Truly Dreadful Film

A Disappointing Continuation

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

In 1949 until 1956, Joe Besser was signed on by Columbia to star in 10 comedy two-reelers for the studio. In this one, Besser is unofficially teamed with local radio comedian Jim Hawthorne as Besser's straight-man. The short itself is a scene-by-scene remake of the 1943 Stooges short Dizzy Detectives as Besser and Hawthorne play detectives who go after a gorilla trained to rob an antique store after hours.It was remade, yet again, in 1955 as Hook a Crook.