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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A nice start for the Stooges at Columbia, 1 November 2007
6/10
Author: bensonmum2 from Tennessee

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Woman Haters is far from the best of the Three Stooges, but it is a nice start to the Columbia shorts and does offer a unique and interesting thing or two. The plot sees the boys joining the Woman Haters Club – a club that prohibits its members from carrying on with women. But no sooner than they become members, Larry (they actually have character names, but they don't really matter) finds himself at the altar. He does his best to keep Moe and Curly from finding out he's secretly gotten married and he does his best to keep his new wife from finding out about the Woman Haters club. As expected, a great deal of eye poking and head knocking ensues.

The two best things Woman Haters has going for it (beyond its curiosity value) is the rhyming scheme of the dialogue and Marjorie White as Larry's wife. While I've seen some complaints about the rhyming dialogue, it worked for me. I thought it was very clever. Now, it might not have worked for a full feature, but for a two-reeler, it's okay. As for Marjorie White, she more than capable of holding her own with Moe, Larry, and Curly – more so than most women I can think of off the top of my head who appeared in other Three Stooges shorts. It's too bad she didn't live long enough to see where her career might have taken her.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Musical Stoogery, 2 August 2006
5/10
Author: LCShackley from United States

This is a very bizarre entry in the Stooge canon. In many ways, it follows the basic layout of their other shorts, but it's tortured by a script entirely in verse. (Interestingly, the writer of the screenplay went on to write Bowery Boys films and episodes of the Mickey Dolenz vehicle CIRCUS BOY.) We don't really get to know the Stooge characters very well, and the token "beautiful dame" takes over the plot and plays the boys for...well, stooges.

What impresses me about this short is that I'm fairly certain they would have had to record the music and dialog live, in other words, voices and orchestra together. (Can anyone verify this?) The Stooges could do no improvising of dialog as a result, and they had to stay linked to the rhythm of the accompaniment. It's done very skillfully and cleverly; only a few times does the sync not work well (they rush or drag their lines a bit). This early short is a promise of things to come but much too tame to take top marks.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Their first for Columbia is far from their best, 14 July 2006
4/10
Author: frankfob from California

Notable mainly as the first short the Stooges made for Columbia, their characters aren't very fully developed here--Larry, for example, is much more aggressive in this than in pretty much any other Stooge short, with the possible exception of "Punch Drunks", and Curly's voice is actually quite a bit lower than we're used to. Even allowing for all of that, though, this is really a very strained effort. The gimmick of rhyming the dialogue may have seemed clever at the time, but it gets old quickly. It has its moments--thanks mainly to the Stooges' physical comedy skills and the vivacious Marjorie White, who is terrific and would have made a great foil for the Stooges had she not been killed in a car accident a year or so after this film was made, but overall it's just not particularly good. It obviously struck a chord with audiences, though, as Columbia made 190+ more of them with the boys, so we can be thankful for that.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The first stooge short out of Columbia is one of the best!, 17 September 2001
Author: Brian Mathe (williec29@hotmail.com) from Alcoa, TN

The Three Stooges were on their way. They now had a contract at Columbia Pictures and were ready to make their mark on, not only comedy, but entertainment in general. With that Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerome Howard, also known as Curly, set out with director Arthur Gottlieb to make the first of over 190 short films the Stooges would make at Columbia.

This short is unlike any other Stooge short film. There are plenty of hits, slaps, pokes, and bonks. This short is different in that it is a musical novelty starring up and comer Marjorie White who, unfortunately, died in a road accident in 1935, less than a year after filming this short.

Moe, Larry, and Curly play Tom, Jim, and Jackie respectively who vow to swear off women after they join a club known as the Woman Haters. Bud Jamison, who will appear in many of the Stooge films, is the chairman, if you will, of this organization. The Stooges are initiated into the club and are off to fulfil their commitment.

After only one week, Jim tells the other two that he would have to quit that silly club. He met a girl and fell head over heels in love. The other two try and convince him that he is making a big mistake. Jim finally takes their advice and goes to break it off, but ends up marrying the girl after her father gives him so "words of encouragement".

Tom, Jim, and Jackie all meet up at the train station later that day and chaos breaks loose when each man falls for the girl in their own way.

There is a definite pattern and rhyme scheme involved in this short that makes it memorable. I have noticed that there is a lot more violence in this short then the others. But nevertheless this is one of the best from the Stooges.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
See "Footlight Parade" 1933, 23 April 2006
8/10
Author: gary olszewski from Henderson, Nv. USA

While I've known this one for many years, only today I watched an MGM Busby Berkeley musical from '33 titled "FOOTLIGHT PARADE" staring among others James Cagney, Dick Powell, and a bevy of others. What captured my attention was the big main production number: The rhythm and melody, and even the lyrics could well be the source of the rhyming sing-song of WOMAN HATERS! Just listen to Dick Powell & Joan Blondell crooning "You-hoo-hoo-hoo" to each other, and you'll see where Larry Fine & Marjorie White got theirs from! While maybe not EXACTLY a duplicate, but so close, it's almost scary! While watching and listening, WOMAN HATERS was the first thing that came to mind! But altogether, WH is the better of the two by leaps and bounds!

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Fair Comedy, Hindered By Unnecessary Gimmick, 19 June 2001
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

This is a fairly good comedy by the Stooges, although they would soon produce much funnier films. For whatever reason, all the dialogue in this one was made to rhyme - it doesn't get in the way all of the time, but it seems unnecessary, and doesn't really help in any noticeable way. The plot is based on the boys joining a "Woman Haters" club that prohibits its members from marrying - on the same day that Larry had planned a wedding. The ensuing situations are relatively funny, but most of the laughs come from the slapstick and eyepokes that the Stooges would soon become famous for. This is a fairly funny film, but probably mostly of interest to those who are already fans of the Stooges.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Unique Early Stooges!, 29 March 2002
Author: Evan J. Chase from Ohio

After the 3 Stooges rid themselves of the highly annoying and abusive Ted Healy,(who was killed in a drunken brawl several years later), they were signed by Harry Cohn of Columbia for a few short films. We know 192 shorts and 23 years later they were rediscovered and revered as cult heros. Their characters were much more evolved in this first entry than any of the MGM films they did, where they yielded the spotlight to Ted Healy most of the time. Once their individual characters really materialized, by 1935, they did some of their best work. The surreal quality of Woman Haters, the lively music score and memorable song: "....for you...my life, my love, my all....." makes this an interesting first entry. A very good print is on the DVD release: "Curly Classics"

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5 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Very, very nice, 7 January 2004
8/10
Author: rbverhoef (rbverhoef@hotmail.com) from The Hague, Netherlands

We see a woman haters club and three men want to join. The men are of course Moe (who plays Tom), Larry (who plays Jim) and Curly (who plays Jack). Right after they have become members Larry wants to quit because he promised a beautiful girl, Mary (Marjorie White), to marry her. After an argument with Moe and Curly they decide he has to tell that he can't marry her. After Mary's father tells a story about a guy who tried to run away from his other daughter Larry is not so sure anymore. He does marry the girl and the trouble with Moe and Curly can begin. But can they all resist the beauty and charm of Mary?

This is one of the nicest Three Stooges short. Not because it is so funny, there are good moments though, but because the whole short sounds like poetry. The dialogue is put on rhyme and it is really good. Marjorie White also adds something to the whole thing. A great little movie.

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9 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
A Failed Experiment, 9 December 2006
2/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

We begin with a meeting of the Women Haters Club, dedicated to the idea that "romance is a crime!"

What's unusual about this short movie is that all the dialog is done in rhyme. I thought it would be kind of stupid but, to be honest, a lot of it is very clever - for about five minutes. Whoever wrote this did a pretty good job. The music is nice, too, but five minutes was enough. It's cool at first but wears thin in a hurry.

The emphasis on poetry and song drastically diminished the slapstick humor, the normal wisecracks and the atmosphere that made The Three Stooges what they were. I can see why this early experiment was just that: an experiment, and thankfully a one-time experience.

Just give me back the Stooges as they are - crude, violent, stupid and funny - with Curly and his squeaky voice, not singing poets, for cryin' out loud. This turned out to be one of the longest 20 minutes I've ever endured.

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Pretty Strange Film is the Stooges' First Columbia Short, 25 November 2008
4/10
Author: mrb1980 from Arizona

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

By "strange", I don't mean unusual for its era (it's not). What's strange are the Stooges' characterizations. When did you see Larry as the center of attention (never); Moe not very violent at all (never); and Curly not using his high-pitched voice and frantic physical comedy (never). In addition, the entire short's dialogue is spoken in excruciating rhyme.

The story concerns the Stooges joining the Woman Hater's Club, vowing never to fall in love or marry. The club is chaired by Bud Jamison, who is nearly unrecognizable under all his pancake makeup. Larry predictably falls in love with a beautiful woman (Marjorie White), causing all kinds of problems, particularly with her tough, mean brothers.

The Stooges don't really seem to know how to proceed, since the entire short subject is not their style at all. Marjorie White is just charming, and Walter Brennan appears as a train conductor (who I kept expecting to don a cowboy hat and speak in his distinctive voice). Otherwise, the film just doesn't seem to have much of a point. I guess my main pleasure was watching White (who was killed in a car wreck shortly after filming), and seeing the boys completely out of character in their first Columbia short. Watching it once is okay, but there are definitely no belly laughs.

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