''Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb'' is a 1938

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

directed by

Del Lord Delmer "Del" Lord (October 7, 1894March 23, 1970) was a Canadians, 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 the ...

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 as ...

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 comedy. Six total ...

(

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion ...

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 4, 1902 – January 24, 1975), better known by his stage name Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges and was often called "The Middle St ...

and

Curly Howard Jerome Lester Horwitz (October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He was a member of The Three Stooges comedy team, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and ...

). It is the 31st entry in the series released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

Propelled by a stroke of creativity, Curly secures a substantial windfall of $50,000 by virtue of crafting a memorable jingle for a radio competition. Subsequently, the collective resolves to adopt a lifestyle akin to affluent individuals, prompting their selection of the opulent accommodations offered by the esteemed Hotel Costa Plente. Their accommodation, replete with opulent furnishings, becomes the unwitting canvas for their characteristic clumsiness, resulting in the systematic destruction of numerous expensive items. Concurrently, three cunning opportunists masquerading as affluent widows employ deception to gain entry into the Stooges' quarters. Under the pretense of seeking remarriage to wealthy suitors, they ensnare the unwitting trio within their scheme. Despite initial success, Curly's realization that exorbitant tax deductions have whittled his winnings down to $4.85 prompts the gentlemen to hastily accede to matrimonial arrangements with the purported widows. However, the facade of affluence swiftly unravels when the true financial state of the Stooges is exposed, leading to a retaliatory act wherein the gold diggers incapacitate their erstwhile suitors with champagne bottles.

Production notes

The title ''Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb'' is a parody of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's proverb "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 131; Comedy III Productions, Inc., It was

remade Bas-Lag is a fictional universe in which several of China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as thaumaturgy) and steampunk technology exist, and where many intelligent races live. This world and the nove ...

with Shemp as ''

A Missed Fortune ''A Missed Fortune '' is a 1952 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 137th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

'' (1952), with minimal

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

References

External links

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