''Mutts to You'' is a 1938

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

Charley Chase Charles Joseph Parrott (October 20, 1893 – June 20, 1940), known professionally as Charley Chase, was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. He worked for many pioneering comedy studios but is chiefly associated with pro ...

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

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 34th 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 operate a successful dog grooming business featuring a conveyor belt contrivance and a water wheel that requires Curly to pedal a stationary bicycle in order to keep water flowing. Among the Stooges' clients is an affluent couple named Manning (

Bess Flowers Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerous ...

and

Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse ra ...

), who have an elaborate misunderstanding that leads to their baby being left momentarily on the Mannings' front doorstep just as the Stooges pass by on their way home from work. Thinking the infant has been abandoned, the trio take the child back to their apartment house, despite the firm rule of no babies or dogs being allowed on the premises. When the Stooges see the afternoon newspaper saying the baby was kidnapped, they attempt to return the infant to his parents. Moe and Larry disguise Curly as the baby's mother, dubbing him "Mrs. O'Toole." Unfortunately, an Irish Policeman named O'Halloran (

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

) strikes up a conversation with the "Irish mother", concludes that they are the kidnappers, and tries to apprehend them. The boys make a run for it and are chased by O'Halloran, Moe and Larry pulling Curly and the baby in a laundry cart. After being caught, the Mannings reunite, explain the misunderstanding, and the Stooges are free to go. After Mrs. Manning exclaims how filthy the baby is, the Stooges put him through the dog washing machine, but Curly accidentally messes up the controls, resulting in the machine slapping the baby's bottom. The episode ends with the Stooges trying to stop the machine.

Production notes

Filming for ''Mutts to You'' took place from March 30 to April 2, 1938. The film title is a pun on the insult "Nuts to you!" The Stooges also played babysitters of sorts in '' Sock-a-Bye Baby'', '' Three Loan Wolves'', and '' Baby Sitters Jitters''. When Officer O'Halloran notices Moe and Larry disguised as Chinese laundrymen he stops them and begins asking questions. Moe responds with some mock Chinese while Larry responds with a mixture of Yiddish and English: "Ikh bin ah China boychik fun Slobodka un Ikh bet dir ' hak mir nit ah chaynik' and I don't mean efsher". The phrase is

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

for "I am a Chinese kid from Slobodka and I beg you don't bother me and I don't mean maybe." Moe follows this with, "He from China, East Side," a reference to the Lower East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, which was predominantly

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

at the time.

References

External links

* * {{The Three Stooges 1938 films 1938 comedy films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Charley Chase Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films