The Stooges made several brief screen appearances with top banana Ted Healy.
But their official debut for Columbia as a stand-alone team...
...came with the 1934 comedy short "Woman Haters."
Moe, Larry, and Curly play characters named "Tom", "Jim", and "Jack."
It was an odd, disjointed affair, with awkward rhyming dialogue...
...which was recited with very little finesse.
The boys occasionally broke into song as well.
A young Walter Brennan makes his first of two appearances with them.
Sadly, their leading lady, Marjorie White, would die in an auto accident a year later.
Columbia clearly didn't yet know just what to do with the Stooges.
Fortunately, the short featured enough of their trademark slapstick...
...to leave audiences wanting more of this unique, raucous new trio.
And from 1934-1957, they would make a total of 190 comedy shorts for Columbia.
But none quite so oddly uncharacteristic as the first.
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
This Columbia short was part of the studio's "Musical Novelties" series. It is not an official Three Stooges short (the titles were reshot by Columbia at a later date for reissue...and it is the only "Musical Novelty" to be released into television syndication).
ReplyDeleteColumbia produced a total of 526 two-reel comedies (including the Stooges 190). The other series (Andy Clyde, Hugh Herbert, Buster Keaton, Monty Collins and Tom Kennedy, Vera Vague and many others) are all well worth a look. They were all made with the same writers, directors and supporting cast (like favorites Vernon Dent, Emil Sitka and Christine McIntyre).
Thanks for the info! Still, "Woman Haters" is now an official part of the Three Stooges shorts collection and is certainly their debut as a stand-alone team for Columbia.
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