''A Pain in the Pullman'' is a 1936 short subject directed by Preston Black 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 16th 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 small-time actors traveling by

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

to an engagement—and fleeing the landlady for their unpaid rent. They are told to put their pet monkey, Joe, in the baggage car, but are afraid he will get hurt. The baggage car door closes before they can get Joe in there, so they sneak Joe onto the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

train with them. Joe eventually gets loose, and they have a hard time finding him and also getting up to their berth. They wind up making a lot of noises, and annoying all of the train's passengers, including Paul Payne ( James C. Morton) and Mr. Johnson, the stage manager and boss (

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

), the latter of which routinely hits his head on the upper berth upon awakening. Ultimately, a terrified Joe pulls the train's emergency cord, abruptly stopping the train in the process. And so the angry passengers, Paul Payne, Mr. Johnson and the angry conductor (

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 ...

) then forcibly threw the Stooges from the train and they hobble away into the night on three cows because they were fired for making a lot of noises and for bringing their pet monkey onto the train.

Production notes

''A Pain in the Pullman'' is the longest short film the Stooges made at Columbia Pictures, running at 19 minutes, 46 seconds; the shortest is ''

Sappy Bull Fighters ''Sappy Bull Fighters'' is a 1959 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser in his final starring role). It is the 190th and final entry in the series re ...

'', running at 15 minutes, 19 seconds. Filming was completed between April 29 and May 4, 1936. This is the first short in which Moe, Larry, and Curly are actually referred to as "The Three Stooges" in the dialogue. The closing shot of the Stooges leaping over a bush, and landing on a trio of bucking

steer Steer, Steers or Steering may refer to: Animals * Steer or bullock, castrated male cattle * Ox, a steer used as a draft animal People * Steer (surname) * Steers (surname) Places * Steer Creek (West Virginia), a tributary of the Little ...

s was reused at the end of ''

A Ducking They Did Go ''A Ducking They Did Go'' is a 1939 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 38th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

''. The same gag was used in the end of ''

The Ren and Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

'' episode "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" (show creator John Kricfalusi was apparently a big fan of the Three Stooges, using a good number of Stooge gags as part of his tenure with Ren and Stimpy; the character of Stimpy is himself based on Larry). The plot device of performers traveling via rail and enduring sleeping hardships was previously used by Laurel and Hardy in 1929's ''

Berth Marks ''Berth Marks'' is the second sound film starring Laurel and Hardy, released on June 1, 1929. Plot Stan and Ollie are musicians who are traveling by train to their next gig in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a popular vaudeville performance location ...

''. Female comedy team ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd also borrowed the plot device for their 1932 short ''Show Business'' (directed by Jules White).

Gus Schilling August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films � ...

and Richard Lane remade the film in 1947 as ''Training for Trouble''. The name "Johnson" was shouted a total number of 10 times.

Shellfish

had fond memories of filming ''A Pain in the Pullman''. In his autobiography ''

Moe Howard and the Three Stooges ''Moe Howard and the Three Stooges'' is the autobiography of Moe Howard of The Three Stooges. He spent his final days writing his autobiography, which he tentatively titled ''I Stooged to Conquer''. However, Howard fell ill with lung cancer in ...

'', he specifically recalled his intense dislike for shellfish, and how brother

cut the inside of his mouth eating the shells from a

Dungeness crab The Dungeness crab (''Metacarcinus magister'') is a species of crab inhabiting eelgrass beds and water bottoms along the west coast of North America. It typically grows to across the carapace and is a popular seafood. Its common name comes f ...

References

External links

* *
''A Pain in the Pullman'' at threestooges.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pain In The Pullman 1936 films 1936 comedy films American black-and-white films Rail transport films Fiction about rail transport The Three Stooges films Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films