My Episode Review on The Three Stooges: Back to the Woods

Salutations, my friends.

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 49th episode analysis, and the 7th installment of my "Thanksgiving Treat", I'm gonna give you guys my take of the Three Stooges's "Back to the Woods".

Here's the rundown of it:

Set in the colonial times, the Stooges are convicts banished from England to serve the American colonies as punishment for assaulting a royal guard.

Upon arriving in America, though, the Stooges discover that relations between the colonies and indians have been hostile, and that the indians, under the leadership of Chief Rain in the Puss, won't let the colonists hunt unless they pay 5,000 shekels.

Seeing this as a chance to do some good for once, the Stooges go in disguise to secretly find more food for the colonies.

However, the real question is...can they manage to avoid the indians and get out of their hunting grounds alive?

Having watched a selection of Stooge shorts to review specifically for the Thanksgiving season, I wanted to save this one for last. In my opinion, out of all the Stooge shorts involving indians, this one is the best of the three.

For instance, the direction by Preston Black, the story by Searle Kramer, and the screenplay by Andrew Bennison, were spectacular! As with the previous Stooge shorts I reviewed, this short was hysterically funny. Every joke was executed with flavorful timing and wit, and none of them felt out of place at all. Everything about them was practically classic Stooge all the way. Likewise, the moments where the Stooges are running from the indians or fighting them were deeply exhilarating, especially to the point of putting one at the edge of their seat.

The use of the canoe scene from "Whoops, I'm an Indian!" at the end of this short was surprisingly well-played, if I may add. Even though the origin of that footage is obvious from a modern standpoint, and that it was clear the original line Moe said was dubbed over with a new line, the way Black and the production team made use of the scene was wise and brilliantly executed. It practically fit "Back to the Woods" like a glove.

As a plus, the performances of the cast, and the characters, were as awesome as ever. The old English accents that the Stooges, the actors portraying the colonists, the judge, and the prosecutor were flawlessly well-done. And as always, the Three Stooges themselves had the best and funniest moments out of everyone, and the trio looked like they were having a lot of fun working on the project.

In the end, "Back to the Woods" was a delight to watch, as well as one of the funniest Stooge shorts around. As the final episode to be directed by Preston Black (Jack White) before he had to serve in the military and mostly taking on a writing position for Columbia beginning in the 1950s, this was a fitting goodbye from him.

So, I rate "Back to the Woods" five out of five stars.