Spook Louder (1943), a Three Stooges short, offers a little bit of Halloween creepiness, some wartime references, and several pies thrown in several faces.
The boys start out as door-to-door salesmen selling a "miracle reducing machine." A woman answering the door -- slim as a rail and towering over the gents, is the first and easiest laugh-out-loud sight gag. From there, as always happens to our heroes, circumstances in the struggle to pay the rent get considerably muckier. Or yuk-ier.
They are hired by an inventor of a death ray (check your local directory), to watch his house while he goes off to Washington, D.C., with his invention to offer to the government that will kill millions. And no, it's not the one you're thinking, but hindsight gives us a feeling of discomfort that audiences in 1943 couldn't imagine.
Three enemy spies show up in Halloween costumes, and the Stooges, (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard), must thwart their attempts to infiltrate the house.
But we must consider the philosophical question: What is really more spooky and terrifying -- three men in silly Halloween costumes, or Three Stooges holding a bomb?
I leave it to you.
Happy Halloween!
Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. and Movies in Our Time - Hollywood Mirrors and Mimics the Twentieth Century and Hollywood Fights Fascism and Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.
