''Crime on Their Hands'' is a 1948

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

Edward Bernds Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur li ...

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 ...

). It is the 112th 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 janitors at a newspaper who stumble on a hot story about the priceless Punjab diamond being stolen from the museum by an evil crook named Dapper Malone ( Kenneth MacDonald). With dreams of becoming genuine reporters, the trio head for Squid McGuffy's cafe asking for the whereabouts of Dapper. They manage to convince everyone at the restaurant that they are actually police. While searching several rooms above the cafe, the Stooges stumble on Dapper's moll, Bee (

Christine McIntyre Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911 – July 8, 1984) was an American actress and singer who appeared in various films in the 1930s and 1940s. She is mainly remembered as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many of The Three St ...

), who hastily hides the Punjab diamond in a candy dish. The boys refuse to leave, suspecting Dapper will eventually show his face. While killing time, Shemp starts to flirt with the moll, and manages to swallow the ice along with some mints from the candy dish. The gal nearly has a nervous breakdown but quickly discovers the Stooges are nothing more than reporters. She calls in Dapper and his henchman Muscles (

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 ...

) and frantically try to pry the diamond out of frazzled Shemp. After all else fails, Dapper decides to cut him open by performing some surgery on Shemp in the office. Moe and Larry are locked in a closet by Muscles while Shemp is tied down on a close by desk-turned-operating table. As luck would have it, there happens to be a bag of tools in the closet, which Moe and Larry use to saw their way out of the closet, and right into a gorilla named Harold's cage on the other side of the wall. The gorilla knocks Dapper and Muscles cold. The beast, however, befriends and saves Shemp, and helps him cough up the diamond.

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Shemp * Kenneth MacDonald as Dapper Malone *

as Bee * George C. Wilson as J. L. Cameron *

Lester Allen Lester Allen (November 17, 1891 – November 6, 1949) was a screen, stage, vaudeville, circus actor, and film director. In vaudeville, he appeared in a double act with Nellie Breen and also emceed at the Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace ...

as Runty

Uncredited

as Muscles *

Ray "Crash" Corrigan Ray "Crash" Corrigan (born Raymond Benitz; February 14, 1902 – August 10, 1976) was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B-Western movies (among these the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters film series). He also was a ...

as Harold the gorilla * George Lloyd as Squid McGuffey *

Jimmy Aubrey Jimmy Aubrey (23 October 1887 – 2 September 1983) was an English actor who worked with both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, having gone with Fred Karno's theatrical company to America in 1908. However he left to start on his own in v ...

as Hawkins *

Heinie Conklin Heinie Conklin (born Charles John Conklin; July 16, 1880July 30, 1959) was an American actor and comedian whose career began in the silent film era. Early years Conklin was born Charles John Conklin on July 16, 1880, in San Francisco, Califor ...

as Bartender *

Blackie Whiteford John Penman "Blackie" Whiteford (April 27, 1889 – March 21, 1962) was an American film actor. Biography In 1903, Whiteford was a seaman between jobs when he was offered a chance to work on '' The Great Train Robbery'' film. That opportuni ...

as Seaman *

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 Barfly

Production notes

''Crime on Their Hands'' was filmed on September 9–12, 1947.''Crime on Their Hands'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The title ''Crime on Their Hands'' is a parody of the expression "time on their hands." The press room scene was recycled in 1956's ''

Commotion on the Ocean ''Commotion on the Ocean'' is a 1956 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard in his final starring role). It is the 174th entry in the series release ...

'', while the remaining portion of ''Crime on Their Hands'' was utilized in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

's ''

Hot Ice Sodium acetate, CH3COONa, also abbreviated Na O Ac, is the sodium salt of acetic acid. This colorless deliquescent salt has a wide range of uses. Applications Biotechnological Sodium acetate is used as the carbon source for culturing bacteria ...

''. It is a partial remake of the 1942

Andy Clyde Andrew Allan Clyde (March 25, 1892 – May 18, 1967) was a Scottish-born American film and television actor whose career spanned more than four decades. In 1921 he broke into silent films as a Mack Sennett comic, debuting in ''On a Summer ...

short ''All Work and No Pay''. ''Crime on Their Hands'' marked the final appearance of longtime Stooge supporting actor

. Drafted into the Marines during World War II, Cy Schindell developed a severe case of Tropical ulcer, jungle rot while on Guadalcanal, which eventually developed into terminal cancer. Knowing he was dying, Schindell worked constantly during his illness to assure his family would be financially secure after his death. Excessive makeup was used during the filming of ''Crime on Their Hands'' to mask Schindell's cancer-ridden face. Crime on Their Hands was reworked from 1944's Step Lively (1944 film), Step Lively starring George Murphy and Frank Sinatra, which in itself was a remake of Room Service (1938 film), Room Service with The Marx Brothers. (they left MGM for signed RKO), both were release by RKO,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crime On Their Hands 1948 films The Three Stooges films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Edward Bernds 1948 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films American comedy films 1940s American films