Category:

October Shorts

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle

Production Information
Title: I’m a Monkey’s Uncle
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 110
Release Date: October 7, 1948
Running Time: 15:56

“Did you come from behind that rock, or from under it?”

Short Take

The Stooges are cavemen living in the stone age. They must tend to their daily chores, consisting of mixing milk, hunting fish, and gathering eggs. Such is life in the prehistoric times. That afternoon, Moe has a date with his girlfriend, Aggie (Virginia Hunter). Shemp and Larry want to join, as Aggie has two sisters for the boys, Maggie (Nancy Saunders) and Baggie (Dee Green).

When rival cavemen allege that The Stooges stole their women, a fight breaks out, with the trio catapulting rocks, mud and eggs at the cavemen. After fending them off, the victorious Stooges are free to woo their sweethearts.

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle Cast & Crew

Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Zion Myers
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Dee Green Virginia Hunter Nancy Saunders Joe Palma Cy Schindell Heinie Conklin
Cinematography	George F. Kelley
Edited by	Edwin Bryant

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle Trivia

This is one of the few films in which Shemp imitates brother Curly Howard‘s barking routine
The film title references the idiom “monkey’s uncle“

Production Notes

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle was remade as Stone Age Romeos

Filmography October Shorts

Sing a Song of Six Pants – The Full Short

Production Information
Title: Sing a Song of Six Pants
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 102
Release Date: October 30, 1947
Running Time: 16:54

“Do you dye?” “No, that’s his natural expression.”

Short Take

The Stooges run a tailor shop that is about to be repossessed by the Skin and Flint Finance Corporation. When The Boys hear about a big reward for fugitive bank robber Terry “Slippery Fingered” Hargan (Harold Brauer), they think that catching him might end their financial woes. Hargan conveniently ducks into their shop as the officer (Vernon Dent) enters and leaves a suit with a safe combination in its pocket. After his girlfriend (Virginia Hunter) fails to retrieve the combination, Hargan returns with his henchmen, and a wild melee follows. The Stooges miss out on the reward but wind up with the crook’s bankroll to pay off their debts.

Sing a Song of Six Pants Cast & Crew

Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Vernon Dent Harold Brauer Phil Arnold Virginia Hunter Cy Schindell
Cinematography	Henry Freulich
Edited by	Edwin H. Bryant

Sing a Song of Six Pants Trivia

It is one of four Stooge shorts that fell into the public domain after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other three being Malice in the Palace, Brideless Groom, and Disorder in the Court)
The title is a takeoff on “Sing a Song of Sixpence,” the classic English nursery rhyme

Production Notes

The short was remade in 1953 as Rip, Sew and Stitch, using ample recycled footage from the original
The working title was Where the Vest Begins

Filmography October Shorts

Rhythm and Weep

Production Information
Title: Rhythm and Weep
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 95
Release Date: October 3, 1946
Running Time: 17:37

“C’mon, we got some croakin’ to do!”

Short Take

The Stooges play the roles of unsuccessful actors who have decided to end it all by jumping off a skyscraper. On top of the building, they discover three girls with an unsuccessful dancing act who have also decided to jump. The Stooges immediately fall in love with the girls. The six distraught lovers are still planning to jump when they suddenly hear piano music playing. They leave the ledge to go find the source of the music.

On a lower floor they discover a piano-playing millionaire who is looking for a talented act. He promises them a significant amount of money if they are good. Their act is a success with the millionaire, who doubles their salaries and says, “The way I throw my money around, I bet you think I’m crazy!” As if on cue, two men in white coats come to take him back to an asylum.

Rhythm and Weep Cast & Crew

Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Nita Bieber Ruth Godfrey Jack Norton Gloria Patrice Robert Kellard

Rhythm and Weep Trivia

Ruth Godfrey was Jules White’s daughter-in-law
The pill gag was originally written to have Curly pop the pills into his own mouth, but his physical coordination was poor due to his failing heath. The gag, then, had to be changed and Moe ended up popping the pills into Curly’s mouth.
This short contained one of the few instances that the Stooges broke the “fourth wall“. During his time on the ledge, Larry hugs his girl, looks into the camera, and says to the audience: “This I like! And I get paid for it, too!”

Production Notes

Filming took place from April 23-26, 1946
The title parodies the card-game expression “Read ‘Em and Weep”

Filmography October Shorts

In the Sweet Pie and Pie

Production Information
Title: In the Sweet Pie and Pie
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 58
Release Date: October 16, 1941
Running Time: 17:25

“I’m too young to die… too young and too handsome… uuunnnggghhh! Well, I’m too young.”

Short Take

Three rich heiresses must marry before midnight to collect their inheritance. However, their Navy fiancees have to ship out to Hawaii. Their lawyer arranges for them to marry three convicts about to be hanged – Moe, Larry and Curly! Unfortunately (for the girls), The Stooges are freed when the real killers are caught.

Mortified, the girls try to think up an excuse to divorce their new husbands and decide to force them to become society gentlemen. However, The Stooges realize what their wives are up to and decide they need to succeed so their wives cannot throw them out. After enrolling in an ill-fated dance lesson, and after finding them to be more accommodating to entering society, the girls turn to their lawyer again for help. Diggins suggests that the girls throw a formal party, hoping The Stooges will make a shambles of the evening. They do and Diggins bribes the butler to hit Moe with a large cake to make it look like Moe was guilty.

However, his plans doesn’t go according to plan as the girls’ society friends sympathize with Moe and blame the butler for setting him up. The evening ends with the Stooges first genuine pie fight. Diggins chastises the boys for their social ineptness and threatens to annul their marriages at once. However, the girls have had enough of Diggins and decides to keep the Stooges as their husbands. They, along with the Stooges and the other guests in attendance, strike back at Diggin by covering him in pie from head to toe.

In the Sweet Pie and Pie Cast & Crew

Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Ewart Adamson Clyde Bruckman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Dorothy Appleby Mary Ainslee Ethelreda Leopold Richard Fiske Vernon Dent Symona Boniface Eddie Laughton John Tyrrell Geneva Mitchell
Cinematography	George Meehan
Edited by	Jerome Thoms

In the Sweet Pie and Pie Trivia

This is the last appearance of supporting actor Richard Fiske, who was killed in the war in France in 1944
The title In the Sweet Pie and Pie is a play on the old song, “In the Sweet By and By“
The names of the sisters, Tiska, Taska, and Baska, were a play on the song, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket“

Production Notes

Filming occurred between April 30-May 3, 1941
The dancing lesson sequence was recycled from Hoi Polloi

Filmography October Shorts

No Census, No Feeling

Production Information
Title: No Census, No Feeling
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 50
Release Date: October 4, 1940
Running Time: 16:29

“Good morning, sir. I’m the census taker. Are you married or happy?”

Short Take

The Stooges are chased by a shopkeeper for vandalizing his store, and quickly dash into a building’s revolving door. After exiting the building, The Stooges have clipboards in tow, having inadvertently landed jobs as census takers.

The Boys work their way into the home of a socialite and join her weekly Bridge game. Meanwhile, Curly begins to flirt with the socialite’s maid, who is in the process of preparing a large bowl of punch. Curly finds that the drink is “not sweet enough” and ends up adding Alum salt to the mix, mistaking it for powdered sugar. Almost instantly, everyone is mumbling their words as their lips become puckered.

Afterwards, The Stooges continue searching for people to interview for the census. Eventually, they come upon a nearby football game, and become thrilled at the prospect of speaking with everyone in the stadium. The trio don football players’ uniforms, enabling them to bypass the guard and storm the field. They try asking questions to the players, who end up ignoring them, and Curly finds an ice cream vendor and takes off after him, somehow hijacking his wagon.

The Stooges go into the game and, after a few bouts of hardship, get an idea. If they can get the ball away from the players, the team would have no choice but to answer their questions. With that, Larry and Moe attach chains to the pants of two players and pull them off, distracting the players enough for Curly to grab the ball and run away. However, the players notice him and give chase. Curly continues running as Larry pulls the ice cream wagon, carrying Moe behind him. Moe throws fistfuls of ice cream at the players and the referee who are chasing them, and The Stooges make it out of the stadium.

No Census, No Feeling Cast & Crew

Directed by	Del Lord
Produced by	Del Lord Hugh McCollum
Written by	Harry Edwards Elwood Ullman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent Symona Boniface Max Davidson John Tyrrell Bruce Bennett
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Edited by	Art Seid

No Census, No Feeling Trivia

The film title is a parody on the expression “No sense, no feeling”
In one scene, Curly believes that it is Independence Day in October, claiming that “you never can tell; look what they did to Thanksgiving!”. This is a reference to 1939 when Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to an earlier Thursday in November to lengthen the Christmas shopping season.

Production Notes

Filming took place from May 25-29, 1940
The football scenes were filmed at the University of Southern California

Filmography October Shorts

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise

Production Information
Title: Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 42
Release Date: October 6, 1939
Running Time: 18:13

“If I wasn’t so weak from hunger, I’d bat your brains out if you had brains.”

Short Take

The Stooges are three hapless tramps. After nearly destroying a farmer’s (Richard Fiske) pile of firewood, and destroying some of his equipment, they hit the road. Curly wishes they had a car after they stop for a break. By accident, they think they’ve found a car for free and take it. After driving around for a bit The Boys come to the assistance of the Widow Jenkins (Eva McKenzie). She graciously gives them a huge meal and in return they offer to fix her broken outdoor water pump.

As The Stooges attempt to fix the pump, they discover oil hidden under the farm when the pump turns into an oil geyser. They are happy for the lady and her beautiful daughters, until she regretfully tells them she had sold the farm. The Stooges realize she was cheated out of her land by a trio of swindlers (Dick Curtis, Eddie Laughton, James Craig). They manage to retrieve the deed to the land and marry the now wealthy Widow Jenkins’ daughters.

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise Cast & Crew

Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Andrew Bennison Mauri Grashin
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Dick Curtis Eddie Laughton James Craig Eva McKenzie Dorothy Moore Lorna Gray Dorothy Comingore Richard Fiske
Cinematography	Henry Freulich
Edited by	Charles Nelson

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise Trivia

During filming of the scene where The Stooges are fixing the pump, Moe actually got a blob of the “oil” stuck in his eye
The studio crew can be heard laughing when Curly accidentally hits his head on Widow Jenkins’ kitchen door while trumpeting and singing “A-Pumping We Will Go”

Production Notes

The film’s title is a parody of Benjamin Franklin’s, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”
Filming occurred between March 16-20, 1939

Filmography October Shorts

Mutts to You

Production Information
Title: Mutts to You
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 35
Release Date: October 14, 1938
Running Time: 18:02

“That’s a fine broth of a boy you have there. Is he on the bottle yet?” “I should say not! He don’t smoke, drink nor chew.”

Short Take

The Stooges operate a successful dog grooming business featuring a conveyor belt and a water wheel that requires Curly to pedal a stationary bicycle in order to keep water flowing. Among The Stooges’ clients is an affluent couple (Bess Flowers and Lane Chandler), who have an elaborate misunderstanding that leads to their baby being left momentarily on the front doorstep just as The Stooges pass by on their way home from work. Thinking the infant has been abandoned, the trio take the child back to their apartment house, despite the firm rule of no babies or dogs being allowed on the premises.

When The Stooges see the afternoon newspaper saying the baby was kidnapped, they attempt to return the infant to his parents. Moe and Larry disguise Curly as the baby’s mother, dubbing him “Mrs. O’Toole.” Unfortunately, Policeman O’Halloran (Bud Jamison) strikes up a conversation with the “Irish mother”, concludes that they are the kidnappers, and tries to apprehend them. The Boys make a run for it, but O’Halloran chases after them. After O’Halloran catches The Boys, the Mannings reunite, explain the misunderstanding, and The Stooges are free to go. When Mrs. Manning exclaims how filthy the baby is, The Stooges put him through the dog washing machine, but Curly accidentally messes up the controls, resulting in the machine slapping the baby’s bottom.

Mutts to You Cast & Crew

Directed by	Charley Chase
Produced by	Charley Chase Hugh McCollum
Written by	Al Giebler Elwood Ullman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Bess Flowers Bud Jamison Vernon Dent Lane Chandler Cy Schindell
Cinematography	Allen G. Siegler
Edited by	Art Seid

Mutts to You Trivia

The film title is a pun on the insult “Nuts to you!”
The Stooges would also become babysitters of sorts in Sock-a-Bye Baby, Three Loan Wolves, and Baby Sitter Jitters

Production Notes

Filming for Mutts to You took place from March 30 to April 2, 1938

Filmography October Shorts

Playing the Ponies

Production Information
Title: Playing the Ponies
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 26
Release Date: October 15, 1937
Running Time: 17:07

“You told me to race him around the track — and I did, and I beat him.”

Short Take

The Stooges operate a failing restaurant and are sick of it. One customer laments the state in which his horse, Thunderbolt, is in, claiming that he is “all run out” and that he wants to dump him off on some unsuspecting sap. This works in his favor when Larry opens a newspaper and reads a story on a horse named Mad Cap who won a race worth $10,000. The Stooges decide to sell their restaurant to Thunderbolt’s owners and get into the racing industry.

Upon arriving at the stable, Curly races the horse around the track. Feeling hungry, Curly pulls out a handful of pepperinos that he swiped from the restaurant, thinking them to be salted peanuts. However, Thunderbolt eats them first and, with his mouth burning, “runs like lightning” towards the nearest water trough. Moe demands to know what Curly gave the horse, but he believes them to be peanuts. To be sure, Moe eats a handful and suffers the same heated mouth as Thunderbolt and runs to the trough. Curly follows suit, and blazes to the trough as well. The Stooges quickly discover that the pepperinos caused Thunderbolt’s sudden burst of speed and believe it to be their ace in the hole for future races.

Once the first race starts, Thunderbolt turns around and starts running in the opposite direction. Larry stops him and feeds him the hot peppers, but the effect is too much for Thunderbolt and he is too disoriented to run. Moe and Curly grab a bucket of water, hop on a parked motorcycle and drive alongside of Thunderbolt with the bucket hanging from a pole in front of the horse. Thunderbolt wins the race, and The Stooges enjoy the good life as they each eat their own turkey and Thunderbolt eats peanuts in celebration.

Playing the Ponies Cast & Crew

Directed by	Charles Lamont
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Irv Frisch Al Giebler Will Harr Charles Nelson Elwood Ullman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Nick Copeland Lew Davis Billy Bletcher William Irving Jack “Tiny” Lipson
Cinematography	Allen G. Siegler
Edited by	Charles Hochberg

Playing the Ponies Trivia

This was the second and final short directed by Charles Lamont
A colorized version of this film was released in 2004 as part of the DVD collection entitled “Goofs on the Loose”

Production Notes

Filming occurred between May 12-19, 1937