''Fuelin' Around'' is a 1949

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

Edward Bernds Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur li ...

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 116th 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 employed as carpet layers at the residence of a research chemist, Professor Sneed and his daughter Hazel, who recently moved in the neighbourhood. Professor Sneed is clandestinely engaged in the development of rocket fuel for government purposes. Concurrently, the Anemian spy, Captain Rork, surveils the professor's activities from an exterior vantage point, harboring intentions of abducting him. A misidentification ensues when the Anemians mistakenly apprehend the Stooges instead of the intended target, erroneously identifying Larry as the professor. Complications arise when the Stooges are coerced into expeditiously formulating the rocket fuel and transcribing its formula. Subsequently, the true identities of Professor Sneed and his daughter are uncovered by the Anemians, who resort to incarceration in a bid to extract the coveted formula. Leaving Rork demoted from Captain to Private and punished for his incompetence. An unexpected turn of events ensues with the fortuitous intervention of a diffident prison guard, whose amorous advances towards Sneed's daughter inadvertently facilitate the group's escape. Capitalizing on the opportune moment, the group swiftly absconds from captivity, utilizing the synthesized fuel to propel themselves out of the fortress, effectuating a rapid exodus from Anemia and safely returning to U.S. soil.

Cast

Credited

as Moe *

as Larry *

as Shemp *

Emil Sitka Emil Sitka (December 22, 1914January 16, 1998) was an American actor who appeared in hundreds of movies, short films, and television shows, and who is best known for his numerous appearances with The Three Stooges. He was the unofficial "last S ...

as Professor Snead * Christine McIntyre as Hazel Snead * Phil Van Zandt as Cpt./Pvt. Rork *

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil, main antagonist, and an ally to The Three ...

as Anemian General * André Pola as Anemian Colonel *

Jock Mahoney Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney (February 7, 1919 – December 14, 1989), known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, '' The Range Rider'' and '' Yancy Derringer''. H ...

as Cell Guard

Uncredited

* Harold Brauer as Leon *

Blackie Whiteford John Penman "Blackie" Whiteford (April 27, 1889 – March 21, 1962) was an American film actor. Biography In 1903, Whiteford was a seaman between jobs when he was offered a chance to work on '' The Great Train Robbery'' film. That opportuni ...

as Anemian soldier *

Jimmy Aubrey Jimmy Aubrey (23 October 1887 – 2 September 1983) was an English actor who worked with both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, having gone with Fred Karno's theatrical company to America in 1908. However he left to start on his own in va ...

as Anemian soldier

Production notes

''Fuelin' Around'' was filmed on April 6–9, 1948. It was

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 1956 as '' Hot Stuff'' using available

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 ...

. The film title is a pun on the expression "fooling around."

References

External links

* 1949 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films set in Europe Films directed by Jules White 1949 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films American comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub