Even back in the 1950's, socialized medicine was an issue, especially psychiatric medicine. Here we have poor Shemp, institutionalized in a sanitarium, and Moe and Larry are forced to withdraw him because they can no longer afford the hospitalization. Ah, the pathos! Apparently though, they can still afford Shemp's medication, as we see him popping pills like crazy in the opening reel. Whether this medicine has side effects, or is just plain ineffective, we don't know, but we do know Shemp hallucinates like mad. He imagines Babe London, his nurse, as a shapely blonde. Of course Babe, blacked-out teeth and all, is no dummy. She's not about to let a great catch like Shemp get away, hallucinations or not. Just the same, it's best she's not in the scene when Shemp imagines he's grown two extra hands whilst pounding away a lively jazz tune on a piano. By the way, the look on Shemp's face, just before realizing he has four hands, is priceless. It doesn't last, though. He goes into utter hysterics, pounding Larry's and Moe's heads while ranting like a lunatic. Yeesh! The best part of the short is when Vernon Dent, bedecked in a ten gallon hat, interacts with the Stooges in the usual way, in a phone booth, no less. He's Babe's father who has arrived in town for the impending nuptials. The final scene gives us round two of the Vernon Dent-Stooges fracas, where we see that Babe inherited her strong and independent will from her great uncle Jack when she grabs Shemp out of the fracas, hoists him over her shoulder, and hums the wedding march. She may not be much for looks, but she knows what she wants and she takes it! I know there's an allegory here in all this, but I haven't figured it out yet. Do you want a deep, complicated, thought-provoking Stooges short? Brother, this is it.
Review of Scrambled Brains
