Phony Express

Phony Express
Directed by Del Lord
Produced by Del Lord
Hugh McCollum
Written by Monte Collins
Elwood Ullman
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Bud Jamison
Ernie Adams
Sally Cleaves
Joel Friedkin
Snub Pollard
Chester Conklin
Victor Travers
Gwen Seager
Shirley Patterson
Cinematography John Stumar
Edited by Paul Borofsky
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • November 18, 1943
Running time
17' 09"
Country United States
Language English

Phony Express is the 75th 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 sheriff of Peaceful Gulch places a picture of the Stooges in the paper, claiming they are famous marshalls coming to rid the little town of its criminals. Despite this, the boys are almost chased out of the town after nearly poisoning the ill sheriff (Snub Pollard) who is suffering from lumbago. The sheriff finally puts them in charge of guarding the bank, which gets robbed while their backs are turned. To avoid being hanged, the Stooges search the area, with Curly in bloodhound mode. The Stooges eventually discover the stolen money, but not before almost being discovered by the main outlaw, Red (Bud Jamison).

Production notes

Phony Express was filmed on March 27-31, 1943.[1] The film title is a parody of the "Pony Express," a fast mail service that crossed the North American continent from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California from April 1860 to October 1861.[2] Some of the plot and minimal stock footage would be recycled in Merry Mavericks.[2]

This was the last Three Stooges short co-written by Monte Collins.[2]

References

  1. Pauley, Jim (2012). The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations. Solana Beach, California: Santa Monica Press, LLC. p. 202. ISBN 9781595800701.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 238. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.

External links