Studio: Columbia. Runtime: 19 minutes. Production Number: 112. Release Date: May 5, 1934. Director: Archie Gottler. Story and Screenplay: Jerome S. Gottler. Cast: Marjorie White (Mary), Larry Fine (Jim), Moe Howard (Tom), Jerry "Curly" Howard (Jack), Bud Jamison (Club chairman), Monte Collins (Mr. Zero), Don Roberts (Doorman), Billy Engle (Club member), Dorothy Layton, C. L. Sherwood (Bar Patrons), Charles H. Hickman (Bartender), Dorothy Vernon, A. R. Haysel (Mary's Parents), June Gittelson (Mary's Sister), Tiny Sandford (Mary's Uncle), George Gray (Mary's brother-in-law), Jack Norton (Justice of the Peace), Charles Meakin, Leslie Goodwins (Wedding Guests), Fred 'Snowflake' Toones (Porter), Walter Brennan (Conductor). Cinematographer: Joseph August. Editor: George Boemler. Sound Engineer: Edward Bernds. Art Director: Fredric Hope. Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis. Recording Director: Douglas Shearer. Music: Archie Gottler, Con Conrad, Sidney D. Mitchell, Edward Eliscu. Lyrics: Archie Gottler. Shooting Days: 4 (3-27-1934 to 3-30-1934).
Woman Haters is possibly the most important film of The Three Stooges' careers. It marked the first of the 190 short films that the team made for Columbia. Though the trio worked in feature length movies, on TV and onstage, it is these short films that they will always be remembered for. Much of this is due to that these films have been in heavy rotation on TV for many decades and various generations have grown up with these shorts since childhood. This also marks the Stooges first film since splitting with Ted Healy. Though their work with Healy was often quite entertaining, it seems very unlikely that the trio would have reached the same pop culture heights as a foursome.
Being the first of the trio's shorts for Columbia, this film differs greatly from the shorts that were soon to follow. The Stooges have character names here. They are not going by Moe, Larry and Curly here. Instead, they are called Jim, Tom and Jack. While teams like The Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello often used character names in their films, this doesn't quite seem to fit the Stooges. Though perhaps this is because we are so used to hearing their own names that any other feels strange to us. This film also has a musical quality. Not only is there a musical number here but the entirety of the dialogue is spoken in rhyme. This of course would only be used in this one film. One big difference between this and most later shorts is one that causal fans may not notice but Stooge-philes will notice immediately. That is that Larry is the central figure here. It would be common later on for Moe or Curly (or later Shemp or Joe) to be the center of the story, but this was not often the case for Larry. Affectionately referred to by Stooge lovers as "the Stooge in the middle," Larry would later often take somewhat of a backseat to the other two Stooges as his character often did not have Moe's take charge attitude or Curly's (and later Shemp's and Joe's) over-the-top antics. Despite this many true Stooge buffs consider Larry their favorite because his reactions to the other two Stooges is often the funniest part of many classic Stooge bits.
In this film, the trio joins a woman haters club and declares that they never will marry. However, Jim (Larry Fine) marries Mary (Marjorie White) without his friends Tom and Jack (Moe Howard, Jerry "Curly" Howard) knowing. When Jim and his wife go on a train trip, Tom and Jack happen to be going along. Jim has to hide the fact he is married from his friends and fellow woman haters.
Though it may lack the laughs of later Stooge comedies, this is a charming film. The storyline, while familiar is a pretty good one. The main song is delightful and a very pleasant listen. The Stooges are excellent here, bringing a lot of fun, comedic energy to every scene they are in. However, what really makes this film stand out is Majorie White. She is truly excellent here and one of the Stooges' best leading ladies. Rather than being overpowered by the Stooges' zaniness, she holds her own with the comic trio. Believe it or not, she even steals a few scenes from them. One of the few truly funny moments here, comes directly from her (a scene with Curly lying on a couch).
Unfortunately, the rhyming dialogue doesn't fully work here and can come off as more distracting than anything else. The biggest flaw for Stooge fans though is that there are very few real laughs to be had here. There are some chuckles but no actual laugh-out-loud moments.
On March 6, 1934, Ted Healy's movie contract came up for renewal, and this is when the Stooges split with their former boss. One reason for this was that they grew tired of simply being Healy's comic sidekicks and wanted to get out from under his shadow. However, what cemented the decision was their meager pay. Moe would later state, "In the early days, what Ted paid us was laughable. And there were times when Ted didn't get paid so we wouldn't get paid. This was later reflected in the period at MGM, where some weeks Ted would give me one hundred, some weeks only fifty dollars. I went along with it since I understood his financial situation was such that he couldn't pay us what he owed us." However, one (let alone three) could only put up with this type of payment so long. In a meeting, Moe told Healy and Paul Dempsey (Healy's agent) to make a paper releasing them from working for Healy.
Splitting from Healy obviously left the question as to where exactly the Stooges could go after this. One columnist wrote, "Sad note. Ted Healy and his completely mad Stooges have come to a parting of the ways. The Stooges felt they could make more money and get along better sans their discoverer. Wezel see."
The Stooges signed their contract with Columbia on March 19, 1934. They signed a one-picture contract that would allow for future comedies if reception to their first film was positive. There was a 60-day waiting period after this first film (Woman Haters) was released to see whether Columbia would be interested in making more films with them. If Columbia decided to make more films with the Stooges, they would make eight two-reel comedies over the course of 40 weeks and would receive 12 weeks off (where they would be free to make other movies if they wished). For Woman Haters they would only be paid $1,000 which was to be split three ways between them.
This marks the only Stooge film directed by Archie Gottler (Born May 14, 1896, in New York City; Passed away June 24, 1959, in Hollywood). His career as a film director was rather brief and mostly confined to musical shorts for Columbia. However, he had a quite successful career as a composer and songwriter. He even wrote music for such Broadway shows as Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 (Which premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 W. 42nd St., New York, NY) on Jun 18, 1918, and ran there until September 14, 1918), Broadway Brevities of 1920 (Which ran from September 29, 1920, to December 18, 1920, at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway (At W. 50th St.), New York, NY)) and The Mimic World (Which played at the Century Promenade (Central Park West at 62nd St., New York, NY) from August 17, 1921, to September 10, 1921).
The writer for this film was Jerome S. Gottler (Born December 2, 1915, in New York City; Passed away November 1, 2005, in Los Angeles), son of Archie Gottler. Decades later he would be a writer on another Stooges short, Sweet and Hot (1958). Appropriately that film was another musical.
This film's cinematographer, Joseph H. August (Born April 26, 1890, in Idaho Springs, Colorado; Passed away September 25, 1947, in Culver City, California) had a great movie career. He began his career with the 1913 short film, The Lure of the Violin. During the silent era he would work on many of William S. Hart's great westerns. In the talkie era he would work on such prestigious movies as Twentieth Century (1934), The Informer (1935), Gunga Din (1939), The Battle of Midway (1942) and They Were Expendable (1945). He would work with the Stooges on only one more film, the feature length movie, The Captain Hates the Sea (1934).
Rather than being released as a Three Stooges short, this was released as the 5th entry in Columbia's Musical Novelties series. All the music in this film comes from the first four shorts in the series. The song My Life, My Love, My All was originally titled At Last and came from a previous short in the series titled Umpa (1933). The song was written by Archie Gottler, Sydney Mitchell and Con Conrad. Gottler provided some new lyrics specifically for Woman Haters.
As well as not technically being a released a Three Stooges short, the Stooges also were not the first billed. Top billed here is Marjorie White (born July 22, 1904, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; passed away August 21, 1935, in Hollywood, California). Marjorie White was definitely being groomed for stardom. She had major roles in such movies as Happy Days (1929), New Movietone Follies of 1930 (1930), Just Imagine (1930), Possessed (1931) and comedy team Wheeler and Woolsey's best movie Diplomaniacs (1933). Unfortunately, her career would be cut short when she died in a car crash at the age of 31. Woman Haters was her last film.
This also marked the first time the Stooges worked with character actor Bud Jamison (Born February 15, 1894, in Vallejo, California; Passed away September 30, 1944, in Hollywood). Jamison was a veteran of silent comedy. He appeared in some of Charlie Chaplin's films for Essanay as well as some of Harold Lloyd's Lonesome Luke shorts. He would make 38 films with the Stooges.
One gag in this film involves the Stooges lifting their glasses to each other with the result of all the glasses breaking. The Stooges would later repeat this gag in Goofs and Saddles (1937) and Musty Musketeers (1954).
The following is a review from The Film Daily.
"With Ted Healy's former trio of Stooges as the chief comedy motivators, and the dialogue delivered in rhyme, this concoction with music is a generally enjoyable affair. Plot deals with a woman hater's club which the three stooges join. Then one of them falls for a dame and embarks on matrimony, with the other two lads giving chase to bring him back. A good deal of the comedy action takes place in a Pullman car, with the usual farcical developments."
Though it may not reach the heights of their best work, this was a fun start to the Stooges work with Columbia.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
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