''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' is a 1947

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 102nd 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 run a tailor shop that is about to be repossessed by the Skin and Flint Finance Corporation. When the Boys hear about a big reward for fugitive bank robber Terry "Slippery Fingered" Hargan (

Harold Brauer Tiny Brauer (born Harold J. Brauer; June 26, 1909 – March 19, 1990) was an American film actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Brauer appeared in over 20 films between 1946 and 1966. Career Brauer is best known for his role as the "heavy" in s ...

), they think that catching him might end their financial woes. Hargan conveniently ducks into their shop as the officer (

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 ...

) enters and leaves a suit with a safe combination in its pocket. After his girlfriend (

Virginia Hunter Virginia Hunter (née Reed; February 17, 1920 – March 23, 2012) was an American model and actress. She appeared in over 20 films during the 1940s. Early years Hunter was the daughter of Freeman A. Reed. Hunter grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bef ...

) fails to retrieve the combination, Hargan returns with his henchmen, and a wild mêlée follows. The Stooges miss out on the reward but wind up with the crook's bankroll to pay off their debts.

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Shemp *

as Detective *

as Terry Hargan *

as Hargan's Girlfriend

Uncredited

Cy Schindell Seymour "Cy" Schindell (March 4, 1907 – August 24, 1948) was an American actor. He appeared in 37 Three Stooges short subjects, mostly as a heavy, though he was never credited in any Stooge shorts. Career Brooklyn-born Schindell was born Seym ...

as Henchman * Bing Connolly as Henchman *

Phil Arnold Phil Arnold (born Philip Aronoff Arnold; September 15, 1909 – May 9, 1968) was an American screen, stage, television, and vaudeville actor. He appeared in approximately 150 films and television shows between 1939 and 1968. Arnold is familiar ...

as Customer with shredded jacket *

as the voice of the radio announcer

Production notes

''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' was filmed on April 1–4, 1947.''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The title is a takeoff on "

Sing a Song of Sixpence "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is an English nursery rhyme, perhaps originating in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13191. The sixpence in the rhyme is a British coin that was first minted in 1551. Origins The r ...

," the classic English

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

. The name of the tailor shop is "Pip Boys," a parody of the auto service chain

Pep Boys Pep Boys is an American automotive aftermarket service chain. Originally named Pep Auto Supply, the company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1921 by Emanuel (Manny) Rosenfeld, Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Jack J ...

originally opened in Philadelphia in 1921.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 302-303; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' was remade in 1953 as ''

Rip, Sew and Stitch ''Rip, Sew and Stitch'' is a 1953 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 150th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starr ...

'', using ample recycled footage from the original. There is an audio goof in the film during a scene when Moe is making

pancakes A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying wit ...

on the pants press; director

can be heard saying "Cut!" right as the camera fades into the next scene.

Copyright status

''Sing a Song of Six Pants'' 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 ''

Malice in the Palace ''Malice in the Palace'' is a 1949 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 117th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starri ...

'' (1949), ''

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 ...

'' (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.

References

External links

* * * {{The Three Stooges 1947 films 1947 comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Jules White The Three Stooges films Columbia Pictures short films American comedy short films 1940s American films