Production Information
Title: Spooks!
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 148
Release Date: June 15, 1953
Running Time: 15:44
“Oh no, Dr. Jekyll!” “Dr. Jekyll? We must Hyde!”
Short Take
The Stooges are private detectives that are hired to track down a kidnapped girl name Mary Bopper (Norma Randall), daughter of George B. Bopper. They decide to trace Bopper back to where she was last seen, which leads them to mad scientist Dr. Jeckyl (Philip Van Zandt) and his assistant, Mr. Hyde (Tom Kennedy). There is also a gorilla kept imprisoned in the house for experimental purposes. The Stooges arrive to rescue the kidnapped girl disguised as door-to door pie salesmen. They investigate the neighborhood where she went missing and come across a deserted old house. They’re locked in and discover a mad scientist and his hatchet man, who are planning to transplant the girl’s brain into a gorilla. Eye gouges, the bat attack, a scary gorilla, the pen thrown at Shemp’s nose all in glorious 3-D. The short ends with a three-dimensional pie fight.
Spooks! Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Jules White |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by | Felix Adler |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Philip Van Zandt Tom Kennedy Norma Randall Frank Mitchell |
Spooks! Trivia
- The short was shot in 3-D and released just months after United Artists released the first 3-D feature film, Bwana Devil
- Steve Calvert was a prolific gorilla suit performer in many Hollywood films and television shows from the late 1940s through the 1950s
Production Notes
Spooks! was the first of two Stooge shorts (the other being Pardon My Backfire) made by Columbia Pictures in 3D