Loco Boy Makes Good
| Loco Boy Makes Good | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by |
Felix Adler Clyde Bruckman |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent John Tyrrell Dorothy Appleby Symona Boniface Bud Jamison Eddie Laughton Heinie Conklin |
| Cinematography | John Stumar |
| Edited by | Jerome Thoms |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 17' 24" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Loco Boy Makes Good is the 60th 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 thrown out of their apartment (literally) and the Landlord will not allow them to get their belongings until they pay 8 months of back rent. Desperate to make money Moe reads an article in the newspaper about a man who slipped on a bar of soap in a hotel lobby and successfully sued the hotel. The Stooges find a bar of soap in the street and arrived at a hotel in an attempt to stage an accidental slip and sue. Before carrying out their plan the Stooges find out the hotel is run by an old lady who is about to lose the hotel to the landlord as she owes him money and can't attract new customers because the hotel is run down and she can't afford the repairs. The trio then decide to help her fix up the place and start by beating up the landlord and stealing his watch and the small amount of money the lady just paid him.
After their usual antics in renovating the place, the hotel is ready for the grand re-opening. The boys put on a big show with famous critic Waldo Twitchell in attendance. Their corny act goes over poorly until Curly accidentally puts on a magician's coat and becomes a sensation and the place is a success.
Production notes
Filming for Loco Boy Makes Good took place from July 29 to August 1, 1941.[1] However, it did not appear in theatres until January 1942, the first Stooges short to be released after the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
Loco Boy Makes Good is filled with parodies and timely references. The title itself parodies the expression "Local Boy Makes Good," a generic small-town newspaper headline about a local citizen who has achieved a major accomplishment.[2] Loco is Spanish for "crazy." In addition, the character name "Waldo Twitchell" is pun of the name Walter Winchell.[2]
The Stooges' act is billed as "Nill, Null & Void: Three Hams Who Lay Their Own Eggs, appearing in the Kokonuts Grove." The "Kokonuts Grove" is a reference to the Cocoanut Grove, later the site of the deadly 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.[2]
Controversy
In March 1946, four years after the release of Loco Boy Makes Good, silent film star Harold Lloyd filed a $500,000 suit ($7,241,344 today) against Columbia Pictures for violation of copyright. The court found the script for Lloyd's 1932 film Movie Crazy, which Clyde Bruckman had directed, virtually identical with Bruckman's script for Loco Boy Makes Good. Columbia lost the suit. Universal Pictures was later sued for similar violations in several Bruckman scripts, costing them several million dollars in damages.[2]
Quotes
- Curly: (storming to the dressing room) "How do ya like that?! Hittin' me with a tomato! And Major Bowes said I had talent!"
- Balbo: (chuckles) "A tomato, 'uh?"
- Curly: "Yeah, a cowardly tomato, one that hits you and runs!"
- Patron: "Excuse me, waiter, do you have pâté de fois gras?"
- Larry: (confused) "...I'll see if the band can play it."
References
- ↑ Pauley, Jim (2012). The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations. Solana Beach, California: Santa Monica Press, LLC. p. 152. ISBN 9781595800701.
- 1 2 3 4 Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Glendale, California: Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 205. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
