Flagpole Jitters
| Flagpole Jitters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by |
Felix Adler Jack White |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Barbara Bartay Frank Sully Beverly Thomas Bonnie Menjum Mary Ainslee David Bond Vernon Dent |
| Cinematography | Irving Lippman |
| Edited by | Harold White |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | April 5, 1956 |
Running time | 15' 15" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Flagpole Jitters is the 169th 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
The Stooges are three paperhangers who also look after invalid Mary, who uses a wheelchair. While working, they are taken by one poster that advertises a great hypnotist, Svengarlic ("He'll steal your breath away!" the poster announces). The Stooges want the hypnotist to work his magic on Mary so that she can walk again, but Svengarlic is more interested in winning an audience to create a diversion by hypnotizing the Stooges.
While the audience watches the Stooges dance on an overhead flagpole, Svengarlic's henchmen are in the process of robbing a bank. But a distracted bicyclist knocks Svengarlic over and the Stooges are abruptly awakened. They immediately panic when they see where they are, then the flagpole breaks, sending them flying through the open window of the bank being robbed, thwarting the theft.
Production notes
Flagpole Jitters is a reworking of 1949's Hokus Pokus using ample stock footage from the original. The films have different endings: Mary is actually paraplegic here, whereas in the original she was a fraud. In Flagpole Jitters, Svengarlic is the fraud.[1]
The Stooges make a reference to Sing Sing Correctional Facility, in which Shemp believes he has hypnotized Moe into thinking he is locked up in the infamous prison.[1]
The character name Svengarlic is a parody of Svengali, the name of a fictional character in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 471. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
