Snow White and the Three Stooges Movie Review

Content warning: this review contains spoilers.

In the last 5-10 years, the entertainment industry has revived successful intellectual properties. These have resulted in sequels, prequels, remakes, retellings, mash-ups, etc, and many are things that the audience didn’t ask for, yet they will see the product in question, which results in money for the companies. As much as people complain about this, there’s one thing to note: this has been an issue in Hollywood for a long time. Since the Disney live-action remake of Snow White is out now, I will take a look at a forgotten 1961 adaptation of the beloved fairytale Snow White and the Three Stooges – a flawed, but delightful film directed by Walter Lang that stars a well-known athlete at the time and a famous comedy group.

This is the part where I describe the plot, but since it’s Snow White, I assume most people know the fairytale. However, I will still list the storyline as told by IMDB:

“Based on the classic fairy tale, Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe (the Three Stooges) substitute for the Seven Dwarfs while the princess Snow White (Olympic figure skating champion Carol Heiss) is forced to flee from her jealous stepmother, the queen (Patricia Medina), who takes drastic steps to insure that Snow White never gains the throne.”

Snow White and the Three Stooges stars a famous athlete, which was a trend in movies from the 1930s to the 1950s. These films would revolve around the sportsperson in question and have scenes for them to demonstrate the sport they excel in. It didn’t matter if they could act, audiences came to see the athlete do their thing. Twentieth Century Fox had a string of hit movies in the late 1930s and early 1940s starring figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Sonja Henie.

Years later, they decided to replicate that success with figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Carol Heiss with this film. I will give credit to the flick. If there was a sport that makes sense to Snow White, it would be figure skating because it’s associated with winter – the season in which she was born, and it exemplifies the beauty of the skater in question. Heiss is wonderful on the ice, and the skating sequences are some of the best scenes in the movie. I only wish that they were more integrated into the plot, for the film simply stops just to show off how talented Heiss is. To be fair, these athlete-starring flicks already have low expectations, so Snow White and the Three Stooges sticks the landing in that regard.

How is it as a Three Stooges film? Well, it’s lame and sanitized, and this is coming from a Three Stooges fan. This is due to the state in which the trio were in. They experienced a level of fame that they never had before after their shorts were released to television in the late 1950s. With great popularity came controversy when parents started complaining about the amount of violence the shorts had. If one hasn’t seen them, let’s just say they put the slap in slapstick. This personally affected the Stooges, who decided to decrease the violence in their act. The lack of slapstick and the amount of screentime the group go are often cited by fans as the reasons why Snow White and the Three Stooges is considered the worst of the feature-length films that they did with third stooge Curly Joe DeRita from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s.

Even as a kid watching this, I thought that what the Stooges did in this film was lame. They were trying too hard to appeal to a child audience. This is ironic because there are some violent scenes like a supporting character who dies after falling into a pot of boiling water and the Queen (disguised as the witch) is killed by crashing into the side of a mountain. In addition, the trio only appear in half the movie. Nonetheless, I will give the movie credit. Casting them as the dwarf substitutes is inspired because Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe are naturally short and would work with foils that were at least a head taller than them. Also, their interruptions of the prologue and the food fight in the castle made me laugh. Despite that, the Stooges are past their prime, and their comedy is too sanitized.

Now, how is it as a Snow White adaptation? Snow White and the Three Stooges does some unique things, but I question others. For starters, even though Carol Heiss is great when skating, her acting leaves a lot to be desired. Now, as I mentioned earlier, there are already low expectations when an athlete stars in a movie. The problem is that she’s portraying a famous fairy tale character, which comes with its own set of standards. Yes, Heiss looks the part of Snow White with her dark wig (she’s a natural blonde) and pale skin and can do the overly dramatic Disney princess pose when it’s called for. However, she has a stone face for a good chunk of the movie. This is especially true when she’s in the prison cell. I swore that she didn’t blink during that sequence while singing “A Place Called Happiness.” On the other hand, Heiss is likable enough, so it’s not a complete bust. 

Patricia Medina as the Queen is fabulous. Many actresses playing that character would often emphasize her powerful nature. Medina does that, but she channels the truly petty side. After all, the Queen wants to kill Snow White because her step-daughter is more beautiful than her. I can’t think of anything more deranged that came out of something so trivial (at least to modern viewers). Medina has a commanding presence without being too cartoonish while showing off her gorgeous wardrobe.

Edson Stroll as Quarto aka Prince Charming is great. He gets along with the Stooges well and has a good chemistry with Heiss, which helps because they do have plenty of scenes together. Above all, he’s handsome and well…charming. Also, in this adaptation, Charming doesn’t know that he’s a prince because he was raised by the Stooges after they rescued him from being murdered by the huntsman when he was seven. This is a weird choice, but it stands out from other Snow White versions.

Another unique aspect that Snow White and the Three Stooges has is the character of Count Olga. He’s the advisor to the Queen (and definitely her full-time lover). Count Olga is the one who helps her plan to kill Snow White. Guy Rolfe plays him as astute and ruthless when needed. Most importantly, Count Olga carries a sword that grants three wishes to anyone who holds it. Why? I’m not entirely sure. It eventually gets into the hands of the Stooges, and it made me ask a bunch of questions about the limitations.

The biggest problem with the movie is the pacing. It trots along with scenes that didn’t really need to be there. People more than likely know the story beats in Snow White. In this adaptation, it takes a long time to get to them. The live action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas has a similar problem. When Snow White and the Three Stooges does get to those beats, they are underwhelming and sometimes awkward. For example, when Snow White runs through the forest after the huntsman tells her about the Queen’s plot to kill her, it’s trying so hard to be like the similar scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs except it’s not scary at all. This is especially true with how Heiss awkwardly handles the tree branches. Lang should have known better about the pacing since he directed the 1956 movie version of the musical The King and I. And yet, this would be the last film he ever made.

How does the Snow White aspect of this movie play into corporate synergy? Well, during the 1950s, there were plenty of fairy tale adaptations that were done in Cinemascope to make them look more epic. These included The Glass Slipper (1955) and the Disney animated Sleeping Beauty (1959). Producer Charles Z. Wick – who would later head the United States Information Agency during the Reagan Administration – and Lang had plenty of faith in this film that its budget was $3.5 million ($36,908,143.81 in today’s money). This resulted in a production design that was decently lavish, especially with the castle and the ice skating sequences. Moreover, it has a nice score even though the songs sound all the same (except for “Because I’m in Love” since that’s partially sung by Mel Blanc as Quinto – Charming’s puppet – in his Bugs Bunny voice).

Snow White and the Three Stooges is perfectly fine. It works decently as a flick starring an athlete due to low expectations and how Heiss is a great figure skater. As a Three Stooges film, it’s not as bad as fans make it out to be, yet it could’ve worked better if the trio were making this in their prime and not so concerned about the slapstick. As a Snow White adaptation, it’s mostly ok due to the acting, the weird choices, and pacing. I would only recommend it to curious diehard Carol Heiss, Three Stooges, and Snow White fans. While it doesn’t reach the heights of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I still want to watch this movie over the newly-released live-action Snow White anyday. You can even see it at this link.

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