''Rockin' thru the Rockies'' is a 1940

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

Jules White Jules White (born Julius Weiss; 17 September 1900 – 30 April 1985) was an American film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring The Three Stooges. Early years White began working in motion pictures in 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 45th 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

Set in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

circa late 1800s, the Stooges are guides tasked with escorting a trio known as "Nell's Belles" through mountainous terrain en route to their performance destination in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Despite their efforts, complications arise when Curly inadvertently frightens off the horses, leaving the group stranded overnight at the behest of Native American inhabitants who advise them to vacate the area promptly. As the night progresses, tensions escalate among the guides, leading to Curly's banishment from the shared sleeping quarters due to his disruptive nocturnal behavior. However, their predicament worsens with the arrival of snowfall, which results in the consumption of their food stores by a marauding bear. Subsequently, their attempts to procure sustenance from a nearby frozen lake prove futile. Compounding their challenges, Nell, a constituent of the expeditionary group, exposes the abduction of the Belles by the indigenous community. Swift action ensues as the Belles manage to elude their captors, prompting a hasty departure from the Native American territory to ensure the safety and continuity of their journey.

Production notes

''Rockin' thru the Rockies'' was filmed on November 7–11, 1939.''Rockin' Thru the Rockies'' at threestooges.net
/ref> The film title is often mistaken for the 1945 feature film '' Rockin' in the Rockies'' starring the Stooges. After the snow collapses the tent-like structure from the set of "

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

" (in which the troupe performs in a traveling show), Curly falls through a curtain, lands on the girls in bed, and says, "The walls of Jericho collapsed." This is a reference to a scene in Columbia's ''

It Happened One Night ''It Happened One Night'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra, in collaboration with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite ( Claudette Colbert) tr ...

'', where the flimsy barricade set up between

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, born Émilie "Lily" Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway theater, Broadway productions dur ...

and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

in a motor lodge was called the "walls of Jericho." The name of the troupe, "Nell's Belles," is a play on the old expression "Hell's Bells," which of course would not have been permitted by the Production Code. In this short Curly also briefly chants, "Give 'em the axe, give 'em the axe; right in the neck, right in the neck" which is a reference both to the Stanford Axe as well as the chant traditionally shouted by Stanford during the Big Game, which was popular in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

during the early part of the 20th century. The conclusion of this film is reminiscent of Early American folklore as the Stooges leave Indian territory ''a la'' Windwagon Smith.

References

External links

*
''Rockin' Thru the Rockies'' at threestooges.net
{{Authority control 1940 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jules White 1940 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films