''Idle Roomers'' is a 1944 short subject directed by

Del Lord Delmer "Del" Lord (October 7, 1894March 23, 1970) was a Canadian film director and actor best known as a director of Three Stooges films. Career Delmer Lord was born in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario, Canada. Interested in the theatre, he t ...

starring American slapstick 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 80th 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 bellhops at Hotel Snazzy Plaza, and pound each other in order to get some face time with an attractive woman ( Christine McIntyre, in her debut appearance with the team). Unfortunately, she has an evil mean-tempered husband (

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil and the main antagonist and ally to The Thr ...

) who happens to excel in knife throwing. The husband is also secretly importing Lupe the Wolf Man (

Duke York Duke York ( Charles Everest Sinsabaugh; October 17, 1908January 24, 1952), was an American film actor and stuntman who appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952. He was also known as Duke Owl. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd ...

) who goes berserk when he hears music. Later on, when Curly is cleaning their room, he snaps on the radio, and the wolf man goes on the rampage. The stooges head for the elevator back to the lobby which contains the Wolf Man inside who is playing with the elevator switch which cause to crash through the roof and sends the trio and the Wolf Man high into the sky.

Production notes

Filmed on November 17–20, 1943, the title ''Idle Roomers ''is a pun on "idle rumors." The plot device of bellhops pursuing the affections of an attractive female hotel guest would be used in the 1953

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...

cartoon ''

Belle Boys This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 203 cartoons (196 Woody shorts and 7 miscellaneous shorts) during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Produ ...

''. ''Idle Roomers'' marked the first appearance of regular Stooge co-star Christine McIntyre who would predominantly work with the team for the remainder of the series. Much of the ending, involving the elevator, seems copied from the 1921 Buster Keaton short,

The Goat (1921 film) ''The Goat'' is a 1921 American two-reel silent comedy film written, directed by, and starring Buster Keaton.Kalat, David."The Goat (1921)."''Turner Classic Movies''. December 7, 2017. This short contains one of Keaton's more memorable ima ...

Curly Howard fades

's voice begins to deepen with this film. Since his 1940 divorce from Elaine Ackerman, Curly had lived a wild life, making merry on a regular basis, and drinking until the wee hours of the morning. Columbia cinematographer

Henry Freulich Henry Freulich (April 14, 1906 – December 4, 1985) was an American cinematographer for 31 years. He was married to the actress Kay Harris. Early life and career Freulich was born in New York City, the son of photographer Jacob "Jack" Freuli ...

stated in a 1984 interview that it was not unusual to see Curly stumbling into work looking like "he had himself a heluva time!"''The Making of the Stooges'' VHS Documentary, narrated by

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

(1984) By 1944, the effects of Curly's lifestyle began to have an effect on his performances. ''Idle Roomers'' marks the first time his acting seems a little slower. The deeper voice confirms this assessment.

References

External links

''Idle Roomers'' - The Three Stooges Online Filmography
* * {{The Three Stooges 1944 films 1944 comedy films American slapstick comedy films American black-and-white films Films set in hotels The Three Stooges films Columbia Pictures short films Films directed by Del Lord 1940s English-language films 1940s American films

Plot

Production notes

Curly Howard fades

See also

References

External links