''Disorder in the Court'' is a 1936

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 Preston Black 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 15th 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

The Stooges are key witnesses at a murder trial where their colleague, Gail Tempest, stands accused of murdering Kirk Robin. Despite being pivotal witnesses, the Stooges are initially absent, preoccupied with leisurely activities, namely playing Jacks. Eventually, Curly takes the stand and recounts the events, ultimately offering a musical interlude with Larry on violin, Moe on harmonica, and Curly on both

spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos' ...

and upright bass to illustrate the night of the crime. However, the courtroom is thrown into chaos when Larry mistakenly identifies the court clerk's toupee as a tarantula, prompting Moe to discharge the guard's firearm. After the confusion, Moe and Curly enact the purported murder. Further antics lead to the discovery of a parrot carrying a confession from the true culprit, Buck Wing. With Tempest's innocence established, the proceedings conclude amidst a comedic mishap involving a ruptured fire hose.

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Curly

Uncredited

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

as Defense Attorney * Harry Semels as District Attorney * Suzanne Kaaren as Gail Tempest * James C. Morton as Court clerk *

Edward LeSaint Edward LeSaint (January 1, 1871 – September 10, 1940) was an American stage and film actor and Film director, director whose career began in the silent film, silent era. He acted in over 300 films and directed more than 90. He was sometimes ...

as Judge * Al Thompson as Bailiff *

Eddie Laughton Eddie Laughton (20 June 190321 March 1952) was a British-American film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1952, and is best known for his work with The Three Stooges. Career Laughton's family immigrated to the United Stat ...

as Co-Counsel *

Johnny Kascier Johnny Kascier (born John Kacerosky; July 1, 1889May 10, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in over 90 films between 1932 and 1957. Modern viewers will recognize Kascier as the Emir of Schmow in the Three Stooges film ''Malice in the Palac ...

as Court recorder * Alice Belcher as Flirting juror * Solomon Horwitz as Gallery spectator * Harold Kening as Gallery spectator *

Bobby Barber Bobby Barber (December 18, 1894 – May 24, 1976) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films. Barber is notable for his work as a foil for Abbott and Costello on and off screen. Biography Barber was born Robert S. Barbera in New York. ...

as Gallery spectator * Bobby Burns as Gallery spectator *

Sam Lufkin Samuel William Lufkin (May 8, 1891 – February 19, 1952) was an American actor. He was known for appearing in small or bit roles in short comedy films. Career Born in Utah, Lufkin spent most of his career at the Hal Roach Studios where he made ...

as Gallery spectator * Arthur Thalasso as Tall man in Hallway

Production notes

''Disorder in the Court'' was filmed over six days on April 1–6, 1936. The film title is a play on the stereotypical judge's cry, "Order in the court!" A colorized version of this film was released in 2006 as part of the DVD collection "Stooges on the Run." The two Howard brothers' real life father Sol Horwitz, (the father of Moe, Curly, and

Shemp Howard Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz; March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955) was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the third Stooge in The Three Stooges, a role he played when the act began in the early 1920s (1923–1932), while i ...

), makes an uncredited appearance as a member of the public audience. Disorder in the Court title 1936

This is the first Stooges short in which Curly is spelled "C-U-R-L-Y" in the opening titles instead of the previous "C-U-R-L-E-Y." The title card also has the Stooges inverted reading from left to right, Curly-Larry-Moe, as opposed to Moe-Larry-Curly in previous shorts, effectively giving Curly "top billing." This change in the title card coincides with the refined and more familiar Columbia Pictures image of a torch-bearing woman, with a shimmering light instead of the primitive animation of light rays in the previous version. In addition, the "Columbia" theme now uses a more upbeat theme, featuring a brass introduction.

Copyright status

''Disorder in the Court '' is one of four Columbia Stooges shorts that fell into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

after the copyright expired in 1964, the other three being ''

Malice in the Palace ''Malice in the Palace'' is a 1949 short film, short subject directed by Jules White starring the American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 117th entry in the series released by Columb ...

'' (1949), '' Sing a Song of Six Pants'' and ''

Brideless Groom ''Brideless Groom'' is a 1947 short film, short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 101st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictu ...

'' (both 1947). Consequently, these four shorts frequently appear on budget video compilations and streaming services. A remastered version of the film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

as part of The Three Stooges Collection on August 13, 2024, by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

In popular culture

The presumed perpetrator is a dancer named Buck Wing, a reference to the

buck-and-wing Black Vaudeville is a term that specifically describes Vaudeville-era African American entertainers and the milieus of dance, music, and theatrical performances they created. Spanning the years between the 1880s and early 1930s, these acts not onl ...

dance common in vaudeville and minstrel shows. The classic "swearing in" routine ("Take off your hat!"; "Raise your right hand"; "Judgy Wudgy") was borrowed nearly verbatim from

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

's 1931 film '' Sidewalks of New York'', directed by Stooges producer

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 ...

. A shot of the trio performing in court was used by Hershey's in a 1980s advertising campaign.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
The short appears in the 2019 horror film '' 3 from Hell''.

References

External links

*
''Disorder in the Court'' at threestooges.net
* {{Authority control The Three Stooges films 1936 films 1936 comedy films American slapstick comedy films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films American courtroom films Columbia Pictures short films Articles containing video clips American crime comedy films 1930s American films English-language crime comedy films