler Davis: You know, these old Greek things certainly have lovely curves, haven’t they?
Moe: These young Greek things ain’t bad, either!
[rowing as galley slaves]
Larry: Hey, Moe’s got pretty good rhythm, eh?
[the galley drummer collapses after swallowing some of Curly-Joe’s calm-down pills]
Captain: Fido!
Cast of characters
- Moe Howard … Moe
- Larry Fine … Larry
- Joe DeRita Joe DeRita … Curly Joe
- Vicki Trickett (Pepe) … Diane Quigley
- Quinn K. Redeker (Days of our Lives) … Schuyler Davis
- George N. Neise (Zorro) … Ralph Dimsal / King Odius
- Samson Burke (The Vengeance of Ursus) … Hercules
- Marlin & Mike McKeever … Ajax and Argo, The Siamese Cyclops (as The McKeever Twins)
- Emil Sitka (Brideless Groom) … Shepherd / Refreshment Man
- Hal Smith (The Andy Griffith Show, The Great Race) … King Theseus Of Rhodes
- John Cliff (The Milkman) … Ulysses
- Lewis Charles (Topaz) … Achilles The Heel
- Barbara Hines … Anita
- Terry Huntingdon … Hecuba
- Diana Piper Diana Piper … Helen
- Gregg Martell (Space Master X 7) … Simon