Heavenly Daze

Heavenly Daze
Directed by Jules White
Produced by Jules White
Written by Zion Myers
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Shemp Howard
Vernon Dent
Sam McDaniel
Victor Travers
Symona Boniface
Marti Sheldon
Judy Malcolm
Cinematography Allen Siegler
Edited by Edwin Bryant
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • September 2, 1948 (1948-09-02) (U.S.)
Running time
 16:47
Country United States
Language English

Heavenly Daze is the 109th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1948 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

Shemp has died and is in Heaven, talking with his Uncle Mortimer (Moe, dressed to resemble Moses). Mortimer is on the phone checking to see if Shemp will remain in Heaven or Hell, and it does not look good. Furthermore, it comes to light that cousins Moe and Larry have also not been on their best behavior. Seeing this as an opportunity for his deceased nephew, Uncle Mortimer gives Shemp the chance to reform Moe and Larry from their evil ways so he can gain entry to Heaven. The catch is that Shemp cannot be seen nor heard by anyone on Earth, much to his delight.

Back on Earth, Moe and Larry are crying their eyes out while attending the reading of Shemp's will with their attorney, I. Fleecem (Vernon Dent). Seems that Shemp has left behind a grand total of $140, which is $10 less than Fleecem's fee of $150 (a rip-off as Fleecem himself admits any other lawyer would take the case for $20). The boys grumble about not having much dough, but invisible Shemp swipes the money back from Fleecem, putting it in Moe and Larry's pockets. When they realize money has magically reappeared, they get spooked, and then remember Shemp saying he would come back to haunt them. They brush this off, but do not completely clear their heads of Shemp's ghostly presence.

Afterwards, Moe and Larry rent a luxury apartment, complete with butler Spiffingham (Sam McDaniel), and rent tuxedos. The boys have a grand scheme that involves the conning of wealthy couple the DePuysters (Victor Travers and Symona Boniface) into buying a fountain pen that will write under whipped cream.

Shemp enters the luxurious apartment and terrorises Spiffingham the Butler into leaving. He then smacks Moe and Larry to let them know he is there. Though their butler has run off, Moe and Larry remain, but frightened. The DePuysters show up, and promptly receive dollops of cream in their face when Shemp turns the mixer to "high." After the mixer catches fire, Shemp begins yelling. A few moments later, he awakes, realizing this was all a dream, but then, to his horror, he discovers that the bed is on fire from a cigarette he was smoking. After putting out the fire, Shemp tells his cousins his dream of how they invented a fountain pen that writes under whipped cream; Moe hits him with a cream pie-and Larry gives him a pen and tells Shemp to write himself a letter ("Dear Ma...").

Production notes

In the 1940s the supernatural was a popular fantasy film genre of the departed coming back to assist the living such as Here Comes Mr Jordan, A Matter of Life and Death, Wonder Man, and Columbia's Mr. Jordan sequel Down to Earth. The Tom and Jerry series also reworked parts of Heavenly Daze the following year in Heavenly Puss.

Larry asks why anyone would want a fountain pen that would write under whipped cream. Moe responds that people might be in a desert where they would not be able to write under water. This refers to the first ball point pen being introduced by Milton Reynolds in 1945 that was a bestseller. It was sold for $10 with the slogan "It writes under water."[1]

A gag in the film's script called for a fountain pen to be thrown into the middle of Larry's forehead. The pen was to be thrown on a wire and into a small hole in a tin plate fastened to Larry's head. However, due to a miscalculation on the part of the special effects department, the sharp pen point punctured Larry's skin, leaving a gash in his forehead. Moe later chased director Jules White around the set because White had promised that the gag would be harmless.[2]

Heavenly Daze was reworked in 1955 as Bedlam In Paradise, using ample stock footage.[3] The title is a play on "heavenly days," a popular catch-phrase from radio program Fibber McGee and Molly.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Pen History
  2. ↑ Maurer, Joan Howard; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (2012) [1982]. The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Citadel Press. p. 253. ISBN 0-8065-0946-5.
  3. ↑ Solomon, Jon (2000). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
  4. ↑ http://threestooges.net/episode.php?id=109
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