''Blunder Boys'' is a 1955

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

Jules White Jules White (born Julius Weiss; hu, Weisz Gyula; 17 September 190030 April 1985) was a Hungarian-American film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring The Three Stooges Early years White began working in mo ...

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 ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 166th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

After serving in the army, the Stooges decide to go to college and major in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

. Graduating with the lowest possible honors, the boys join the police force and are assigned to search for a bandit called the Eel ( Benny Rubin) who is going to rob the Biltless Hotel. They go to the hotel, but fail to catch the criminal or retrieve the money he stole. As a result, they are booted off the force and end up as ditch diggers.

Cast

Credited

* Moe Howard as Halliday * Larry Fine as Terriday * Shemp Howard as Saint Patrick's Day/

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

/ Christmas Day/

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

* Benny Rubin as The Eel * Angela Stevens as Alma Matter * Kenneth MacDonald as F. B. Eye

Uncredited

* Frank Sully as Watts D. Matter *

Al Thompson Al Thompson (September 21, 1884 – March 1, 1960) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 170 films between 1916 and 1958. Well known in the industry for performing the more difficult stunts, he kept busy as a stunt doubl ...

as Desk clerk *

Barbara Bartay Vari Komp (19 March 1921 – 20 August 1986), known professionally as Barbara Bartay, was a Czech-American film actress. She appeared in several short films at Columbia Pictures between 1951 and 1956. Career Bartay was born in Bohemia, Crochw ...

as Beautician * Johnny Kascier as Room service waiter/Moe and Shemp's stand-in * Bonnie Henjum as Woman in swimsuit * Barbara Donaldson as Turkish bath tanner * Marjorie Jackson as Turkish bath brunette * June Lebow as Turkish bath blonde

Production notes

''Blunder Boys'' was the last Stooge film featuring Shemp Howard that was not a remake. In addition, it would also be the last film released during his lifetime; Shemp died of a heart attack 19 days later after its release.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 464; Comedy III Productions, Inc., Filming was completed on January 24–26, 1955.''Blunder Boys'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The premise of ''Blunder Boys'' is a parody of the television series '' Dragnet''. The ending was also a parody of the company that ran Dragnet, ( Mark VII Limited); Moe stamps the logo, "VII 1/2 The End", on Larry's head in a similar fashion to how it is done in the logo. Of his 16 appearances with the Stooges, ''Blunder Boys'' marks the only time Kenneth MacDonald was not cast as the team's

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

. ''Blunder Boys'' was the last Stooges film to feature new footage of long-time supporting actor

References

External links

* *
''Blunder Boys'' at threestooges.net
1955 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jules White 1955 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American comedy films {{short-comedy-film-stub