''Movie Maniacs'' is a 1936 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 13th 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 stowaways on a boxcar carrying a furniture consignment to Hollywood. Fully expecting for no good reason to get a job and become famous movie stars, and dressed for the occasion, the Stooges sneak into a movie studio by trespassing into the studio which they don't allow gate-crashing trespassers without any studio gate passes, where they are mistaken for three new executives who are due to take over the facility. Given the authority, they promptly abuse it and take over the production of a movie set in hopes of shooting a blockbuster movie. Curly gets off on the wrong foot when, unable to light his match for a smoke, spots an actress receiving a pedicure (silent star

Mildred Harris Mildred Harris (April 18, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was 10 years old. She was a ...

). He then strikes the match on the sole of her bare foot, startling her. Angered, she is about to storm off the set until the trio convince her to stay. which caused the angry director, Cecil Z. Swinehardt, the Leading Lady and the Leading man to quit. The trio then act out the love scene as they want it filmed, leading its stars to abandon the set. Another telegram arrives with the news that three actual executives were delayed by a storm. Angered at the deception, the studio boss and the film's crew go after the Stooges who are actually imposters and studio gate-crashing trespassers who don't have studio gate passes, who flee the scene. After the trio is able to hide from their pursuers, they soon find themselves in a lion's den. The three quickly get into a nearby car, but one of the lions catches up and attacks them, leaving the car to go out of control down a nearby street.

Cast

Credited

Production notes

''Movie Maniacs'' was released on February 20, 1936, only two weeks after the previous release, ''

Ants in the Pantry ''Ants in the Pantry'' is a 1936 short film, short subject directed by Jack White (film producer), Preston Black starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 12th entry in the seri ...

''. It was filmed, though, in October 1935, two months before ''Ants in the Pantry''. The sign at the studio gate reads "Carnation Pictures: From Contented Actors" The gag refers to Carnation milk, which was long advertised as "from contented cows." The railroad boxcar at the beginning of the short reads "C. M. & St. P. R.R." which alludes to the Milwaukee Road. The railroad was bankrupt when this short was released (its first bankruptcy was 1925.) The scene with the Stooges demonstrating kissing techniques was deleted when originally released to television in 1958 by Columbia Studio's television distribution subsidiary Screen Gems, as it was deemed too risqué for children's programming. Home video versions present the completed film with the scene intact.''Movie Maniacs'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The original ending involved the Stooges setting fire to the movie set and fleeing the site. The lions seen at the end of the short were named "Tanner" and "Jackie", both trained by Mel Koontz. The two lions were previously used as Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's mascot. The two would appear in other Stooges shorts (Tanner being the most frequent of the two).

Quotes

Curly: "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking 'til you DO succeed!"

References

External links

* *
''Movie Maniacs'' at threestooges.net
{{ThreeStooges 1936 films 1936 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Del Lord Fiction about rail transport The Three Stooges films Columbia Pictures short films Television series by Screen Gems American slapstick comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films