Some things never change. . . and by that I mean true love. . . and by that I mean the love found between a newly rich older man and a much younger woman. . . case in point, 1937’s 3 Dumb Clucks, directed by Del Lord – a Three Stooges classic.
Larry (Larry Fine), Curly (Curly Howard) and Moe (Moe Howard) have found themselves in jail. . . watched over by a very simple and overly helpful Prison Guard (Frank Austin). Receiving a letter from their beloved mother, she asks her boys to escape their confines and help bring their father home to her. . . as he has made millions through the oil fields he owns and has taken up with a young blonde gold digger, Daisy (Lucille Lund).
Arriving to help their father regain his senses, we learn that he is the spitting image of Curly – except with sideburns (Curly Howard taking on double duty as the father). Unwilling to change his mind, of course, in true madcap fashion, the two are misconstrued, finding the dim-witted son stepping into the spot of his equally dim-witted father.
Learning along with his brothers that the marriage is a scheme that will find their father being murdered soon after the wedding so that Daisy and her mobster beau, Chopper (Frank Mills), can run off with his fortune, the three clucks must attempt to save the day by any means necessary.
Silly, frivolous fun, the attempted murder caper adds extra laughs thanks to the comedy of errors which finds Curly being mistaken for his father (his soon to be wife finds he looks so much younger after finally shaving off his sideburns). After some of Chopper’s henchmen drop the father down an elevator shaft (though not far enough to kill him), Curly finishes climbing the stairs and appears in front of them, much to the shock and dismay of the would-be murderers. . . the gag continuing as the pair keep seeing the two in short order. In fact, Curly was actually quite injured during the elevator stunt. Padded for his safety, the prop team missed one panel. Landing on his head, he was severely cut open. . . yet, as the Stooges were always prompt and fast paced workers, a Columbia Studio’s doctor stitched him up, some hair was glued to cover up the wound, painkillers were popped, and he was back at work filming the hat scene which comes a bit earlier in the short (in fact, eagle-eyed viewers will spot the patch).
A quality Stooges feature from their early years at Columbia Studios, you could easily imagine what 3 Dumb Clucks would be called today with a few letter changes. Actually spoofing Three Smart Girls – which was released the previous year and starred Ray Milland and Deanna Durbin (such a success, it spawned two sequels and started Durbin’s musical reign that would last an impressive eight years – saving Universal Studios from bankruptcy in the process), you don’t have to fear too much for any musical interludes or high class affairs, for the comedy team still bring all of the expected grunts, groans and slaps (low brow comedy at its very finest). So, help break this one out of the comedy vault, it’s a marriage made in heaven – actually, that may not be the best descriptor after all.