I often wonder how good this movie would've been if it starred the Three Stooges instead of Abbott & Costello considering this film was made in 1941 and Curly Howard was still at the top of his prime at the time.
shareIt would have been a completely different film. The Stooges were much more physical comedy oriented than A&C. Personally, I prefer A&C. I can only take so much of the eye-poking, hair-pulling, hitting-each-other-around Stooges.
shareNot very good. The three stoogies are not as entertaining as Abbott and Costello. At least in Bud and Lou's movies you get a good story and plenty of comedy and entertainment and nice atmosphere. All you get in the stoogies movies is pure slapstick comedy that gets tiresome after a while.
"I've decided to have Breast Implants!." - Maccer
I'm a big-time Stooges fan, but I don't think this film would have been even half as good with the Stooges as it is now. For one thing, it would have had to have been The Two Stooges--Curly would have been perfect in Lou's part and Moe would have been good in Bud's part, but Larry would have slowed down things because, as in many of the Stooges' shorts, he really had nothing to do. I can't think of any part he could have played in this picture.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
I must say it would never have crossed my mind to think that "Hold That Ghost" would have been a better film with the Three Stooges as the comedy stars! I've blown hot and cold on the Stooges — when my age was still in single digits I thought they were hilarious; later I found them virtually unwatchable; now I still don't laugh that hard at them but I can admire the physical skill and almost balletic grace their hyper-violent slapstick required — but a little of them goes a long way and there's a reason why Abbott and Costello were feature-film stars from the get-go while the Stooges did their best work in two-reel shorts. The Stooges' comedy was almost exclusively physical, while Abbott and Costello could get laughs with dialogue routines (mostly written by the unsung hero of their films, John Grant, who wrote "Who's on First?") as well.
shareAs many have noted here A&C & the Stooges had different aspects to their comedy.A&C did their share of physical comedy along with dialogue routines which were their hallmark.The 3 Stooges were first & foremost slapstick comics.Makes me wonder though,if the Stooges had done HTG could they have pulled off the dialogue banter that Bud & Lou performed so well? Might have been interesting to see them try.
shareThe "3" stooges (no matter which "3" it would've been, with (probably) the exception of Curly Joe) could easily have pulled this off if they were in it. They actually did make a few long movie's where they relied much less on their slapstick style than they did in their shorter stuff.
Don't get me wrong though. I appreciate the A&C version too.
UPDATE
If I want your opinion, I'll GIVE it to you.
Three men rather two, they'd have a much greater chance at holding that ghost, that's for sure.
Would of loved a "Super Ultimate Greatest Comedy Extravaganza of All Time", with 1941, or maybe even '42, being a good year for it. Have A&C team up with the 3 stooges along with Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Perhaps a good "who dunnit?" flick could help maintain the amount of stars in this?
A+C's humor is a wide gamut of jokes, from math jokes to play on words, puns, and paraprosdokian; physical gags (e.g., slapping, vaudeville, and finding themselves in locations or situations they didn't even know they were in), sound effects jokes, and jokes relying on actual acting. The inclusion of music in their films is important too, something that's carried through to South Park's creators and even that guy who did A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Last I watched a 3 Stooges film, it was like some Farrelly Brothers style thing from the 40s. Not really my thing; and I would've never watched the film, so I wouldn't even know if it'd be better or not. (But I doubt it would be.)
Just my opinion!
Most of the posters might not have seen Three Stooges shorts in some time because there were many films where they worked very well with skilled wordplay, puns, and even subtlety. Check out "Termites of 1938", "Mutts to You", "In The Sweet Pie and Pie", and many of the early shorts with Shemp. Likely, you've seen the films directed by Jules White, who played up the slapstick overdone. When the Stooges worked with Charley Chase, Hugh McCollum or Edward Bernds, there was much more subtlety in their actions.
As far aa starring in "Hold That Ghost", The Three Stooges would have been able to pull it off but, only at the urging or loaning out by Columbia's boss, Harry Cohn, would the Stooges star in feature films. For most of &heir career, Moe Howard (the career and business leader of the trio) was not confident that they could carry a feature film. They were proven wrong in later features. But, we forget one thing: "Hold That Ghost" was a Universal film. Abbott and Costello were under contract there. There would've been no way the Three Stooges would've been considered unless there were no A&C under contract. Also, with Joan Davis in the cast of "Hold That Ghost", her clowning would've been too much clowning if the Stooges were involved in the film, considering Curly Howard's gift for clowning himself. Lou Costello was a better, more relaxed comedy partner for Joan Davis. It is interesting that Lou Costello felt that Joan Davis was stealing the film from him (which she did!). He vowed never to work with another comedienne again, though he did work with Martha Raye and Lucille Ball later in his career.