''Sappy Bull Fighters'' is a 1959

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

Joe Besser Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957� ...

in his final starring role). It is the 190th and final 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 between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges are vaudeville entertainers who trek to Mexico to perform their burlesque bullfight, with Joe as the brave

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, and Moe and Larry dressed in a bull costume. Unfortunately, their gig is canceled when they arrive. According to the trio, the manager fired them after they refused to do 10 additional shows for free. With no money to return home, the Stooges are stranded. Feeling bad for them, attractive señorita Greta (

Greta Thyssen Greta Thyssen (born Grethe Karen Thygesen; 30 March 1927 – 6 January 2018) was a Danish film actress and former model, long-resident in the United States. Born in Hareskovby, Denmark, she appeared in films and television series between 1956 an ...

) gets the boys a gig at the local bull ring. However, when she leaves Greta mistakenly takes the trio's suitcase instead of hers. When they go retrieve it, however, Joe becomes attracted to Greta and begins to kiss her, infuriating her insanely jealous husband José ( George J. Lewis). The next day, the Stooges perform their act successfully at a bullring José recognizes the trio. In an act of revenge he pays the bullring attendant (

Joe Palma Joe Palma (born Joseph Provenzano; March 17, 1905 – August 14, 1994) was an American film actor. Palma appeared in over 120 films between 1937 and 1968. He was well known as a supporting player for The Three Stooges and his brief tenure ...

) to release a live bull into the ring. Moe and Larry flee, but Joe is unaware of the switch. He eventually head-butts the wild animal, and is paraded out of the ring to the rousing cheers of "Olé, Americano!"

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Joe *

as Greta * George J. Lewis as Jose

Uncredited

as bullring attendant and spectator * Harold Breen as spectator and stagehand *

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 ...

and

Eddie Laughton Eddie Laughton (20 June 190321 March 1952) was an American film actor. Laughton appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1952, and is best known for his work with The Three Stooges. Career Laughton's family immigrated to the United Stat ...

as bullring attendants (both stock footage) *

Manuel Granada Manuel Granada (6 November 1896 - 30 January 1974) was an Argentine actor who appeared in American, Spanish, Argentine and Mexican films. For the first half of his career, he worked under the names Paul Ellis and Manuel Granado. Granada was b ...

as bullfight announcer (stock footage)

Production notes

''Sappy Bull Fighters'' is a reworking of 1942's ''

What's the Matador? ''What's the Matador?'' is a 1942 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 62nd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

'', a parody of the 1941 film ''

Blood and Sand Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

''.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 209; Comedy III Productions, Inc., Minimal recycled footage from the original was used, including long shots and voice tracks of

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 ...

riding the bull. The film begins with an inside joke: an advertising poster promotes the Stooges, and the bottom of the poster lists another performer, one "Julio Blanco" (the Spanish approximation of producer-director Jules White). The remake was filmed over two days in mid-1957 (July 15–16, 1957), and marks

's screen farewell as a Stooge: it was the last Stooge short released to theaters. The films Besser made with the Stooges were released out of sequence. The last short in which Besser worked was actually ''

Flying Saucer Daffy ''Flying Saucer Daffy'' is a 1958 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser). It is the 187th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring t ...

'', filmed in December 1957; after this last film was finished, Besser left the act to tend to his ailing wife. Besser would be succeeded by fellow Columbia

two-reel 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 ...

comedian

Joe DeRita Joseph Wardell (July 12, 1909 – July 3, 1993), known professionally as Joe DeRita, was an American actor and comedian, who is best known for his stint as a member of The Three Stooges in the persona of Curly Joe DeRita. Early life DeRita wa ...

(as "Curly Joe") in the trio's subsequent projects. By the time ''Sappy Bull Fighters'' was released in June 1959, the Stooges were experiencing a rebirth in popularity, due to the release of their shorts on television. In essence, the theatrical release of ''Sappy Bull Fighters'' actually competed with the enormously successful television revival. At 15:12 ''Sappy Bull Fighters'' is the shortest film the team made at Columbia Pictures. The longest is ''

A Pain in the Pullman ''A Pain in the Pullman'' 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 16th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures s ...

'' (1936) at 19:46.

References

External links

* *
''Sappy Bull Fighters'' at threestooges.net
{{The Three Stooges 1959 films 1959 comedy films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films The Three Stooges film remakes Films directed by Jules White Bullfighting films Films set in Mexico Columbia Pictures short films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films