A Missed Fortune
| A Missed Fortune | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by |
Searle Kramer Jack White |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Vernon Dent Stanley Blystone Nanette Bordeaux Vivian Mason Suzanne Ridgeway |
| Cinematography | Fayte M. Browne |
| Edited by | Henry DeMond |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 16' 06" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Missed Fortune is the 137th 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.
Plot
Shemp wins $50,000 for accidentally guessing the correct make of a car for a radio contest. The boys check in at the Hotel Costa Plente, and quickly spend their winnings. Their suite is furnished with many expensive items, which they systematically destroy. The hotel manager (Vernon Dent) discovers the destruction when he delivers a telegram to the stooges' suite; the telegram reveals that taxes withheld from Shemp's winnings reduce the $50,000 windfall to a minuscule $4.85.
Just then, three attractive gold diggers (Nanette Bordeaux, Vivian Mason, Suzanne Ridgeway), who are also guests at the hotel, connive their way into the boys' room. After twice being accidentally drenched with ice water thrown by the boys, the girls hit the stooges over the head with champagne bottles.
Production notes
A Missed Fortune is a remake of 1938's Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb, using minimal stock footage.[1] When Shemp falls onto the top of the bed, the footage is actually Curly borrowed from Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (Curly can be heard yelling during the fall). Additionally, Larry taking a bath as well as the close-up of Moe yelling "Get this Henry the VIII off my neck!" is also stock. A slight inconsistency can be noted, as the pattern on the wood changes from shot to shot. The glue Moe accidentally pours onto his hotcakes, "Stik Fast Glue", is the same product Curly writes a slogan for in Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb.
This is the last Three Stooges film to be released during Curly Howard's lifetime. He died on January 18, 1952.
References
- ↑ Solomon, Jon. (2002) The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion, p. 398-399; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0-9711868-0-4
