''Matri-Phony'' is a 1942

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 Harry Edwards 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 63rd 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

During the era of " Ancient Erysipelas", the Stooges preside over Ye Olde Pottery shop, a quaint establishment nestled within the bustling streets. Amidst the backdrop of this setting, the formidable Emperor Octopus Grabus sets forth on a quest to secure a new consort, his preferences leaning towards red-haired maidens. Grabus then sets his sights on Diana, a fair maiden who seeks refuge within the protective confines of the Stooges' establishment, hoping to evade the unwanted advances of the emperor. However, their sanctuary is abruptly shattered when palace guards uncover the ruse, precipitating their apprehension and subsequent audience with Grabus. In a turn of events, Grabus, incensed by the deception, metes out a severe punishment, condemning the Stooges to face execution within the formidable arena of the Colosseum, where the menacing jaws of lions await their hapless victims. Faced with imminent peril, the Stooges orchestrate a daring rescue mission to aid Diana's escape, while Moe and Larry devise a stratagem wherein Curly assumes the guise of Grabus' intended bride. Thoroughly exploiting Grabus' visual impairment, exacerbated by the destruction of his spectacles, the Stooges facilitate their own flight from the palace, albeit encountering an unexpected misadventure that concludes with their inverted suspension upon the spears of the guards.

Cast

Credited

as Curleycue (as Curly) *

as Larrycus (as Larry) *

as Mohicus (as Moe) * Marjorie Deanne as Diana *

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 Emperor Octopus Grabus

Uncredited

Cy Schindell Seymour "Cy" Schindell (March 4, 1907August 24, 1948) was an American actor. He appeared in 37 Three Stooges short subjects, mostly as a heavy, though he was never credited in any Stooge shorts. Career Brooklyn-born Schindell was born Seymour ...

as Guard *

Eddy Chandler Eddy Chandler (March 12, 1894 – March 23, 1948) was an American actor who appeared, mostly uncredited, in more than 300 films. Three of these films won the Academy Award for Best Picture: ''It Happened One Night'' (1934), '' You Can't Take ...

as Guard *

Max Wagner Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 ...

as Guard *

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 Snake Charmer *

Monte Collins Monte Collins (also credited as Monty Collins; December 3, 1898 – June 1, 1951) was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1920 and 1948. He also wrote for 32 films between 1930 and 1951. Caree ...

as Prime Minister *

Si Jenks Si Jenks (born Howard Hansell Jenkins; September 23, 1876 – January 6, 1970) was an American actor. He was involved in 224 films in a career spanning nearly two decades in vaudeville and films. His best known appearances include '' The V ...

as Wino *

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 Beauty Contestant (deleted scenes) *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known professionally as Gene Stutenroth or Gene Roth, was an American film actor and former theater manager. He appeared in more than 250 films over three decades. Early ...

as Middle guard

Production notes

''Matri-Phony'' was the first short filmed in 1942, shot over a period of three weeks between March 5 and March 25, 1942. It is the first Stooge film to employ the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

-based, driving version of "

Three Blind Mice "Three Blind Mice" is an English nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753. ...

" over the opening credits. This faster theme would be used until the end of

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. The film title is a pun on the word "

matrimony Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. ''Matri-Phony'' had a difficult gestation. The three-week shooting schedule was unusual for a Columbia short film, as most were completed over four consecutive days. It is not known how many days it took to film, with six being an estimate. There were material script changes, reshoots and deleted footage, with most of the blame aimed at director Harry Edwards who had developed a reputation at Columbia Pictures as the studio's worst director.''Matri-Phony'' at threestooges.net
/ref> His poor directing skills are apparent throughout, with bad staging, awkward jump cuts and several unfocused shots. In the closing scene when the Stooges are hanging upside down from the guards' spears, Edwards inexplicably directed the guards to walk straight into a wall. His voice can also be heard loudly directing

: "Larry, grab the.....". Larry was the only one who was not holding onto his guard's trousers: after receiving his direction, Larry quickly grabbed the pants. This type of exchange would normally be muted during post-production. After his next directoral effort with the Stooges ('' Three Little Twirps''), the trio requested to never work with him again.

also began to exhibit subtle hints of his slow physical decline.

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that it is "demonstrated in a scene where he tries to eat a live

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

(with snapping claws), a variation of the oyster-in-the-soup gag from the previous year (from ''

Dutiful But Dumb ''Dutiful But Dumb'' is a 1941 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 54th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the ...

''). It's reasonably funny, but Curly's timing is just a tad off and the two scenes make quite a contrast."

Quotes

Curly: "Oh, food!" (''beholds the spread before him'') "Vitamins A B C D E F GEE, I like food!"

References

External links

*
''Matri-Phony'' at threestooges.net
{{Authority control 1942 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films 1942 comedy films Columbia Pictures short films Films directed by Harry Edwards (director) American slapstick comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films