"Hot Ice" is a so-so Three Stooges short directed by Jules White. It is a remake (or, if you prefer, ripoff) of two previous Stooge shorts from 1948: "The Hot Scots" and "Crime on Their Hands," both directed by Edward Bernds. This remake utilizes ample stock footage from these two shorts as well, and the most interesting thing about "Hot Ice" is the blending and overlapping of the new and old footage.
There are a few scenes that make this short stand out (if you haven't seen it, don't read any further). The gorilla wrestles with Muscles (Cy Schindell) and Dapper (Kenneth MacDonald) as they prepare to operate on Shemp (stock footage from "Crime on Their Hands"). When the Stooges search a handbag belonging to a seedy-looking young lady (Barbara Bartay), they find all kinds of burglar tools, but they don't find the Punjab diamond and assume the woman is cleared! (new footage). And the end of this short is sick, as Moe and Larry operate on Shemp to retrieve the Punjab diamond after he swallows it a second time (new footage).
"Hot Ice" is not nearly as good as "The Hot Scots" or "Crime on Their Hands." But it IS rather interesting to watch and see how the story lines from the original two shorts fit together to create the remake.
There are a few scenes that make this short stand out (if you haven't seen it, don't read any further). The gorilla wrestles with Muscles (Cy Schindell) and Dapper (Kenneth MacDonald) as they prepare to operate on Shemp (stock footage from "Crime on Their Hands"). When the Stooges search a handbag belonging to a seedy-looking young lady (Barbara Bartay), they find all kinds of burglar tools, but they don't find the Punjab diamond and assume the woman is cleared! (new footage). And the end of this short is sick, as Moe and Larry operate on Shemp to retrieve the Punjab diamond after he swallows it a second time (new footage).
"Hot Ice" is not nearly as good as "The Hot Scots" or "Crime on Their Hands." But it IS rather interesting to watch and see how the story lines from the original two shorts fit together to create the remake.