Production Information
Title: Snow White and The Three Stooges
Studio: Twentieth-Century Fox
Release Date: June 21, 1961
Running Time: 1′ 47″
“I love you just as you are, all three of you.” “Gee, only our mother ever said that without laughing in our faces.”
Short Take
This film is an adaptation of the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with The Three Stooges filling in for the dwarves. Upon the King’s death, the Queen (Patricia Medina) takes control of the Kingdom with the help of her wizard aide Count Oga and imprisons her stepdaughter Snow White.
Several years earlier, the Queen arranged for Hordred the Archer (Buddy Baer) to kill the bordering kingdom’s Prince Charming in order to void his promised betrothal to Snow White. However, the Prince was rescued by three traveling medicine men (Moe, Larry & Curly Joe), and Hordred kept his failure a secret from the Queen. Unable to remember anything, The Stooges adopted the Prince and he spent several years traveling with them as Quatro the Magnificent.
Back to present-day, the Queen feels threatened by Snow White’s beauty and orders Hordred to kill her as well, but the archer frees her and tells Snow White to flee the kingdom. She meets The Stooges, and Snow White and Quatro fall in love. During a performance at the castle, the Queen discovers that Charming and Snow White are still alive, and orders the deaths of them and The Stooges. The Boys escape with the Princess and take refuge in a high mountain cabin. But with the help of Oga and his magic, the Queen discovers their hideaway, and plots to kill Snow White herself. Meanwhile, Prince Charming has regained his memory and organizes the kingdom’s citizens into a coup against the Queen and Oga.
Snow White and The Three Stooges Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Walter Lang |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Harry A. Romm Charles Z. Wick |
| Written by | Noel Langley Elwood Ullman Charles Wick Frank Tashlin (uncredited) |
| Based on | Snow White by The Brothers Grimm |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Joe DeRita Carol Heiss Edson Stroll Patricia Medina |
| Music by | Earl K. Brent Harry Harris Lyn Murray |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Jack W. Holmes |
Snow White and The Three Stooges Trivia
- Frank Tashlin was originally set to direct the film at a budget of $750,000 ($6,141,982 today). Fox then replaced him with Walter Lang, who had previously directed The Stooges in 1933’s Meet the Baron. Lang transformed the film into a lavish epic with a budget of $3.5 million ($28,662,584 today)
- Patricia Medina recalled that Carol Heiss repeatedly tried to get her fired from the film
- Despite the significant investment, Snow White and the Three Stooges did poorly at the box office
Production Notes
- This was the only 1960s Stooge feature film in color
- The studio was unable to recover the film’s costs because the comedy-fantasy was tailored specifically to children who paid only fifty cents each for admission. It would have taken an audience of over 15 million minors for Snow White and the Three Stooges to break even
- The film was nominated for the Writers Guild of America award for Best Musical Screenplay for 1961