Studio: MGM. Runtime: 68 minutes. Production Number: 695. Release Date: May 24, 1934. Directors: Roy Rowlande, Charles F. Reisner, George Stevens, Allan Dwan, Russell Mack, Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding, Richard Boleslavsky. Screenplay: Howard Dietz, Arthur Kober, Herbert Fields, Bert Green, Edgar Allan Woolf, Charles F. Reisner, Richy Craig Jr., Henry Myers, Robert E. Hopkins, Harvey Gates.Cast: Jimmy Durante (Himself), Lupe Velez (Herself), George Givot (Liondora), Polly Moran (Henrietta Clemp), Charles Butterworth (Harvey Clemp), June Clyde (Linda Clemp), Eddie Quillan (Bob Benson), Richard Carle (Mr. Knapp), Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy (Themselves), Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Jerry "Curly" Howard (Themselves), Jack Pearl (Baron Munchausen), Jed Prouty (Theatre manager), Edwin Maxwell (Buddy Goldfarb), Ray Cooke (Theatre patron), Tom Kennedy (Beavers), Arthur Treacher (Valet butler), Frances Williams (Singer), Baldwin Cooke (Arrivals valet), Ben Carter (Elevator operator), Florence Wix, Tenen Holtz (Elevator passengers), Eddie Tamblyn (Bob's friend), Leonid Kinskey (Jake the cabbie), Walt Disney (voice of Mickey Mouse), Gene Morgan (MC), Robert Young (Himself), Shirley Ross, Harry Barris, The King's Men (Feelin' High singers), Edward Thomas, Sidney Bracey, Sherry Hall (Butlers), George Beranger (Barber), Ray Corrigan (Gorilla), Henry Roquemore (Chef), Tom Herbert (Bartender), Ernie Alexander (Waiter), Clarence H. Wilson, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Nora Cecil, Frank Austin, Scotty Mattraw, Richard Cramer (Pedant scientists), Phyllis Crane (Eve), Tom London (Paul Revere), Art Jarrett (The Hot Choc-Late Soldiers singer), Ben Bard (Charley), Don Brodie, Bess Flowers, Jay Eaton, Larry Steers, Julia Griffith, Jack Byron, Russell Hardie, Bill Elliott (Party guests), Jack Hill, Bert Young, Hugh Saxon (Doormen), Jeanne Olsen Durante (Herself), Florine McKinney, Ruth Channing, Martha Sleeper, Celeste Edwards, Iris Lancaster, Kay Gordon, Irene Hervey, Pauline Brooks, Claire Meyers, Muriel Evans, Marcia Ralston (Chorines), Greta Garbo (archive footage). Cinematographer: James Wong Howe. Editor: George Boemler. Art Director: Fredric Hope. Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis. Recording Director: Douglas Shearer. Music: Walter Donaldson, Richard Rodgers, Nacio Herb Brown, William Axt, Jimmy Durante. Lyrics: Lorenz Hart, Arthur Freed, Howard Dietz, Gus Kahn. Music Editor: W. Donn Hayes. Orchestrator: Roy Isnor. Choreography: Seymour Felix, Carlos Romero, David Gould, George Hale. Costumes: Adrian. Cartoon Background Art: Emil Flohri, Carlos Manriquez. Animators: Leonard Sebring (Soldiers and band departing and returning; battle scenes), Cy Young (Chocolate army marching; girls waving; sun), Louie Schmidt (embrace of chocolate girl and soldier; chocolate and gingerbread generals; calvary and ambulances; gingerbread spy discovers chocolate army) Crew under Ben Sharpsteen (George Drake (Ammunition wagons; Soldiers climbing candy canes and being hit be eclairs), Dick Williams (burglars; Soldiers in lollipop field)), Roy Williams (Artillery; candy cane ram attack), Jack Kinney (Cannons on parade; Gingerbreads soldiers); Frank Oreb (Tanks), Milt Schaffer (Spy returns to fort and sounds alarm); Bob Kuwahara (Candy cane hooked over battlement), Ugo D'Orsi (Gingerbread soldiers fire eclair cannons), Joe D'Igalo (Chocolate soldiers wheel dove into fort and capture gingerbread soldiers), Fred Moore (Most if not all Mickey Mouse scenes) Shooting Days: August 14, 1933, to March 16, 1934. Cartoon Story Development: May-June 1933. Animation Dates: June 19 - August 19, 1933. Working Titles: Hollywood Revue of 1933; Star Spangled Banquet.
Hollywood Party is an all-star comedy that's story is just a thin excuse for the comedic actors to do their stuff. This movie is best remembered today for being the only non-compilation movie to feature both The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy (though they do not appear together. as well as for a Technicolor Disney cartoon.
The story, such as it is, features Jungle movie star Schnarzan (Jimmy Durante) throwing a big Hollywood party. Unfortunately, Schnarzan has received new lions (for his jungle movies) from his friend Baron Munchausen (Jack Pearl), who paid for them with a bad check. The owners of the lions (Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy) come to the party to take their lions back.
Ted and the Stooges only appear briefly in this film and frankly their bits are not all that memorable. However, this is still a really fun movie. Jimmy Durante is fun as the lead. However, the show is completely stolen by Laurel and Hardy. The comedy duo is at the top of their game here and gets some truly big laughs. The Disney animated sequence is also a delight, having the feel of one of the studio's great Silly Symphonies cartoons. Unfortunately, as with Meet the Baron (1933), the Baron Munchhausen simply isn't that funny, and Jack Pearl seems stiff in front of a camera. Also, though the laughs are good, there are times when there can be too long of a space between them.
Leading up to the Hot Chocolate Soldiers Disney cartoon was a sequence with an animated Mickey Mouse interacting with a live action Jimmy Durante. These were completed well after the cartoon. Since Hot Chocolate Soldiers had nothing to do with the rest of the movie, the Disney studio had no interference from MGM. However, since the scenes with Mickey and Jimmy had to be incorporated into the "larger story," it was written by MGM's writers. The writers had trouble fully getting a handle on Mickey's character and there were several rewrites of this scene. MGM's writers at first made Mickey much too talkative and wise cracking (in the actual Mickey cartoons of the time dialogue was kept to a minimum). There was also the idea that Mickey would do various imitations of various Hollywood stars. In the finished films he only does one imitation (that of Jimmy Durante).
Laurel and Hardy entered the film's production on September 21, 1933. They were directed by their former cameraman George Stevens and mostly improvised their scenes. In this 68-minute movie, Laurel and Hardy don't appear until the 51-minute mark. However, they are very much the focus of the rest of the film when they show up. Their best bit here is their egg battle with Lupe Velez. This was so great that the whole sequence would be remade in the Laurel and Hardy feature film, The Bullfighters (1945) with Carol Andrews now as Stan and Ollie's victim.
As for the Stooges, this marked their last screen appearance with Ted Healy. The next film of theirs to be issued to movie theaters is their first Three Stooges short for Columbia. It is unknown what days their scenes were filmed here.
Scenes featuring the Stooges, Durante and Laurel and Hardy appear in the compilation movie, MGM's The Big Parade of Comedy (1964).
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies by Randy Skretvedt.
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
Studio: MGM. Runtime: 17 minutes. Production Number 696. Release Date: September 16, 1933. Director: Jack Cummings. Story: Ted Healy. Screenplay: Matty Brooks. Cast: Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard (Themselves), Bonnie Bonnell (Bonny Latour), Henry Armetta (Italian musician), Edward Brophy (himself), Grace Hayes (herself), Jack 'Tiny' Lipson (strongman), The Albertina Rasch Girls (dancers), Lawrence Gray (I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam singer). Songwriters: Dimitri Tiomkin, Ballard MacDonald, Al Goodhart, Dave Dreyer. Working Titles: Back Stage; New Musical Short by Suber and Ted Healy Short.
Ted Healy and His Stooges' third short film for MGM is very much in the same vein as their first (Nertsery Rhymes (1933)). It is again a color film (the second they made), features Jack Cummings in the director's seat, is a musical revue film, features Bonnie Bonnell in a supporting role and even has the Stooges once again playing Ted Healy's sons.
In this short film, Ted Healy is a theatrical producer, who is attempting to put on his stage show, The Ted Healy Follies. However, his sons (Moe, Larry and Curly) cause much trouble for their father.
This is not a bad film, but one can't help but feel that it should be better. Many Stooge fans will be disappointed that this short never really allows Moe, Larry and Curly a chance to shine. They get a decent amount of screen time but each scene they are in is dominated by Healy. While Healy is a better comedian than many of his detractors give him credit for, this film hardly shows him to his best advantage. Most of the comedy simply comes from Ted getting more and more frustrated. However, nothing really funny is done with this mounting frustration. If he was trying to repress his rage in the style of Edgar Kenndy or if his anger was shown in an over-the-top comedic way, it might be funny. Simply having him get angry and frustrated though is not funny in and of itself. The only really funny moment here comes not from Ted Healy and his Stooges but rather from Grace Hayes. Still the two-stirp Technicolor has a real charm to it and the musical numbers are delightful.
Unlike the previous musical revue shorts featuring Ted Healy and his Stooges, the song numbers were not originally filmed for this short. I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam was originally from the MGM feature film, It's a Great Life (1929). The source of the Moon Ballet number is uncertain, but some sources believe that it is from an unreleased MGM feature film entitled The March of Time (1930).
I'm Sailing on a Sunbeam was written by Dave Dreyer (music) and Ballard MacDonald (lyrics). Dave Dryer wrote music for such songs as Me and My Shadow, There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder and Back in Your Own Backyard. Ballard MacDonald wrote lyrics for such songs as On the Mississippi, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (which many of you might know from Laurel and Hardy singing it in their feature film, Way Out West (1937)) and Three Wonderful Letters from Home.
Henry Armetta (born July 4, 1888; passed away October 21, 1945) plays an Italian musician in this film. Born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, he stowed away to the United States at the age of 14. The immigration authorities were prepared to send him back, but he found an Italian family to sponsor him. He spent much of his young life working any menial jobs he could find. One day while working as a pants presser, he was noticed by actor/producer Raymond Hitchcock, who got him a job in the chorus of the play A Yankee Consul. In 1920 he hitchhiked to Hollywood. He went on to appear in a great number of films often played stereotyped Italians. His portrayal of these characters often was both comedic and empathetic at the same time. His filmography includes such movies as Street Angel (1928), The Passionate Plumber (1932), Speak Easily (1932), What! No Beer? (1933) (the previous three with Buster Keaton), Fra Diavolo (1933) (with Laurel and Hardy), The Black Cat (1934), Imitation of Life (1934), Magnificent Obsession (1935), The Big Store (1941) (with the Marx Brothers) and Anchors Aweigh (1945).
Lawerance Gray (born July 27, 1898; passed away February 2, 1970) appears in the reused scenes from It's a Great Life. Probably his best remembered movie role is as the playboy, who Marion Davies tries to get the attention of by impersonating movie stars in the silent classic The Patsy (1928). He would again co-star with Davies in Marianne (1929) and Marianne (1929). His other films include Kid Boots (1926), Pajamas (1927), Marriage by Contract (1928) and Sunny (1930).
Actress Grace Hayes (born August 23, 1896; passed away February 1, 1989) was born in Springfield, Missouri but moved to San Fransico at the age of ten. She began to sing at nightclubs at the age of fourteen. She married Joseph Lind in 1912, and they had a son, Peter Lind Hayes, in 1915. Her son would join an act with her at The Palace in New York. Starting in 1922 she began appearing in Broadway shows including The Bunch and Judy, The Merry World, A Night in Spain, Ballyhoo of 1930 and A Little Racketeer. Her screen work included such films as King of Jazz (1930), Myrt and Marge (1933) (which would also feature Ted Healy and his Stooges), Rainbow Over Broadway (1933), Babes in Arms (1939), Zis Boom Bah (1941) and Always Leave Them Laughing (1949). From 1939 to 1941 she would perform at various resorts in Las Vegas. Soon after she moved to Las Vegas and in 1947 she purchased the Red Rooster club. Changing the name to the Grace Hayes Lodge, she ran the nightclub until she sold it to Steve Wynn in 1960. She would remain in Las Vegas until her death.
In 1932, the year before this film was released, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle starred in a short with the same title. That would be Arbuckle's first film in front of the camera since 1921, when the infamous scandal (he was accused of raping and killing a young woman, though he would be acquitted) ruined his career.
The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald.
"Hello Pop: Ted Healy - A good example of how to butcher a musical comedy with no material for the comedians. - Charles Bern, Elk Theatre, Prescott, Ariz. General Patronage."
"Hello Pop: Musical Revue - This is only fair entertainment with Ted Healy and his Stooges in the lead. In spite of the fact that it is in color, it does not add to the entertainment. Come on, Metro, give us good shorts or don't give us any. Running time, 20 minutes. - J.J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N.C. General Patronage."
"HELLO, POP!: Ted Healy and his Boys— In color. Musical numbers great. Ted Healy and his boys try to be funny, but the Four Marx Brothers have got him beat for entertainment. Play it. Running time, 18 minutes. - Edmund M. Burke, Fort Plain Theatre, Fort Plain Theatre, N. Y., General Patronage."
"HELLO, POP!: Ted Healy— Color and music are good. The dancing is beautiful. The comedy is punk. - Harold C. Allision, Baldwin Theatre, Baldwin, Mich. Small Town Patronage."
You can watch this film below.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
Studio: MGM. Runtime: 20 minutes. Production Number 685. Release Date: July 6, 1933. Director: Jack Cummings. Script: Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Matty Brooks. Cast: Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard (Themselves), Bonnie Bonnell (Fairy Princess), Ethelind Terry (Woman in the shoe), The Rounders (Woman in the Shoe quintet), The Dodge Twins (Turn of a Fan dancers), Lottice Howell (Turn of a Fan singer). Music and Lyrics: Nacio Herb Brown, Herbert Stothart, Arthur Freed, Clifford Grey. Chorographer: Sammy Lee. Working Title: Nursery Rhymes.
By the time Ted Healy and His Stooges made their return to the screen, it had been nearly three years since their first movie. In between these films, the team had been performing on stage. One major change though had occurred over this period though. Shemp had left the act and his young brother Jerry Howard (soon to be renamed Curly) had taken his place. At first Curly had long, wavy-brown hair and a mustache. Legend has it that Curly shaved his head and his mustache right after joining the team but photos of the team during this time had shown Curly with long hair and mustache. The salary structure of the team would also change with Curly getting $75 a week, Moe getting $140 and Larry getting $125. Moe would later remember that Ted was a first nervous about this change because Curly had limited stage experience. Moe would later state, "What Curly did for the first three weeks was just run across the stage in a bathing suit, carrying a little pail of water. That's all he did, run back and forth, until we gradually worked him into the act." Curly's trademark high-pitched voice came from jitters during his first stage appearance, but audiences loved it, and it soon became an accepted part of the act.
It was at a performance at the Club New Yorker in 1933 (they performed there from March 2nd to April 5th, 1933), when an MGM scout caught the team and signed them to a studio contract. This contract would have Ted Healy and His Stooges star in a series of musical comedy shorts as well as having supporting roles in feature films. From this moment on, the Stooges would rarely be off movie screens for the rest of their careers.
In this short film, the Stooges play Ted Healy's children. Ted is trying to get the boys to sleep but nothing seems to be working. Because of this Ted turns to a Fairy Princess (Bonnie Bonnell) for help. The Fairy Princess then puts on a musical revue show for the boys.
This is a charming little film. Though the Stooges aren't given a whole lot to do here, they are delightful. It is easy to see why they would soon become big movie stars. Most of their jokes here aren't up to par with those in their later shorts but the trio handles them well. In true Stooge fashion they make even the weakest gags kind of work. This is not to say every gag is weak though as the ending gag made me laugh out loud. This short is also a visually handsome one and I quite enjoy the storybook-like set for the Woman in the Shoe number as well as the use of early Technicolor. The musical numbers are very pleasant to listen to but are hardly memorable. The choreography is decent, but I did feel there was too much empty space on screen during some of the musical numbers. This helped add to the feel of a filmed stage play at times.
Despite these flaws, the Stooges, the sets, the use of color and to a lesser extent the songs make the film worth watching. However, no one will ever mistake this for one of the Stooges' best films.
Bonnie Bonnell (Born August 1, 1905, in Thomasville, Georgia; died March 14, 1964, in Santa Monica California (from liver failure)), who played the Fairy Princess, had an extremely short film career. She only appeared in a handful of films, most of them with Ted Healy and His Stooges. She did however work as a stage and vaudeville actress before her brief movie career. Many Stooge biographers believe that she was Ted Healy's girlfriend at time.
This film’s director was Jack Cummins. Born February 16, 1905, Cummins was the nephew of Louis B. Mayer. In the 1920’s Mayer hired him as an office boy with the intention of him working his way up. In 1934 he became a producer of B pictures, working his way up to more prestige movies. According to various accounts, he was a very capable and talented producer but due to his relation to Mayer, many people looked at him as just the boss’ kid and didn’t take him seriously in this role. This didn’t stop Cummins though as he personally made sure to supervise each department working on the films he produced. He passed away April 28, 1989. Films he produced include Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), Go West (1940), I Dood It (1943), The Stratton Story (1949), Three Little Words (1950), Kiss Me Kate (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) and Viva La Vegas (1964).
Though the Stooges play children in this short, there is no attempt made to make them look like children, which of course just adds to the humor. With the childlike parts of these comedians' screen characters, it is perhaps no shock that this is not the only time they would play children. They would play Ted Healy's children again in the short film, Hello Pop! (1933). The trio would play their own children in Creeps (1956) and again in Outer Space Jitters (1957). The Stooges disguised themselves as children in All the World's a Stooge (1941) and Quiz Wizz (1958). When the Farrelly brothers made their own version of a Stooges film with the feature length movie, The Three Stooges (2012) (which featured different actors playing Moe, Larry and Curly), the film started off with scenes featuring the trio as kids.
However, the most fascinating example of the Stooges as kids came not from the movies or TV but rather comic books. After the Stooges long running comic book series came to an end in 1972, comic book artist and cartoon writer Norman Maurer (also Moe's son in-law) proposed a new series of comic books entitled The Little Stooges (which was picked up by Western/Gold Key Comics). This new comic book series would center around the Stooges' teenage sons, who were mostly younger versions of their famous fathers (though they would be dressed in hip 70's attire). The series would feature a line-up of new characters as well. One of these new characters was the villain Benedict Bogus Jr. When Maurer had worked on actual Three Stooges comic books, he had created a villain for the Stooges, a conman named Benedict Bogus. It was only natural to have the Little Stooges face off against this villain's teenage son. The Little Stooges would also have a trio of girlfriends Moon (a girl next door type), Pixie (the richest girl in town) and Lovely (a fun-loving girl, who shares Little Curly's love of chocolate sodas). Also featured here was their dog Moose. Moose was based on Maurer's own dog with the same name. The real Moose can be seen in the Stooge's last film, Kook's Tour (1970). Most of these stories were written Maurer himself and some were even written by his son, Jeff Maurer. The first issue was published in September 1972. Despite comic books fans considering this series to be some of the best Stooges comic book stories, the series only lasted seven issues. However, many comic book companies were having trouble at this time and this led to issues costing the ridiculously expensive price of 20 cents an issue. This series ended the Stooges long association with the Western comic book company.
In this short film, there is a gag in which the Stooges imitate a train. They would do so again in the short films You Nazty Spy! (1940), Nutty but Nice (1940), Sock-A-Bye Baby (1942), I Can Hardly Wait (1943), Gents Without Cents (1944) and Fiddler's Three (1948). Lou Costello does a similar bit in the Abbott and Costello movie Hold That Ghost (1941), which features Shemp in a small role.
The dialogue exchange about money that ends with "You don't know your arithmetic." "You don't know my father." This same exchange was later used in the Stooges shorts, Half-Wits Holiday (1947) and Pies and Guys (1958).
A 1933 issue of The New York State Exhibitor stated, "Metro has a two-reel Technicolor short, 'Nertsery Rhymes,' which should go a long way towards saving some weak feature. Ted Healy, his three stooges are featured along with a couple of extravaganza numbers that will send people out talking. Show has more appeal than a lot of features. Sell it as much as the feature."
The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald.
"NERTSERY RHYMES: Colortone Musical Revues — Here is a comedy with music and color that stands out like a wart on a nose. The highlight is the singing, which will haunt you for weeks. Worth repeating. A distinct addition to any program. Running time, 19 minutes. - A.H. Edwards, Orpheum Theatre, Orwigsburg. Small Town and rural patronage."
"NERTSERY RHYMES: Ted Healy— Not up to the previous comedies of this series. The story is slow and there is very little singing and practically no dancing. The scenes are beautiful, but it takes more than good scenes to make good shorts."
"NERTSERY RHYMES: Musical Comedies— The best of the Colortone Reviews so far. This one is a riot of beauty and comedy. Give it your preferred time, and if you have not played it, go back and pick it up. Ted and his stooges furnish the comedy and the girls set the balance. - C.L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa. General Patronage."
"NERTSERY RHYMES: Musical Comedies - This is one of the best musical comedy shorts, we have had the pleasure of witnessing 100 per cent entertainment. Running time, 18 minutes. - William Crute, Victoria Theatre, Vancouver, B.C. Neighborhood patronage."
This short can be watched on YouTube below.
Resources Used
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
