Before sitting down to watch this film I did remember it vaguely from seeing it on television as a kid in the early sixties. At that time the Three Stooges were in a comeback via television and they were who I knew and remembered. As an adult I saw that Time Out For Rhythm starred Rudy Vallee and Ann Miller.
Well we sure saw a lot of Ann Miller dancing in fact she carries the film when the Stooges aren't there. But I was amazed that Rudy Vallee sang not a note and he was first billed. His stuff had to end up on the cutting room floor.
Vallee with his stuffy personality was a hard sell as a musical film star. It was right after this film that Preston Sturges cast him in The Palm Beach Story recognizes how his type could be played for laughs and successfully.
But the Stooges with their special brand of nonsense really dominate things, especially Curly doing a swami routine. They are equally aided and abetted by Brenda&Cobina a female comedy team that were regulars on Bob Hope's Pepsodent Radio Show. They were a pair of brain dead plain Jane switchboard operators and using them with Moe, Larry, and Curly was a stroke of genius for Columbia.
The rather thin plot involved a talent agency headed by Rudy Vallee, Richard Lane, and Allen Jenkins trying to give a break to Ann Miller who is the maid of star Rosemary Lane. Lane has forbidden Miller to seek a career of her own. I think you know where this is going.
This is Columbia and not MGM so the production values on this musical are paper thin. But the film is definitely a must for Three Stooges fans.
