''Calling All Curs'' is a 1939

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 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 41st 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 skilled

veterinarians A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

at a pet hospital who are the proud surgeons of Garçon, a prized poodle of socialite Mrs. Bedford (

Isabelle LaMal Isabelle LaMal (July 16, 1886 – July 20, 1952) was an American film actress. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, she appeared in over 95 films between 1928 and 1951. LaMal is best known for her appearance as Mrs. Bedford, socialite owner of pr ...

). After successfully removing a thorn from his paw, the Stooges entertain two men reporters (

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 ...

Cy Schindell Seymour "Cy" Schindell (March 4, 1907 – August 24, 1948) was an American actor. He appeared in 37 Three Stooges short subjects, mostly as a heavy, though he was never credited in any Stooge shorts. Career Brooklyn-born Schindell was born Seym ...

) from ''The Daily Star'' looking to write a feature story about the team's clinic. While enjoying a dinner of bones and dog biscuits with fellow pup patients, Garçon goes missing with a note left behind by the faux reporters demanding a $2,000 ransom and telling her not to contact the authorities, or she'll never see it again and it turns out that the two men are actually evil dognapping criminals. The boys frantically try to trick Mrs. Bedford by disguising a mutt as Garçon. However, when Mrs. Bedford's maid (Libby Taylor), who is frightened of dogs, accidentally vacuums a clump of glued-on fur off the mutt's shaggy coat, Mrs. Bedford threatens to throw the Stooges in jail. Desperate, the trio use the mutt as a bloodhound to track down the dognappers. A fight ensues when they discover the enemies' hideout, with the Stooges emerging victorious. The Stooges, also, discover that Garcon gave birth to a litter of puppies.

Production notes

Filmed on December 27–30, 1938, the title ''Calling All Curs'' is a pun on the phrase " Calling all cars!"Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 105; Comedy III Productions, Inc., A

colorized Film colorization (American English; or colourisation [British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia tone, sepia, or other monochrome moving-pi ...

version of this film was released in 2006 as part of the DVD collection entitled "Stooges on the Run."Stooges on the Run
/ref> Garçon gives birth at the end of the short, and is referred to by feminine pronouns throughout. Garçon is French for “boy.” This marks one of the few times the Stooges have respectable, professional careers as opposed to working as blue-collar laborers. This was one of Curly Howard's favorite Stooge films as he was a well-known dog lover. Footage was reused in the 1960 compilation feature film ''

Stop! Look! and Laugh! ''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' is a 1960 feature-length Three Stooges compilation featuring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard. Eleven of the Stooges shorts were shown and bridged together with segments featuring Paul Winchell and his dummies, ...

Quotes

*Moe ''(to the Garçon in disguise)'': "Listen, bloodhound! If you got any 'blood' in you, you'd better start pointing and point out those dognappers! Get the point?!" *Curly: "Hmmm, n'yuk, n'yuk n'yuk. He must be a Pointsetter." ''(referring to the

Poinsettia The poinsettia ( or ) (''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834 ...

flower)'' also "I'm trying to think but nothing happens!" *Moe: "Quiet, you hot air-dale!" ''(referring to an

Airedale Terrier The Airedale Terrier (often shortened to "Airedale"), also called Bingley Terrier and Waterside Terrier, is a dog breed of the terrier type that originated in the valley (''dale'') of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It ...

and making a pun on the phrase "hot air" as in "empty talk intended to impress")''

References

External links

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''Calling All Curs''
a
threestooges.net
{{The Three Stooges 1939 films The Three Stooges films Columbia Pictures short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jules White 1939 comedy films American slapstick comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films