Hold That Lion!

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Hold That Lion!
Directed by Jules White
Produced by Jules White
Written by Felix Adler
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Shemp Howard
Kenneth MacDonald
Emil Sitka
Dudley Dickerson
Heine Conklin
Vic Travers
Blackie Whitford
Curly Howard
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) July 17, 1947
Running time 16' 27"
Language English
Preceded by Out West (1947)
Followed by Brideless Groom (1947)
IMDb profile

Hold That Lion! is a Three Stooges film that was made in 1947. It was their 100th short subject and their 3rd short with Shemp Howard.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Stooges' inheritance from their late Uncle Ambrose has been stolen by crooked investment broker Icabod Slipp (Kenneth MacDonald). The boys go over to Slipp's office to subpoena him, but he beats each of them up, rips up their subpoenas and then takes off on a train with the boys' inheritance. The Stooges then trail him to the train, and accidentally free a lion from the baggage car. Eventually, the boys capture Slipp and retrieve their inheritance money from him.

[edit] Trivia

A rare treat: The Four Stooges. Curly snoring it up during his cameo in Hold That Lion!.
A rare treat: The Four Stooges. Curly snoring it up during his cameo in Hold That Lion!.

Hold That Lion! is notable for a cameo appearance by former Stooge Curly Howard, younger brother of Shemp and Moe. He appears as a snoring passenger who the Stooges think is Ichabod Slipp, the man they are looking for. This was the only film that featured all three Howard brothers — Moe, Curly, and Shemp — in the same film. This also marks the first time Curly is shown on camera with a full head of hair, and his only film appearance following the stroke that ended his career as a full-time Stooge.

[edit] Bloopers in Hold That Lion!

  • When Shemp looks at a newspaper, Ichabod Slipp's name is listed as Elmer.
  • When Shemp mumbles gibberish while stuck in a fishbowl, watch Larry. He mouths what Shemp says.
  • When the stooges run out of the box that the lion is in, Larry's stunt-double turns his head and you can see his face.
  • When the Stooges are in the lion box, there is a pane of glass separating the Stooges from the lion (Shemp was afraid of the lion) and you can see the Stooge's reflections in the glass.
  • When Moe bops Larry in the head without looking during the cabinet scene, he hits Larry in the eye.

[edit] Observations

  • This film was remade with the Stooges as Booty and the Beast and Loose Loot, both 1953.
  • Watching Shemp try to keep calm during the lion box scene and Larry's face when Shemp says he wants the money "this minute" are some of the funny subtle scenes in this short.

[edit] Memorable Lines

Shemp (head stuck in fishbowl): (mumbles gibberish) Moe (to Larry): What did he say? Larry: (mumbles same gibberish Shemp mumbled) Moe: Get outta here!

Shemp: Them's fightin' words in my country! Ichabod Slipp: All right, then let's fight. Shemp: Well, we're not in my country.

Shemp: Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Syracuse!

[edit] Further reading

  • Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [1], (Citadel Press, 1977).
  • The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [2], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
  • The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [3](Citadel Press, 1994).
  • The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [4](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
  • One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [5], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).