Spring Forward With Larry, Moe & Curly

Spring time is a time of renewal. So here’s a way to renew your laughter and have some fun, too! Now that you set your clocks forward we suggest you start watching your Three Stooges videos to get ready for Spring, which actually begins on the 20th. Not only will you have fun as you watch the masters of mirth, merriment and mayhem, you’ll also get some practical tips you can use for traditional Springtime activities.

Get The Tools

In this case, get the golf clubs. Watching Three Little Beers is a two-for-one guide. You get tips from Larry, Moe & Curly about playing golf like no one has approached the game before – or since! – plus a lesson in sartorial splendor! The Boys are wearing the most, shall we say, ‘creative’ golf outfits we have ever seen.

Did You Know: This short marks the first credit listing for supporting player Bud Jamison who started working with Larry, Moe & Curly in Woman Haters, their first Columbia short.

 

Formal Attire & Etiquette

After a day on the links, perhaps there will be formal soiree at the club. So you’ll be hobnobbing with high society types. Check out Hoi Polloi. This short has the famous ‘One-two-three-dip’ dance lesson sequence that ends with the immortal ‘Now follow me closely and do exactly what I do’. Of course this after a bee flies down the instructor’s dress, resulting in the most hilarious dance sequence recorded on film.

Seeing Larry, Moe & Curly in tuxedoes is a treat, too, especially as they try to gracefully exit the party with their top hats and canes while the hoity-toity party guests engage in Stoogesque slapstick antics. A classic role reversal.

Did You Know: The theater One Sheets just listed the Stooges as Moe, Larry & Curly, omitting their last names. While only their 10th Columbia short, their popularity was so great the last names were not needed.

Spring Cleaning

Well, these days, spring cleaning also means some do-it-yourself work on the house. Who better than The Three Stooges to use as a guide as you paint, paper and plumb your way through the spring! Why, their methods may be a bit odd and the results sometimes even odder but you’ll Soitenly! get through the tasks with lots of laughs!

So start out with A Snitch In Time as Larry, Moe & Shemp show off their unique tool techniques with saws, planers, brushes, pliers, chisels, screwdrivers, hammers, assorted saws, and even glue. How silly does it get? Well, you know it’s pretty silly when Moe says ‘I’m helpless with these helpers!’ This one will A) Leave you in stitches B) Make you silly with laughter C) Glue you to the screen. You pick the pun! Why, you can even pick two! Nyuk! Nyukl! Nyuk!

Did You Know: Jean Willes, the damsel in the short, was married to pro football player Gerard Cowhig who played with the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, the Cardinals started out in Chicago, then went to St. Louis (before the Rams) and then to Arizona.

Don’t Forget The Paint

Nobody paints like The Three Stooges. In Tassels In The Air they even get one of the foils in the piece to work on mixing up a batch of spotted paint! Larry, Moe & Curly cram a whole course in painting into this short’s 17 minutes. They brush up their skills on doors, chairs, tables and even a clock. Of course, mix The Three Stooges, paint cans and brushes and you know that eventually the paint ends up on The Boys!

No matter how much of a mess you might make on your painting chores around the house, you’ll look good compared to what the Stooges do and as a bonus, when you watch this short you even get a little pig Latin lesson, including this wonderful exchange: Curly: ‘I’m umb-day in pig language?’ Moe: You’re umb-day in any language!’

Did You Know: This was the first short were Moe pulled out some of Larry’s hair, a gag they would use often. Yes, through the years, Larry did actually lose some of his real hair during these scenes.

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

When it comes to plumbing, do we really need to say more?

Did You Know: Bess Flowers, the lead lady in this famous short, appeared in more movies that won the Oscar (5) for Best Picture than anyone else. The five were Around The World In Eighty Days (1956); The Greatest Show On Earth (1952); All About Eve (1950); You Can’t Take It With You (1938), and It Happened One Night (1934).

So there you go. Some Springtime tips that cover working around the house, getting out for some exercise and doing a bit of socializing. So make sure you ‘get the tools’ before you tackle those household chores, ‘grab a bag of bats, slugger’, like Moe said to Curly before you hit the links and get the tux pressed before the party. If you need some help on that last bit, check out Sing A Song Of Six Pants. In fact you can preview that short right here.

Time To Watch

As for the rest, just watch the videos. Of course if you don’t have them in your library we can fix that, too, since all the shorts referenced here are at the ShopKnuckleheads Store in The Three Stooge DVD Collection. What a coincidence!

By The By: Just so you know, Daylight Saving Time (it really is Saving, not Savings) runs until November 3rd. Also, the Vernal Equinox, which is the official start of Spring, occurs this year on March 20th at 4:02 AM PDT.

Yes, we do know that the word ‘equinox’ comes from the Latin (real Latin, not the Pig version) meaning ‘equal night’ and refers to when the sun crosses the equator and at that time night and day are virtually of equal length. Hey, we may be members of the Amalgamated Association of Morons but we’re not idiots! Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

P.S. Just in case you forgot, the shot of Curly in the pipes comes from the short A Plumbing We Will Go, one of the very best.