''A Gem of a Jam'' is a 1943

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by

Del Lord Delmer "Del" Lord (October 7, 1894March 23, 1970) was a Canadians, 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 the ...

starring American

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

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 76th 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 janitors in a doctor's office working the night shift. The usual antics occur, first with Moe getting an electrical shock down his pants, leading to a cossack dance. Then, Curly gets his head wedged inside a fish bowl, containing a live fish. Though Moe and Larry eventually slide the bowl off, Curly starts to feel the swallowed fish tickling his insides. Moe manages to fish the aquatic critter out of Curly. Outside, a crook on the lam is shot in the arm while trying to make a getaway after a robbery. The thugs bring their hurt leader ( John Tyrrell) up to the Stooges, thinking the doctor's office is open for business. The boys play doctor and promptly anesthetize the wounded crook with a rubber mallet. Then, the wounded crook slides off the

gurney A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

and out the window while the Stooges' backs are turned. As luck would have it, the crook lands right into a police car waiting below at street level. The other crooks flee when they see the Stooges mangled the situation, only to be captured by the policemen. The trio, meanwhile, take cover in a spooky storage area, replete with a huge jack-in-the-box, and a scared night watchman (

Dudley Dickerson Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr. (November 27, 1906September 23, 1968) was an American film actor. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952, and is best remembered for his roles in several Three Stooges films ...

). Curly is so terrified that he stumbles into a trough filled with fast-drying plaster, making him virtually immobile. As a consequence, the poor, ghostly-looking Stooge ends up scaring all involved.

Production notes

''A Gem of a Jam'' was filmed on June 12–16, 1943.''A Gem of a Jam'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The Stooges released more short subjects in 1943 than any other year at Columbia Pictures, ''A Gem of a Jam'' being the tenth entry. The gag of Curly stepping out of a trough appearing as a ghost first appeared in the 1934

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

film ''

The Live Ghost ''The Live Ghost'' is a 1934 American comedy short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by Charles Rogers and produced by Hal Roach. A copy of this film is held by the Library of Congress. Plot A gruff sea captain ( Walter Long) enlists fi ...

''. When the night watchman (

) backs into the

mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...

, he shouts, "I'm losing my mind!" This line, however, has been muted for television broadcasts and home video releases.

References

External links

* *
''A Gem of a Jam'' at threestooges.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gem Of A Jam, A 1943 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Del Lord 1943 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1943 short films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films