''Three Sappy People'' is a 1939

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

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 43rd 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 phone repairmen who are mistaken for the psychiatrists in whose office they are working, Drs. Z. Ziller (Curly), X. Zeller (Larry), and Y. Zoller (Moe). Wealthy J. Rumsford Rumford (

Don Beddoe Donald Theophilus Beddoe (July 1, 1903 – January 19, 1991) was an American character actor. Early years Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of Dan Beddoe, a Welsh classical singer, and his wife Mary. He graduated from the ...

), upon the recommendation of a doctor friend of his, hires them to treat his impetuous, free-spirited young wife, Sherry Rumford (

Lorna Gray Virginia Pound (July 26, 1917 – April 30, 2017), known professionally as Lorna Gray and (after 1945) Adrian Booth, was an American film actress known for her comic roles, and later as a villainess. She is best known for her roles in Columb ...

). The Stooges ruin their clients' dinner party in their usual style, leading into a food fight, but because their antics so amuse his wife, her husband believes that she is cured and the Stooges are paid handsomely for their efforts. However, when the husband presents a birthday cake to his wife, he purposely drops the cake on the top of her head, ending her joyous frenzy.

Production notes

''Three Sappy People'' was filmed on April 6–10, 1939. The film's title is a parody of the song title "

Two Sleepy People "Two Sleepy People" is a song written on September 10, 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Frank Loesser. Background The song "Thanks for the Memory", written for the February 1938 film ''The Big Broadcast of 1938'' by Leo Robin and Ralph Rain ...

." The short is also the sixth of sixteen Stooge shorts with the word "three" in the title. During the pastry fight, 22-year-old Lorna Gray was treated on the set after a cream puff became lodged in her throat. However, in an interview later in her life, Gray stated that she actually was not in any danger and that it was instead director

who was so concerned that he nearly ruined the take.

References

External links

* * {{The Three Stooges 1939 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films 1939 comedy films Films directed by Jules White Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films