''Love at First Bite'' is a 1950

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

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 ...

). It is the 123rd 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 engage in nostalgic recollection of their romantic encounters with their respective fiancées during their military service in Europe. Their partners hail from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. To commemorate these memories, the trio partakes in a toast with copious amounts of Old Panther whisky, resulting in their rapid inebriation. In their intoxicated state, Moe and Shemp engage in a heated dispute over their sweethearts, culminating in a proposal to settle their differences through physical combat, armed with seltzer bottles. Following Shemp's incapacitation from excessive drinking, Moe and Larry mistakenly conclude that he has perished. Subsequently, they devise a plan to dispose of his supposed remains by encasing his feet in a tub filled with cement, intending to submerge him in the ocean. As they await the cement to set, they succumb to slumber. Upon awakening, they find themselves afflicted with hangovers and amnesia, unable to recollect the events leading to Shemp's predicament. In a hasty attempt to reunite with their fiancées, Moe and Larry resort to loading the tub with dynamite, resulting in a violent explosion that propels them onto the docks where their partners await. Shemp remains trapped in the cement, inadvertently pulling the French girl into the water upon her attempt to embrace him, dousing the other couples with the ensuing splash.

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Shemp *

Harriette Tarler Harriette Tarler (November 4, 1920November 18, 2001) was an American film actress. Born in New York, New York, Tarler appeared in over 15 films between 1956 and 1959. Career Tarler is best known for her prominent work in many late Three Stooges s ...

as Parisian waitress *

Christine McIntyre Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911 – July 8, 1984) was an American actress and singer who appeared in various films in the 1930s and 1940s. She is mainly remembered as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many of The Three St ...

as Katrina * Yvette Reynard as Fifi * Marie Monteil as Maria

Uncredited

Judy Malcolm Judy Malcolm (Born Marguerite Westergren; December 1, 1910July 22, 1998) was an American film actress. Malcolm appeared in approximately 25 films between 1933 and 1951. Malcolm is familiar to modern viewers for her roles in several Three Stooge ...

as female Cafe customer *

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 Male Cafe customer *

Al Thompson Al Thompson (September 21, 1884 – March 1, 1960) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 170 films between 1916 and 1958. Well known in the industry for performing the more difficult stunts, he kept busy as a stunt doubl ...

as Sleeping Man in Restaurant *

Slim Gaut Slim Gaut (July 8, 1893 – April 17, 1964) was an American film actor, born in Lewiston, Idaho. He appeared, unusually uncredited, in over 15 films between 1940 and 1956. Modern viewers may recognize Gaut as Shemp Howard's first dental patient ...

as second Male Cafe customer

Production notes

''Love at First Bite'' was filmed August 18–22, 1948, but not released until May 1950. It was partially

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 ...

in 1958 as '' Fifi Blows Her Top'', using 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

* 1950 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Jules White 1950 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films American comedy short films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub