Horses' Collars (1935)

 

Studio: Columbia. Runtime: 18 minutes. Production Number: 159. Release Date: January 10,  1935. Director: Clyde Bruckman. Producer: Jules White. Story and Screenplay: Felix Adler. Cast: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Jerry "Curly" Howard (Themselves), Fred Kelsey (Detective Hyden Zeke), Alice Belcher (Mrs. Zeke), Fred Kohler (Double Deal Decker), Dorothy Kent (Nell Higginbottom), Leo Willis (Lobo), Sam Lufkin, Slim Whitaker, George Chesebro, Bobby Dunn, Ralph ''Buck'' Bucko, Roy Bucko, Arthur 'Pat' West (Cowboys), Nelson McDowell (Bartender), Milton Douglas (Waiter), Bobby Callahan (Drunk), Jack Hill (Sax player), Bud McClure (Sheriff), Hilda Title (Curly's dance partner), Alice Dahl (Moe's dance partner), June Gittelson (Larry's dance partner), Allyn Drake, Nancy Caswell (Dance hall girls), Bert Young (Curly's double), Johnny Kascier (Moe's double), Ed Brandenburg (Larry's double).  Cinematographer: John Boyle. Editor: James Sweeney. Music: Louis Silvers, Charles Rosoff, Constantin Bakaleinikoff, J. H. Wood. Shooting Days: 4 (11-23-1934 to 11-27-1934). Working Title: Hyden Zeke. 

Horses' Collars marks the first Stooge film of 1935 and the first Stooge western. It is a winner on both counts. 

In this film detectives Moe, Larry and Curly are hired to go out west and help Nell Higginbottom (Dorothy Kent) get back an IOU that her father was tricked into signing. 

This is a very solid short. There is pretty much one great gag after another. Not only is the slapstick great but this film has many memorable lines. I especially love Moe explaining why mice drive Curly crazy by stating "'Cause his father was a rat." Speaking of Curly going crazy, this short is a perfect showcase for Curly. There are very few comedians who could go as over the top and zany as Curly does here without making it seem annoying. As always though Curly pulls it off. There is a wonderful almost animalistic element to him during these scenes that no other comedian could ever capture. It feels like someone unleashed a wild side that was always in them just waiting to come out. Watching this you fully understand why Curly is so many people's favorite Stooge. 

There are however two things that keep this film from being as great as some of the Stooges' later westerns. One is that the pacing in these earlier shorts is simply not as strong as it would be in a year or two. Because of this there are a few slow points that would be unimaginable in later Stooge efforts. Another is that the villains here are neither that funny nor threatening.  

This is the only Stooge film on which Clyde Bruckman would receive a director's credit. Bruckman would go on to be one of the Stooges main writers. As well as working with the Stooges, Bruckman had a wonderful career in film comedy. He wrote and directed for such greats as Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, W.C. Feilds and Abbott and Costello. Probably his biggest claim to fame is that he received a co-director credit on what many consider to be Buster Keaton's masterpiece, The General (1927). 

One line in this film is "You see this this heel? I ran that down!" This same line would later be used in Slaphappy Sleuths (1950). There is a dialogue exchange about a drink called a "tin roof," which is of course on the house. This would later be reused in the short film, A Merry Mix Up (1957) and the feature length movie, Rockin' in the Rockies (1945). One gag features a coin being thrown and the air, being shot and coming back down as a bunch of pennies. This gag would later be reused in Out West (1947) and Pals and Gals (1954). The Stooges paint open eyes on their eyelids to look awake. The same gag would be used in Slaphappy Sleuths (1950). 

For those of you keeping count there are 29 slaps and 1 eye poke in this film. 

As well as their film work, the Stooges would also make many live appearances during 1935. They would start the year by touring with singer and straight man Milton Douglas, who also did his own act as well as appearing with the Stooges. They first performed at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle Washington from January 1-7. For their performance on January 2nd, a reviewer would mistakenly call them Fine, Howard and Fine. This reviewer messed up more in his review giving Curly and Larry's last name as Howard, while calling Moe's last name as Fine. They would then perform at the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregan from January 9-15. Also appearing on the bill were the trained dog act Bartino's Dogs, Hermie King and his band and whistler Les Nichols. Those who think of the Stooges as clean comics may be surprised by one of the reviews. a review in the Oregan Daily Journal stated, "Perhaps the naughtier part comes from their joining Milt Douglas in the finale of his act, for Douglas and his aides are plain dirty at times." They would perform at the Biltmore Hotel on February 27 for the Academy Awards ceremony. They would perform at 41 club in Los Angeles on March 24, the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on April 6, the Elks Club in Santa Monica on April 25 and the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento on April 30, all with Milton Douglas.   

Resources Used

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
A Tour De Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road by Gary Lassin

https://threestooges.net/filmography/view/5

The Three Little Pigskins (1934)

 

Studio: Columbia. Runtime: 18 minutes. Production Number: 156. Release Date: December 08, 1934. Director: Raymond McCarey. Story and Screenplay: Felix Adler, Griffin Jay. Cast: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Jerry "Curly" Howard (Themselves), Walter Long (Joe Stacks), Lucille Ball (Daisy Simms), Gertie Green (Lulu Banks), Phyllis Crane (Molly Gray), Joseph Young (Pete), Milton Douglas (Henchman), Lynton Brent, Jimmy Phillips, Larry Wheat (Men panhandled by Moe), Bobby Burns (Man panhandled by Larry), Johnny Kascier (Man panhandled by Curly), Harry Bowen (Boulder Dam publicity man), Dutch Hendrian (Referee), William J. Irving, Charles Dorety (Photographers). Cinematographer: Henry Freulich. Editor: James Sweeney. Sound Engineer: Charles Althouse. Music: Louis Silvers. Assistant Director: Morey Lightfoot. Shooting Days: 5 (10-25-1934 to 10-30-1934).

In this short film, Moe, Larry and Curly are down on their luck as the great depression has left them broke. However, they are eventually hired to promote a university football team. This leads them to be mistaken for the college's star athletes. A crooked gangster hires them to play on their football team. 

This is an excellent film. It is one of the best of the early Columbia shorts. Unlike other early Columbia shorts, there are not pacing problems here. There is no big break between laughs instead the film gives you one laugh after another. Not only this but all the laughs come directly from the Stooges' characters. Though the Stooges' films are best known for over-the-top slapstick, the best laughs in any Stooge short are often due to the characters. Some of the verbal jokes here are very corny ( "No, I'm 36... Larry's a minor, he's 44.") but they work because they fit the characters so well and Moe, Larry and Curly's delivery is fantastic. Even the slapstick gags come from the characters. What makes the slapstick football game so funny is not the gags themselves, but Larry and Curly's compete obliviousness to even the most basics about football. If they were knowingly cheating or acting zany, these gags wouldn't be funny. It is how sincere these characters are in their naiveté of the sport that makes them hilarious. 

This film was originally going to end with the Stooges telling the story to their children, who were miniature versions of them. However, the scenes were deleted. In these deleted scenes, Alex Hirschfeld played little Moe, Joe Levine played little Larry and Billy Wolfstone played little Curly. Though the ending was taken out of the film, stills still exist from it. 

This film featured an early screen appearance by an actress who would later also become a comedy legend. This was none other than Lucillie Ball. Ball would late state about making this film, “The only thing I learned from The Three Stooges was how to duck. I still got wet!”

In this film the Stooges fall down a broken dumbwaiter. This gag would later be reused in Nutty but Nice (1940). 

One exchange of dialogue goes as follows. "Let's play post office." "That's a kid's game." "Not the way I play it." This exchange would later be used in Quiz Wizz (1958). It also appears in the Abbott and Costello movie, Hold That Ghost (1941), which features Shemp in a supporting role. 

This film unfortunately resulted in major injuries. Moe called it, “a humdinger of bangs and bruises.” Curly broke his leg falling down the dumbwaiter and Larry lost a tooth after a mistimed punch. The worst occurred during the scene in which the Stooges were tackled while they had their picture taken. Larry remembered telling director Raymond McCarey, “Look, we can’t do this scene. We’re not stuntmen and if one of those gorillas falls on us, we’ll never be able to finish the picture. We’ve never used stunt doubles before, but we certainly need them now.” McCarey told them, “Listen, fellows, you know how to take falls. You’ve done enough of them. It’ll take hours to find doubles for you. Besides, we can’t afford them. Don’t worry, you won’t get hurt.” Moe responded, “You’re darn right we won’t get hurt. We’re not doing the scene." After much arguing the stooges eventually got stunt doubles. Two of the stunt doubles and all four actors playing the photographers got serious injuries including broken limbs. In his autobiography Moe stated, “McCarey was speechless and sat in his director’s chair with his head in his hands.”

For those of you keeping score, there are 30 face slaps and 1 eye poke in this film. 

Resources Used

The Three Stooges: Book of Scripts by Joan Howard Maurer.

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Joan Howard Maurer, Jeff Lenburg, Greg Lenburg.

https://threestooges.net/filmography/view/4#google_vignette

https://threestooges.com/three-little-pigskins/