''Hula-La-La'' is a 1951

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

Hugh McCollum Hugh McCollum (March 9, 1900March 16, 1968) was an American film producer best known for his credits on Three Stooges short subject comedies. Career McCollum was born in the Philadelphia suburb of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He attended the Epi ...

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 135th 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 choreographers at B. O. Pictures who are assigned to teach island natives how to dance. The studio's president, Mr. Baines (

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 ...

) has purchased the fictional Pacific island of Rarabonga (parody of

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

, one of the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

) for his next musical extravaganza, but learns that the local natives have never heard of dancing. When the Stooges arrive at Rarabonga, they soon learn that the natives are cannibalistic head hunters under the control of a powerful evil

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...

named Varanu ( Kenneth MacDonald) who collects Shrunken human heads. Shemp makes it clear he does not want the "hair cuts down to my neck!" and the Stooges try to flee with the help of the Tribe King's daughter Luana (

Jean Willes Jean Willes (born Jean Donahue; April 15, 1923 – January 3, 1989) was an American film and television actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films in her 38-year career. Early years Willes was born Jean Donahue In Los Angeles. She spent pa ...

). She wants them to rescue her boyfriend from the witch doctor, who plans to behead him in the morning—along with the Stooges. In one of the huts, the Three Stooges try to get their hands on a box of surplus

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 ...

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s guarded by a living

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

type four-armed totem idol (Lei Aloha). After getting the daylights beat out of them by the fierce idol, the boys grab the box of grenades, and fool the Witch Doctor into proving his expertise with his sword by slicing the box of grenades with his huge sword, and the grenades promptly explode, blowing him out of the atmosphere. With Witch Doctor Varanu gone, the Stooges commence with their choreography lessons and teach the natives to dance.

Cast

as Shemp *

as Larry *

as Moe *

as Luana * Kenneth MacDonald as Varanu, Witch Doctor *

as Mr. Baines * Joy Windsor as Kiwana

Production

''Hula-La-La'' was filmed on May 25–29, 1951. It was the only Three Stooges film directed by producer Hugh McCollum, who gave the medium a shot while

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 ...

was busy directing feature films. Bernds described McCollum's directing style as "gentle and tasteful", like McCollum himself. However, film author

Ted Okuda Ted Okuda (born December 8, 1953) is an American non-fiction author and film historian. He has many books and magazine features to his credit, under his own name and in collaboration with others. Career Okuda's long-held interest in movie comedies ...

believed this hurt his films, not allowing them to reach their full potential. ''Hula-La-La'' was cited as an example of suffering from moments of restraint, resulting in several scenes lacking their comedic punch. The standard "

Three Blind Mice "Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...

" theme is replaced during the end titles with a hula composition entitled "Lu-Lu." The tune was written by Columbia Pictures composers Ross DiMaggio and Nico Grigor.

References

External links

* * {{The Three Stooges 1951 films 1951 comedy films 1951 short films The Three Stooges films Films set on fictional islands American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures short films American comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Films about witch doctors