Three Pests in a Mess
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| Three Pests in a Mess | |
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| Directed by | Del Lord |
| Produced by | Hugh McCollum |
| Written by | Del Lord |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Christine McIntyre Brian O'Hara Vernon Dent Snub Pollard Victor Travers Heinie Conklin |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Editing by | Henry Batista |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  January 19, 1945 |
| Running time | 17' 41" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | No Dough Boys |
| Followed by | Booby Dupes |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Three Pests in a Mess is the 83rd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.
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[edit] Plot
The Stooges are inventors desperately trying to obtain a patent for their fly catching invention. Whilst learning they must catch 100,000 flies to get their patent, their conversation is overheard by several crooks across the hallway. Unfortunately, the crooks think Curly has $100,000. A flirtatious woman (Christine McIntyre) who is part of the nest of crooks corners the gullible Curly and tries to finagle the non-existent money out of him. When he confesses that the 100,000 are indeed flies and not dollars, she turns against him, and has the crooks go after the Stooges.
The trio take cover in a sporting goods store where Curly accidentally shoots a mannequin. In their infinite wisdom, the Stooges believe they have killed a real human, and go about trying to bury the "body" in a nearby pet cemetery. Unfortunately, the cemetery's night watchman (Snub Pollard) sees the Stooges prowling around and informs cemetery owner Philip Black (Vernon Dent), who happens to be attending a masquerade party with his partners. The owner arrives at the cemetery, replete in the spookiest outfits possible, and scare the bejesus out of the Stooges.
[edit] Theme Music
Three Pests in a Mess officially replaces the driving version (completed with accordion) of "Three Blind Mice" with the syncopated, jazzy version of "Three Blind Mice" first heard in Gents Without Cents, as the Stooges' theme song. The new version is now is the key of F, while the key of G was previously utilized. The syncopated version would be used for two more films, before being replaced once again for If a Body Meets a Body. [1]
[edit] Notes
- Three Pests in a Mess is a reworking of the 1941 El Brendel comedy Ready, Willing But Unable.
- Curly's "Call for Philip Black" actually mimics the popular 'Call for Philip Morris' cigarette advertisements of the period. [1]
- A prop man dug a hole and covered it with rubber to achieve the effect of Larry sliding under the door at the cemetery. They quickly pulled him under, and filmed the shot as a speed shot.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc, 257. ISBN 0971186804.
[edit] Further reading
- Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard, (Citadel Press, 1977). ISBN 0806507233
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg (Citadel Press, 1994). ISBN 0806509465
- The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming (Broadway Publishing, 2002). ISBN 0767905563
- One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry, (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006). ISBN 1581823630
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