''Booby Dupes'' is a 1945

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 84th 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 fish peddlers (similar to their roles in 1940's ''

Cookoo Cavaliers ''Cookoo Cavaliers'' is a 1940 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 51st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring th ...

'') who decide to cut out the middleman by catching the fish themselves. They then go about purchasing fishermen uniforms and a boat. While searching for their wardrobe, Curly manages to swipe a navy captain's uniform from the same guy (

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil and the main antagonist and ally to The Thr ...

) whose girl (

Rebel Randall Rebel Randall (born Alaine Charlotte Dorothy Brandes, January 22, 1922 – July 22, 2010), was an American film actress and radio personality. She appeared in approximately 50 films between 1940 and 1956. Career She was a popular G.I. pin-up ...

) Curly decides to overly flirt with. After the debacle with the lady, the gents reconvene, and go about trading in their car and raising an additional $300 for a propeller boat that ends up being a "

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

." No sooner are the Stooges on the ocean when their boat starts to sink. They climb aboard their spare

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

, and signal some passing planes for help. Unfortunately, they signal using a white rag with a large red paint-splatter in the center, making it resemble the flag of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The planes overhead turn out to be bombers who believe the Stooges are Japanese, and promptly bomb the trio. Amidst the bombing, Moe creates a makeshift motor out of a propeller and Curly's victrola, and the trio make a mad dash out of there.

Production notes

Filmed on September 27–30, 1944, ''Booby Dupes'' is a partial

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the 1932

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 ...

short film '' Towed in a Hole''. In addition, the gag of a victrola acting as a car radio appeared in the duo's 1932 film ''

Busy Bodies ''Busy Bodies'' is a 1933 short comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. Plot Stan and Ollie are in high spirits as they drive in an old Model T to their new jobs at the sawmill. Laurel turns on the car radio (at the time a luxury item in newer ...

''. The title is a play on the line "boop-oop-a-doop" from the song " I Wanna Be Loved by You," made famous by singer

Helen Kane Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ...

and by the

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

cartoon character Betty Boop. This is one of a few shorts in which one of the boys call themselves "the Stooges", screamed by Moe as the bomber tries to sink their boat. This is also the final episode in the Curly era directed by

, who would direct his last episode with the Stooges in ''

Shivering Sherlocks ''Shivering Sherlocks'' is a 1948 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 104th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

'' with

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent. He is ...

, thus making it the only film he directed with Shemp as a member of the Stooges. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Stooges released a handful of comedies that engaged in

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

against the then-enemy Japanese, including ''

Spook Louder ''Spook Louder'' is a 1943 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 69th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the come ...

'', ''

No Dough Boys ''No Dough Boys'' is a 1944 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 82nd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring th ...

'', ''Booby Dupes'', and ''

The Yoke's on Me ''The Yoke's on Me'' is a 1944 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 79th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

''.

's mannerisms and reactions had been starting to slow down. In ''Booby Dupes'', his condition varies; he is in top form at the beginning and end of the film, but appears somewhat sluggish during the middle sequence involving his stealing navy Capt. Vernon Dent's uniform and flirting with girlfriend Rebel Randall.

References

External links

* *
''Booby Dupes'' at threestooges.net
{{The Three Stooges 1945 films Columbia Pictures short films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Del Lord 1945 comedy films 1945 short films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films