THREE STOOGES CLUB #4: The Stooges at Columbia (Part 2)
Monday June 17th, 2024
Class Rules and Expectations
What is the The Three Stooges Club?
June 28th-August 30th
Wednesdays (10 classes)
4:15-5:15 PM EST
Hey, Porcupine!! Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!! If you are a fan of the Three Stooges, then you know what that laugh is. But, did you know that there is more to the Three Stooges than just their slapstick? Why soitenly! So don’t be a victim of circumstance and come learn what made the Three Stooges who they were!!
Class Schedule
What We Learned in Our Last Class?
Wartime Brings Higher Inflation Costs; Lower Quality Shorts
Wartime also brought on rising production costs that resulted in fewer elaborate gags and outdoor sequences, Del Lord's stock in trade; as such, the quality of the team's films (particularly those directed by Lord) began to slip after 1942. According to Okuda and Watz, entries such as Loco Boy Makes Good, What's the Matador?, Sock-a-Bye Baby (all 1942), I Can Hardly Wait and A Gem of a Jam (both 1943) are considered to be lesser quality works than previous films. Spook Louder (1943), a remake of Mack Sennett's The Great Pie Mystery (1931), is sometimes cited as the Stooges' worst film because of its repetitious and rehashed jokes.Three Smart Saps (1942), a film considered to be an improvement, features a reworking of a routine from Harold Lloyd's The Freshman (1925), in which Curly's loosely basted suit begins to come apart at the seams while he is on the dance floor.
Going Beyond Shorts…Well, Sort Of
The Stooges made occasional supporting appearances in feature films, though generally they were restricted to their short subjects. Most of the Stooges' peers had either made the transition from shorts to feature films (Laurel and Hardy, The Ritz Brothers) or starred in their own feature films from the onset (Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello). However, Moe believed that the team's slapstick style worked better in short form.
In 1935, Columbia proposed to star them in their own full-length feature, but Moe rejected the idea saying, "It's a hard job inventing, rewriting, or stealing gags for our two-reel comedies for Columbia Pictures without having to make a seven-reeler (feature film). We can make short films out of material needed for a starring feature, and then we wouldn't know whether it would be funny enough to click."
Curly’s Popularity and Insecurities
Film critics have cited Curly as the most popular member of the team. His childlike mannerisms and natural comedic charm (he had no previous acting experience) made him a hit with audiences, particularly children and women (the latter usually finding the trio's humor juvenile and uncouth). Because Curly had to shave his head for the act, it led him to feel unappealing to women.
Curly’s Poor Health
To mask his insecurities, he ate and drank to excess and caroused whenever the Stooges made personal appearances, which was approximately seven months of each year. His weight ballooned in the 1940s, and his blood pressure became dangerously high. Curly's wild lifestyle and constant drinking eventually caught up with him in 1945, and his performances suffered.
Curly Starts to Fall
During a five-month hiatus from August 1945 through January 1946, the trio committed themselves to making a feature film at Monogram, followed by a two-month-long live appearance gig in New York City, with performances seven days a week. Curly also entered a disastrous third marriage in October 1945, leading to a separation in January 1946 and divorce in July 1946. That unhappy union wrecked his already fragile health.
A Shell of His Former Self
Upon the Stooges' return to Los Angeles in late November 1945, Curly was a shell of his former self. They had two months to rest before reporting back to Columbia in late January 1946, but Curly's condition was irreversible. They had only 24 days of work over the next three months, but eight weeks of time off could not help the situation. In those last six shorts, ranging from Monkey Businessmen (1946) through Half-Wits Holiday (1947), Curly was seriously ill, struggling to get through even the most basic scenes.
Minor Strokes for Different Folks
In Early 1945 42-year-old Curly Howard had suffered a series of minor strokes, and his performances had become marred by slurred speech and slower timing. Novice director Edward Bernds had to deal with Curly's condition while simultaneously learning the ropes of directing. Understandably, Bernds hoped the hiatus would allow Curly enough time to recover from the effects of his strokes and resume his abilities as the lead Stooge. Instead, Curly's condition had worsened. The comedian was in such bad shape that brother Moe Howard had to coach him on his lines; he can be seen nudging Curly in Dr. Mallard's office, reminding him to say his line, "I know: a nice big bowl of milk!" and to hold still while referring to him by his real pet name "Baby" which is inadvertently left in.
Bernds remembered the grueling filming process:
...it was strange the way he (Curly) went up and down. In the order I shot the pictures, not in the order they were released, he was down for A Bird in the Head and The Three Troubledoers, he was up for Micro-Phonies, way down for Monkey Businessmen, and then up again, for the last time, in Three Little Pirates.[4] In Monkey Businessmen, he (Curly) was at his worst. Moe coached him the way one would a child, getting him to repeat each line after him. We had to shoot Curly repeating one line at a time.
By early 1946, Howard's voice had become even more coarse than before, and remembering even the simplest dialogue was increasingly difficult. He had lost considerable weight, and lines had creased his face.
Curly’s Stroke During “Half Wits Holiday” (1947)
Half-Wits Holiday (released 1947) was Howard's final appearance as an official member of the Stooges. During filming on May 6, 1946, he suffered a severe stroke while sitting in director Jules White's chair, waiting to film the last scene of the day. When called by the assistant director to take the stage, he did not answer. Moe looked for his brother; he found him with his head dropped to his chest. Moe later recalled that his mouth was distorted, and he was unable to speak, only able to cry.
Moe immediately alerted White, leading the latter to rework the scene quickly, dividing the action between Moe and Larry while Curly was rushed to the hospital,where Moe joined him after the filming. Howard spent several weeks at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills before returning home for further recovery.
Missing from the Pie Fight Climax
Curly was to be featured prominently in the pie-fight scene, but after Moe found him with his head slumped on his shoulder and with tears rolling down his eyes, it was apparent that Curly could not perform. Moe alerted director Jules White of Curly's unfortunate situation, leading White to quickly rework the scene to be divided between Moe and Larry. Reaction shots from the supporting cast were spliced in more frequently to hide Curly's absence.
Supporting actor Emil Sitka, who made his debut with the Stooges in this film as the first footman Sappington, remembered:
After (the stroke) occurred, Curly was just missing all of a sudden. It wasn't announced to the rest of the cast; nobody knew what happened. So, we're approaching the last scene in the picture, a big pie fight. They had a big set and they put a huge canvas all around; it was going to be like a battleground. They're getting all geared up and the script calls for all the Stooges. I see a dry run-through of the scene and there's no Curly. I thought it was just a change in the script. No one — including Moe, Larry and Jules — ever told us how serious his condition was. It was only after the picture had been completed that I found out he took ill.
Early Warning Signs of Curly’s Impending Stroke
Even before the day when Curly suffered his debilitating stroke, he had been having problems taking direction from White during filming. Many of the lines intended for Curly were either given to Larry or eliminated altogether.
In the scene where the Stooges have their reflexes checked at the beginning of the short, an ailing Curly noticeably looks to someone off camera, supposedly instructing him when to lift his leg or when to stay still, as well as his next line. To help with his struggles, Curly was often placed next to his brother, Moe, to help guide him through scenes.
One scene in particular took much longer to film than it should have been due to Curly's health issues. The Stooges were supposed to behave like proper, dignified gentlemen and communicate eloquently when introduced to the wealthy gentry:
White later said, "I had a devil of a time getting that scene. Curly just couldn't get the hang of it. I should have realized then that he was deteriorating even further."
The End of an Era
Curly’s stroke on the set of “Half Wits Holiday” brought about an end to the main and most famous lineup of the Three Stooges. To this end, Moe needed to bring back someone who would be perfectly fit to step into Curly’s shoes as a member of the Stooges and that someone was Shemp.
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