''Commotion on the Ocean'' is a 1956

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

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 ...

in his final starring role). It is the 174th 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 play janitors who work at a newspaper office, begging to be given a chance to become reporters. The managing editor ( Charles C. Wilson) promises to think about it over dinner. The phone rings while he is out and Moe answers. The person on the other end is one of the boss's reporters, Smitty (

Emil Sitka Emil Sitka (December 22, 1914January 16, 1998) was a veteran American actor, who appeared in hundreds of movies, short films, and television shows, and is best known for his numerous appearances with The Three Stooges. He is one of only two acto ...

), who relays a scoop to Moe that some important documents have been stolen by foreign spies. Coincidentally, the spy with the microfilmed documents, Mr. Borscht (

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known profesionally as Gene Roth, was an American film actor and film manager. Early years Roth was born in Redfield, South Dakota. He was the son of a German father and ...

) lives next door to the Stooges. He and the boys wind up as stowaways on an ocean liner. Stranded on a freighter on the high seas, and sustained by eating

salami Salami ( ) is a cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 days ...

, the boys eventually overtake Borscht, recover the microfilm, and are thrilled with their newspaper scoop.

Cast

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Shemp (stock footage) (final film role) **

Joe Palma Joe Palma (born Joseph Provenzano; March 17, 1905 – August 14, 1994) was an American film actor. Palma appeared in over 120 films between 1937 and 1968. He was well known as a supporting player for The Three Stooges and his brief tenure ...

as Shemp (new footage) (obstruting his face) (uncredited) *

as Borscht *

as Smitty *

Harriette Tarler Harriette Tarler (November 4, 1920November 18, 2001) was an American film actress. Born in New York, New York, Tarler appeared in over 15 films between 1956 and 1959. Career Tarler is best known for her prominent work in many late Three Stooges ...

as Emma Blake * Charles C. Wilson as J. L. Cameron (stock footage)

Production notes

''Commotion on the Ocean'' is a

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 1949's '' Dunked in the Deep'', using ample

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

. In addition, the newspaper room scenes were borrowed from 1948's ''

Crime on Their Hands ''Crime on Their Hands'' is a 1948 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 112th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starr ...

''. ''Commotion on the Ocean'' was the last of four shorts filmed in the wake of

's death using earlier footage and a

stand-in A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and television production. Stand-ins a ...

. It marked the final film to feature Shemp as a stooge. He would be replaced by

Joe Besser Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957� ...

. The film's plot device of hiding microfilm in watermelons is an allusion to an actual event that occurred in 1948. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine's managing editor

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

, a former Communist spy-turned government informer, accused

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...

of being a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and a spy for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In presenting evidence against Hiss, Chambers produced the ''

Pumpkin Papers The Pumpkin Papers are a set of typewritten, handwritten, and microfilmed documents, stolen from the US federal government (thus information leaks) by members of the Ware Group and other Soviet spy networks in Washington, DC, during 1937-1938, wi ...

'': five rolls of microfilm of

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

documents, which Chambers had concealed in a hollowed-out pumpkin on his

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

farm.

"Fake Shemp"

As Shemp Howard had already died, for his last four films (''

Rumpus in the Harem ''Rumpus in the Harem'' is a 1956 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 171st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

'', '' Hot Stuff'', ''

Scheming Schemers ''Scheming Schemers'' is a 1956 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 173rd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starrin ...

'' and ''Commotion on the Ocean''), Columbia utilized supporting actor

to be Shemp's double. Even though the last four shorts were remakes of earlier Shemp efforts, Palma's services were needed to link what few new scenes were filmed to the older

.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 481; Comedy III Productions, Inc., For ''Commotion on the Ocean'', Palma appears in one new shot during the newspaper office scene. After Larry says, "Oh, I know Smitty: 'Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smitty stands, Moe slaps him. Palma gets involved in the slapstick exchange and shields himself in defense, obstructing his face. All other new footage consists of Moe and Larry working as a duo, often discussing Shemp's absence aloud: *Moe: "I wonder what became of that Shemp?" *Larry: "You know he went up on deck to scout for some food. "Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). ''The Three Stooges Scrapbook'', p. 263, Citadel Press. This leads into the short's only new sequence. Moe and Larry attempt to steal a female passenger's fish dinner; but end up attempting to eat a taxidermy fish; with disastrous results. This new footage was shot on January 17, 1956, six weeks after Shemp's death and one day after the previous film, ''

''.

Quotes

*Larry: "You can take my word for it; when it comes to fish, I'm a common-sewer!"

References

External links

* *
''Commotion on the Ocean'' at threestooges.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commotion on the Ocean 1956 films Columbia Pictures short films 1950s spy comedy films 1950s comedy mystery films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films The Three Stooges film remakes American slapstick comedy films American comedy thriller films American spy comedy films American comedy mystery films Films directed by Jules White Remakes of American films 1956 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films