Debuting on May 5, 1934, exactly 90 years ago is Woman Haters featuring the debut of... The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerry Howard AKA Curly).
I'm writing about this because a few months back, TCM put a spotlight on this short. I saw it on the schedule as Woman Haters but not that it was a Three Stooges short. Curious about what this short film was about, I watched it.
When I was a kid, The Three Stooges were a ubiquitous part of my TV viewing. The Stooges' short made for cheap programming that was good for filling any holes in a TV station's schedule.
The Stooges apply to join the Woman Haters Club, swearing to never get romantically involved with any women.
That does not last very long.
Jim (Larry) finds an attractive woman, Mary (Marjorie White), falls in love, and has proposed marriage.
Women Haters Tom (Moe) and Jack (Curly) try talk him out of it.
Jim doesn't want to let the guys down but Mary's father has kind of scared him out of not going through with the wedding.
And let's face it, Jim wants to get laid.
Mary uses her feminine charm to woo both Jack and Tom in an attempt to make Jim jealous. She sings a theme ("My Life, My Love, My All") with each of the Stooges in turn, as she flirts with them.
Each is attracted to her, Boy it is hard to keep that oath they swore as Women Haters.
Finally, Mary tells Tom and Jack the truth, that Jim and she are married, and pushes her way into bed with the trio, knocking Tom and Jack out the train window in the process.
The film closes as the Stooges, now older, finally reunite at the now almost empty Woman Haters clubhouse when Jim enters and declares he wants to rejoin.
Woman Haters was the sixth entry in Columbia's "Musical Novelty" series with all dialogue delivered in rhyme. Jazz Age-style music plays throughout the entire short, with the rhymes spoken in rhythm with the music.
Curly ain't Curly yet, billed here as "Jerry Howard". Still, he gets in his first "woob-woob-woob-woob!" and "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" in this short.
The Stooges had different names in this short: Curly is "Jackie", Moe is "Tom", and Larry is "Jim".
We also get eye pokes, slaps and the first real Stooge brawl of the short films.
Woman Haters is the start of a long series of short films featuring the iconic slapstick humor of the Three Stooges. These shorts were a major success but the Stooges themselves never knew how popular they were. Whenever the Stooges tried to negotiate for more money, Columbia execs would claim they were losing money on these films and they were doing the Stooges a favor in keeping the series going. The truth was a lot of movie theaters were booking Columbia movies with the promise of including The Three Stooges in the deal.
Their treatment by Columbia was indicative of the struggles and challenges that would face the Three Stooges. Such as Curly suffering a stroke that drastically curtailed his ability to deliver the slapstick hi-jinks he was known for. Curly was replaced by Shemp who many fans considered a less favored interloper. In fact, Shemp was part of the act first and was replaced by Curly. While lacking Curly's manic mannerisms, many Stooge historians actually think Shemp was funnier.
The Stooges received more disrespect from Columbia when in an effort to save money, some shorts were cobbled together using material from earlier films.
Woman Haters was not actually the first time the Stooges were on screen. They had appeared in short films headlined by a comedian named Ted Healey. But Ted was of the mind set that he and only he was why his short films were funny and the Stooges were left to forge their own path. And they found their first top billing with Woman Haters.
So that is that for this week's Cinema Sunday.
I'll be back next week with a new full length film from Hollywood's classic era.
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