This left the Stooges a man down. Healy was scathing. With all the foresight and perception that comes with drinking Wild Turkey for breakfast, he took one look at the future Curly Howard, the most beloved of all the Stooges, and dismissed him as not funny. Admittedly, Jerry did not much resemble his iconic alter ego at that point, sporting long red hair and a handlebar moustache. This earned him a huge laugh from the crowd vaudeville audiences were obviously a push-over , and one of the most gifted comic performers of the 20th century had officially arrived.
The contract was not renewed, and in Healy and his Stooges finally went their separate ways. Not only was he prone to violent, drunken rages, he was apt to do some very dumb things indeed. Already several sheets to the wind when he arrived at the Trocadero on the Sunset Strip, Healy lost no time in mixing things up with another famously belligerent drunk, character actor Wallace Beery, who was drinking at the bar with DiCicco.
Healy suggested they take things outside. They duly did, and Beery and DiCicco proceeded to beat Healy to a pulp. The beating was so savage, in fact, that the following day Healy fell into a coma and died. Mayer deployed his infamous fixers Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling to protect Beery, one of his top stars, by covering up the incident. MGM story editor Samuel Marx confirmed this in an interview shortly before his death in And by then, they had quite another ruthless sociopath to contend with.
They were on the brink of their greatest success and had honed their act into the classic Stooge mode that defines them to this day. The internal mechanism of The Three Stooges is deceptively simple. Moe, with his gravelly voice, permanent scowl and menacing helmet of bowl-cut hair, was the leader, invariably the under-boss entreated with overseeing whatever hopelessly doomed endeavour the Stooges found themselves pursuing and whatever it was, you can bet it involved heavy objects and the potential for maximum mayhem; plumbing, not surprisingly, was a favourite Stooge profession.
Moe actually had his brother Shemp to thank for his signature move. Once, during a card game, Shemp became so convinced that Larry was cheating him he leapt up and poked him in both eyes. Moe made a note of it and duly incorporated it into the act. An easygoing simpleton, Larry was the essential, non-threatening intermediary, and he brought a special genius to the role. Even given the quick-fire production schedule for shorts, the Stooges were extraordinarily prolific during their Columbia years, churning out film after film of, more often than not, admirable quality in terms of writing, direction and production values, given they were shot in a mere four or five days.
And their films were hugely popular, often getting a more positive response than the features they were designed to accompany. Naturally, their talent, industriousness and lucrative bankability were rewarded with all the bounteous largesse for which Harry Cohn was justly famous.
Although the legend that in the 23 years they spent at Columbia the Stooges never received a payrise is untrue, it is rooted in reality. Playing his customary dual role of ruthless businessman and enthusiastic sadist, Cohn kept the Stooges on a one-year contract throughout their career at the studio, forcing them to re-negotiate their employment every 12 months, browbeating them into signing for a pittance with warnings that the shorts department was in financial trouble.
Keeping its biggest stars in the dark as to their true value was a deliberate ploy to ensure they worked cheap. For one, they were terrified of Cohn and his Mob connections, as were a good many people in Hollywood. As working-class guys, fearful of losing their livelihood, they were happy to take what they were given. Playing a human punchbag day in, day out for years, enduring constant blows to the head — most of which, according to Moe Howard, were every bit as real as they looked — brought on a series of minor cerebral haemorrhages that slowed him down to the point that he was unable to make personal appearances.
Shemp, now under contract to Columbia himself, was brought in to replace Curly in live performances. Cohn flatly refused to give Curly leave of absence, and it was not long before his declining health became evident on screen. Under the agreement, the group was to film 8 two-reel comedies every year. During this period, the Three Stooges became one of the best loved comedy teams of all time.
Among the highlights of this period are 's Punch Drunks , in which Curly becomes a champion prize-fighter whenever he hears the tune "Pop Goes the Weasel. In addition to their film work, the group continued to work on stage during their off weeks and actually made a great deal of their income during these months. As it worked out, their film workload was a cumulative total of 6 to 7 weeks per year, with each short given a production period of 4 days plus some limited pre-production participation.
Stage appearances took up the majority of their time, with an average of 20 weeks per year. By the mid 's, Curly's health began to deteriorate due to years of drinking, overeating and late nights; bad habits that accelerated when he and wife Elaine divorced in In early , he suffered the first of a string of strokes that robbed him of his energy. After some time off, the Stooges restarted their work at Columbia, and they were able to limit their work to only 22 days before the Columbia cameras in Through it all, Curly continued to take on outside projects like Swing Parade of for Monogram Studios, and a grueling two-month personal appearance tour in late that turned a sick man into a deathly ill man.
That tour also included an ill-advised, short-lived marriage to a golddigger who turned him into an emotional wreck. When the Stooges returned home in mid-November , Curly's health was irrevocably ruined. Resuming production at Columbia in late January , it became apparent that he lacked the strength to perform much of the physical comedy that had been his specialty.
Although the three did not tour at this time, they continued to book personal appearances in the L. In May , during the filming of Half-Wits Holiday , Curly suffered a major stroke on the set, effectively ending his tenure with the Three Stooges. Unable to continue, Curly retired to live with his fourth wife Valerie m.
July and his daughter Janie b. He lived peacefully in retirement for approximately 3 years. Late in he suffered another serious stroke, and his health progressively worsened until he passed away on January 18, After Curly left the group, his brother Shemp returned to the act.
Shemp appeared in 77 shorts with the Stooges, starting with 's Fright Night. The Shemp era was often dismissed in prior years, but time and comedy gems like Brideless Groom , Squareheads of the Round Table , Three Arabian Nuts , Studio Stoops and Goof on the Roof have earned this period the respect it deserves. Shemp provided the team with a new spark that had been missing with Curly's illness.
The first few years with Shemp also remained busy with personal appearances, but that venue dried up quickly as the movie palaces closed one after another in the post-war economy. A Vegas attempt in failed, and the act found itself largely unemployed save for a shortened filming schedule at Columbia due to stock footage remakes Shemp died unexpectedly on November 22, After losing his second brother, Moe seriously considered retiring from the act.
However, a couple years still remained on their contract with Columbia. The group decided to enlist comedy veteran Joe Besser as the third Stooge, and he appeared with the team in 16 shorts until their contract was abruptly terminated in December Passing on Moe's idea to do some personal appearances, Besser left the team a few weeks later to remain home and care for his ill wife.
Joe retired in the early s. Buoyed by the September television release of 78 Three Stooges shorts, the group enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, mostly with kids due to the films appearing on childrens programs.
By the end of all shorts were distributed for TV. In Columbia produced a compilation feature entitled Stop!
For 's The Outlaws Is Coming , many of the TV hosts that screened their films were rewarded with roles as the "outlaws. Stephen Collins Mr. Harter as Mr. Kirby Heyborne Teddy as Teddy. Carly Craig Mrs. Harter as Mrs. Nicole Polizzi Snooki as Snooki. Ronnie Magro Ronnie as Ronnie.
Bobby Farrelly Peter Farrelly. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Left on the doorstep of an orphanage run by nuns at birth, three friends Moe, Larry and Curly spend their time eye poking and slapping each other all the day long. But when their orphanage suddenly goes bankrupt, the three Stooges set out to save it by journeying into the world to find a way to raise the money required.
But their quest brings them into being used in a murder scheme and landing them into a popular reality show. Just say Moe. Rated PG for slapstick action violence, some rude and suggestive humor including language. Did you know Edit. Trivia In the film, Moe is in charge of the seed money. In reality Moe Howard would keep track of all of The Three Stooges ' finances-- Larry Fine liked to play the horses and Curly Howard would spend much of his money on women, so Moe made sure that some of their money was invested for when their careers ended.
Moe himself retired a wealthy man. Goofs When Larry and Curley reunite with Moe on the Jersey Shore set, the producer who got Moe on the show is surprised to see there are three of them, conveniently forgetting he was watching all three together on stage before Larry and Curley walked off and he gave Moe the part.
Quotes Moe : [points at Snooki's Guinness beer hat] Just 'cause she's wearing a genius hat doesn't mean she is one. Crazy credits Right before the end credits, 2 actors posing as the Farrelly Brothers appear on screen to deliver a "Don't Try This At Home" announcement. Also, towards the end of the closing credits, there is a music video featuring The Three Stooges and 'Jennifer Hudson'.
Alternate versions The UK theatrical version was cut for a PG rating, to remove the following imitable techniques: A vegetable peeler used on a man's head.
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