Production Information
Title: Yes, We Have No Bonanza
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 39
Release Date: May 19, 1939
Running Time: 15:47
“Speak to me, kid! Say somethin’!” “Bonanza!”
Short Take
The Stooges are singing waiters in a saloon out West, accompanied by three cowgirls. Unfortunately, saloon keeper Maxey (Dick Curtis) is surly and patronizing to the hard-working girls. The girls have little choice, as they are forced to work for him because their father is in debt. The Stooges vow to make enough money to pay off the debt and wed the girls and decide to go prospecting for gold.
Unknown to the Stooges, however, Maxey has recently robbed a bank and buried the loot. Before they find the stolen treasure with the stocks and gold bonds, the Stooges have a mishap, when a rock hits Curly, and thinking that it was Moe’s doing, throws a rock at Moe, causing Moe to throw a stick of dynamite, which lands near Yorick, the burro. When their dog takes the stick of dynamite and puts it into the box of canned food supplies, Moe thinks that Yorick ate the dynamite and tries to have the burro drink from a bucket of water, before the explosion. In their digging, the boys managed to discover Maxey’s stash, thinking they are truly in the dough. They return to town, but Maxey gets his hands on the money and flees the saloon. The Stooges, of course, catch up with Maxey, retrieve the loot, and end up giving back to the bank from whence it came, much to their astonishment.
Yes, We Have No Bonanza Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Del Lord |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by | Searle Kramer Elwood Ullman |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Dick Curtis Lynton Brent Vernon Dent Lola Jensen Suzanne Kaaren Jean Carmen |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Charles Nelson |
Yes, We Have No Bonanza Trivia
- The Boys refer to eggs as ‘hen fruit’ for the first time.
- The title was reportedly the result an ad-lib by Curly. It is one of the last lines of the film.
- This was one of three Stooge films (You Nazty Spy!, Yes We Have No Bonanza, Violent Is The Word For Curly) Columbia collected along with Buster Keaton and Vera Vague shorts and released to theaters in 1974 as The Three Stooges Follies.
- The plot itself is a remake of Sidney and Murray’s Back to the Soil (1934) and was in turn remade with Andy Clyde as Gold Is Where You Lose It 1944 and Pleasure Treasure in 1951.
Production Notes
- Filming for Yes, We Have No Bonanza commenced between November 28 and December 1, 1938, two weeks after A Ducking They Did Go.
- The film’s title is a parody of the 1923 song “Yes, We Have No Bananas.”
- The short gives us a pretty good tour of the Western set on the Columbia Ranch. The set had everything needed for a good Western-a hotel, bank, church, school, jail, and, of course, saloons. Yes, We Have No Bonanza includes the Bank and Hotel sets.
- Columbia’s 1952 Oscar-winning production High Noon was filmed on some of the same locations The Stooges used 14 years earlier for this short.