While Columbia is the name associated with The Three Stooges, they were originally signed by the Tiffany of studios, MGM...along with their boss, Ted Healy. But MGM had absolutely no idea what to do with these four men and placed them in some very strange films. In the Gable/Crawford musical, "Dancing Lady", they appear in some minor roles....and seem absolutely nothing like the Stooges we are familiar with today. In fact, Larry played the pianist playing for the rehearsals of the play in this film. And, because they didn't know what to do with them, they even experimented by having Curly appear in a film without the Stooges or Ted Healy! And, he's billed by his real name...Jerry Howard.
"Roast-Beef and Movies" is a strange little short film. It's unusual not just because Jerry is solo, but the film is made in Two-Color Technicolor...a precursor to full color. However, the picture, like other two color methods (like Cinecolor) doesn't give the full spectrum of colors and everything looks orange-red and green! It was very innovative but produced a rather ugly film by standards of Three- Color Technicolor which was being developed around the time this film debuted. So, there are no Stooges and the color is ugly as can be.
The film consists of a guy who is a fast-talking guy with a HEAVY foreign accent--so heavy folks might have a hard time understanding Gus Parkyurkarkus (George Givot). He brings along his two assistants (one is Curly) and tries to convince the studio chief that he is a brilliant filmmaker. Then you see clips of a lot of crappy films (such as one that looks like it was done Busby Berkeley Style...if he was really drunk) and Givot puts on such a ridiculous accent...even though he was born in Omaha! I think folks back in the 1930s thought he was funny...well, folks in 2017 certainly WON'T! He's tiresome to say the least....and sadly Curly is given very little to do. On his WORST day, Curly would have been 1000 times funnier...and he's essentially wasted.
My verdict is that this is a terrible film...but one Stooges fans and film historians might just wanna see. Without that connection, I'd score this one a 2...and with it...well, still a 2! It's bad and my 2 might just be generous as none of Givot's routine is funny in the least...and, sadly, it's supposed to be! The ending, by the way, is at least kinda funny!!
