User Reviews

This is a short from the Three Stooges with some great moments. They are the Wrong Brothers and have invented a new kind of airplane. They have thirty days to make it work. If it doesn't work by then they must join the army.

Minor spoilers.

We see how they mess things up while making the plane. One joke that involves fluid rubber is absolutely great. Other jokes, with some pretty nice special effects, work very good. We also get to see their test run, another great moment, and of course they will fail and therefore they must join the army. The short ends with some funny moments there. One gag involving a drill instructor, a rifle and Curly made me laugh a little too hard.

Directed by Jules White, "Dizzy Pilots" is a very good Three Stooges short starring Curly, Larry, and Moe. The boys, known as the Wrong Brothers, claim that they can invent an airplane that will revolutionize flying. They receive a letter from the draft board stating that they have thirty days to finish their plane ("The Buzzard") and get it in the air, lest they shall be drafted into the army. As expected, the Stooges bungle the whole operation, their test flight fails, and they get inducted. (99.9% of the closing army drill sequence is stock footage from the 1940 Stooge short "Boobs in Arms.")

Here are, in my opinion, the most memorable scenes from "Dizzy Pilots." Moe's inflated rubber suit gag is probably one of the oddest occurrences in a Three Stooges comedy. In attempting to start the propeller, Moe ends up clinging to one of the propeller blades as it spins. (This gag would be reused much later on in the 1962 Stooge feature film "The Three Stooges in Orbit," again with Moe as the victim.) Among all of the Stooges' hilarious army drill antics, perhaps the best gag is the skip-stepping. While taking "The Buzzard" up in the air for its test flight, Moe tells Curly to throw out the clutch, but he instead throws out the gearshift lever!

"Dizzy Pilots" is very entertaining; not the best Stooge film ever made, but still a winner. As the title suggests, the boys simply cannot pilot an aircraft, even if their structural design of the plane appears convincing.

IN OBSERVANCE OF the on-going conflict, that we now know as WORLD WAR II, this Stooges 2 Reeler looks into an aspect of the United States' War Effort that appears to have been largely neglected, at least in the comedies of that period. Whereas you have many a picture involving the Draft, Basic Training and even Serving at the Front; there is very little attention is given to the industries that gave their full support to "Our Fighting Men."

IF THEIR IS one rule that one should use in gaging the level of quality in a particular movie. That would be the principle of age. Briefly and concisely defined it is: "THE OLDER A STOOGES COLUMBIA MOVIE IS, THE BETTER IT IS." It's just that simple.

SO THAT WOULD mean that subscribing to our 'rule', DIZZY PILOTS would fall somewhere near the middle. It was not made in the mid 1930's (as were MEN IN BLACK, PUNCH DRUNKS, UNCIVIL WARRIORS and GRIPS, GRUNTS and GROANS); nor was it produced in a period of decline and lowered budgets (as were those films done with Shemp Howard and Joe Besser).

CONCERNING THE MOVIE, we have a certain premise about Moe, Larry and Curly's being in the invention business, Aircraft Division, and have a deadline to meet in providing Uncle Sam with a new aircraft. The story goes through some typical Stooge bits of Business; being highlighted with a lighter-than-air balloon, which completely engulfs Moe!

WE DID ENJOY this when we first viewed it while being a student in Junior High! Of course, we've seen it since (How many times, Schultz?) and enjoyed it, almost as much.

INCIDENTALLY, WE'VE NEVER thought that the main verbal joke of dubbing the Boys "the Wrong Brothers" was sort of tame and they got very little mileage with it!

WHAT WE MEAN is how funny is the line: "Whatever the Wright Brothers can do, the Wrong Brothers can do!"

WOW! IS THAT ever some real knee slappin' funny chortles if we ever heard one!

"Dizzy Pilots" was originally released back in 1943.

Anyway - As the story goes - The Wrong Brothers (Moe, Curly and Larry) have thirty days to show the military that they can get their flying machine in the air or else they'll be drafted into the army.