''3 Dumb Clucks'' is a 1937 short subject directed by

Del Lord Delmer "Del" Lord (October 7, 1894March 23, 1970) was a Canadian film director and actor best known as a director of Three Stooges films. Career Delmer Lord was born in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario, Canada. Interested in the theatre, he t ...

starring American slapstick comedy team

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

(

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges. Early life Fine was born to a Russian Je ...

and

Curly Howard Jerome Lester Horwitz (; October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), known professionally as Curly Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the American comedy team the Three Stooges, which also featured his elder ...

). It is the 22nd entry in the series released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges are in jail when their mother sends them a letter. The letter states that their father (Curly Howard, playing both himself and his father) has just become rich via an oil well, has left their mother, and that very same day is going to marry a young, gold-digging blonde named Daisy (

Lucille Lund Lucille may refer to: People People with the given name "Lucille": * Lucille Bailie (born 1969), Australian basketball player * Lucille Ball (1911–1989), American actress best known for the television series ''I Love Lucy'' * Lucille Berrien (b ...

). The Stooges break out of jail and set off to try to stop the wedding. But since Curly and his father look exactly alike, Daisy ends up marrying the wrong man. The Stooges manage to escape the clutches of the criminals trying to kill them for their father's oil money, and rescue their father. With that they drag the unconscious father back to their mom.

Cast

as Curly and Pop Howard (as Curly) *

as Larry *

as Moe * Frank Austin as Prison Guard (uncredited) *

Lynton Brent Lynton Wright Brent (August 2, 1897 – July 2, 1981) was an American film actor and a writer. He appeared in over 240 films between 1930 and 1950. Brent is best known for his prolific work with Columbia Pictures in the Three Stooges shor ...

as Hat Salesman (uncredited) *

Lew Davis Louis Davis (July 16, 1884—January 13, 1948) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 75 films between 1916 and 1948. Career A New York native, Davis appeared in his first film in 1916. He began to achieve fame after arriving at Columb ...

as Wedding Guest (uncredited) *

Charles Dorety Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

as Wedding Guest (uncredited) *

Eddie Laughton Eddie Laughton (20 June 190321 March 1952) was an American film actor. Laughton appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1952, and is best known for his work with The Three Stooges. Career Laughton's family immigrated to the United State ...

as Chopper's Henchman (uncredited) *

as Daisy (uncredited)

Production notes

Filming for ''3 Dumb Clucks'' commenced between February 1 and 5, 1937. It is a send-up of the feature film ''

Three Smart Girls ''Three Smart Girls'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Barbara Read, Nan Grey, Deanna Durbin (her feature film debut), and Ray Milland. The film's screenplay was written by Adele Comandini and Austin P ...

''. This is the third of sixteen Stooge shorts using the word "three" in the title, however, ''3 Dumb Clucks'' is the only one to use the numeral "3". It was reworked in 1953 as '' Up in Daisy's Penthouse'', using minimal stock footage from the original. During the scene where Curly's father arrives for his wedding, two of the gold digger's henchmen dispose of him by throwing him down an elevator shaft. The prop men had padded the bottom of the shaft to cushion Curly's fall, but neglected to cover a protruding panel. Curly was thrown down the shaft quickly, and landed head-first on the panel, tearing his scalp open. As the Stooges were workhorses at Columbia Pictures, Curly was not taken to the hospital. Instead, the studio

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

was rushed to the set to apply several stitches to Curly's scalp. Some fresh hair was glued over the wound, and with a healthy dose of painkillers, the slightly wobbly Stooge was back in action within a few hours.Howard, Moe. (1977, rev. 1979) ''Moe Howard and the Three Stooges'', p. 101; Citadel Press.

References

External links

* *
''3 Dumb Clucks''
a
threestooges.net
{{The Three Stooges 1937 films Columbia Pictures short films The Three Stooges films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films American slapstick comedy films 1937 comedy films Films directed by Del Lord 1930s American films