''Malice in the Palace'' is a 1949

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 ...

). It is the 117th 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 running the Cafe Casbah Bah (a Middle Eastern restaurant) and attempting to prepare a meal for customers Hassan ben Sober (a play on

Hasan-i Sabbah Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah Himyarite Kingdom, al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 ...

) (

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 ...

) and Ginna Rumma ( Gin rummy) ( George J. Lewis). The meal turns out disastrous: their

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...

dinner is spilled all over the customers' faces, so the stooges offer them a replacement meal: rabbit and

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

s. Because a stray cat and dog make noises at inopportune times while Larry prepares the meal, Larry's meal appears to be actual dog and cat meat, which brings Moe and Shemp great grief when ordered to eat it by their customers. These two customers are thieves intent on robbing the tomb of King Rootintootin (

Tutankhamun's mummy Tutankhamun's mummy was discovered by English Egyptologist Howard Carter and his team on October 28, 1925 in tomb KV62 of Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Tutankhamun was the 13th pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, making his m ...

), which contains a priceless diamond. Because of their fear of a curse on the diamond, they decide they need three stooges to carry out the deed; the bumbling Moe, Larry and Shemp prove to be perfect for the job. Before ben Sober and Rumma can reveal their scheme, they discover that the Emir of Shmow (

Johnny Kascier Johnny Kascier (born John Kacerosky; July 1, 1889May 10, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in over 90 films between 1932 and 1957. Modern viewers will recognize Kascier as the Emir of Schmow in the Three Stooges film ''Malice in the Palac ...

) has already gotten his hands on the diamond. The two plotters start wailing and, when ben Sober reveals his actual career as a doorman of the Oasis hotel (and not the royalty Moe thinks he is), he and his accomplice are thrown out of the restaurant. The Stooges then attempt to steal the diamond back from the Emir, since it is government property and would likely fetch a large reward. The Stooges arrive at the Emir's palace dressed as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

. They then manage to acquire the diamond and make a quick exit, but not before dealing with a burly guard (

Everett Brown Everett G. Brown (January 1, 1902 – October 14, 1953) was an American actor. Biography Born in Texas, Brown appeared in about 40 Hollywood films between 1927 and 1953. His roles were small most of the time and most of his film appearances were ...

Cast

Credited

Production notes

''Malice in the Palace'' was filmed on June 8–11, 1948. It was remade in 1956 as ''

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 ...

'', 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 ...

from the original. Footage was reused from ''

Wee Wee Monsieur ''Wee Wee Monsieur'' is a 1938 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 29th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the c ...

'' when the Stooges arrive at a palace disguised as Santa Clauses in a sleigh being pulled by a horse wearing reindeer antlers.

Curly Howard's cameo

According to ''The Three Stooges Journal'', a part was written for Former Stooge

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 ...

after his brief cameo in 1947's '' Hold That Lion!''. The lobby card photo noticeably features a slim, mustachioed Curly as an angry chef. However, his illness caused his scenes to be cut (another story is that Moe Howard decided that "The Four Stooges" could not be sustained). A scene closely resembling the lobby card is in the finished film (with Hassan ben Sober in Curly's stead); ultimately Larry assumed the role as the chef.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion''; Comedy III Productions, Inc.,

Copyright status

''Malice in the Palace'' is one of four Columbia Stooge shorts that fell into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

after their copyright expired in the 1960s, the other three being ''

Sing a Song of Six Pants ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' is a 1947 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 102nd entry in the series released by Columbia Picture ...

'', ''

Brideless Groom ''Brideless Groom'' is a 1947 short film, short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 101st entry in the series released by Columbia Picture ...

'' (both 1947), and ''

Disorder in the Court ''Disorder in the Court'' is a 1936 short subject directed by Preston Black starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 15th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures sta ...

'' (1936). As such, these four shorts frequently appear on budget VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

compilations.

In popular culture

''Malice in the Palace'' was one of five Stooge films included in the TBS 1995 Halloween special ''The Three Stooges Fright Night'' along with '' Spooks'' (1953), ''

If a Body Meets a Body ''If a Body Meets a Body'' is a 1945 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 86th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures sta ...

'' (1945), ''

We Want Our Mummy ''We Want Our Mummy'' is a 1939 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 37th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring th ...

'' (1939), and ''

The Hot Scots ''The Hot Scots'' 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 108th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring th ...

'' (1948). The 2004 NBA brawl between the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

and the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

has come to be known as the ''Malice at the Palace'', a play on the title of this short and a reference to the fact that the event happened at

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

. This short was seen in a movie theater in ''

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie ''The Garbage Pail Kids Movie'' is a 1987 American comedy film and an adaptation of the then-popular children's trading cards series of the same name produced, directed, and co-written by Rod Amateau. It was the last film to be directed by Amatea ...

''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malice In The Palace 1949 films 1949 comedy films The Three Stooges films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jules White Columbia Pictures short films Films with screenplays by Felix Adler (screenwriter) American slapstick comedy films 1940s American films