‘Cuckoo On A Choo Choo’ (1952) was the 143rd short comedy made by The Three Stooges for Columbia Pictures. It was photographed from Monday, April 21 through Wednesday, April 23, 1952 and was released on Thursday, December 4th of that year (the 339th day on the Gregorian Calendar). The film is a complete misfire, an attempt to satirize several current movies of the day which results in a witless bit of whimsy that is fascinating in its weirdness and badness. Larry, inexplicably, does a sort of Stanley Kowalski impression while Shemp is a wino who has the DTs. Though there’s some crisply done Moe/Shemp violence, the woman playing Shemp’s intended bride, Victoria Horne, is simply unbearable. I hate to knock anyone for trying to break formula and try something a bit out of the ordinary but I can only imagine the dumbfounded and most likely silent reaction to this film when it appeared in the local theater. By the way, the film was said to be Larry Fine’s favorite of all their shorts–he used to watch it often while in the Motion Picture Country Home.