''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' is a 1960 feature-length

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 ...

compilation film featuring

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 ...

in scenes from 11 movie short subjects of 1937–1947. Additional footage, filmed especially for this production, features ventriloquist

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''Birth name, né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Pa ...

and his dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, and animal act The Marquis Chimps.

Plot

Paul Winchell is the paternal figure to Jerry Mahoney, a juvenile character. Jerry hates academic studies, and tries various tricks to skip school: darkening his window to simulate nighttime, putting spots on his face to show illness, and manipulating a thermometer to present a dangerously high temperature. The script has Winchell setting the scene for various episodes with the Stooges. For example, Winchell telephones a mechanic to ask about a car being repaired; the scene cuts to a garage sequence from the Stooge short ''

Higher Than a Kite ''Higher Than a Kite'' is a 1943 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 72nd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the ...

''. The last reel has Winchell trying to sleep while neighbors are having a noisy party. Footage from the Stooge short ''

Half-Wits Holiday ''Half-Wits Holiday'' is a 1947 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard in his final starring role). It is the 97th entry in the series released by ...

'' is inserted here, with the Stooges starting a pie fight. The film ends with new footage of Winchell bursting into the party scene and getting hit with a pie himself.

Production notes

The project was supervised by the Stooges' former producer-director,

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 ...

. White is credited as the new feature's director, but he was not involved in the newly staged scenes: "I didn't direct anything, it was all leftovers. I worked on the thing for over a month. We used to run four or five Stooges films in the evening at my house ndI recut the sequences for placement into the film." The Paul Winchell scenes were staged in New York; the Marquis Chimps footage was staged in Hollywood by veteran comedy writer Sid Kuller. The chimps offer a rendition of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'', narrated in rhyme by Winchell, with voice-over performances by

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

and

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

. Officer Joe Bolton, a television host associated with New York City Stooges television programming on

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...

-TV during the early 1970s, makes a cameo appearance as a customer within a cafe scene. This cameo serves as a nod to Bolton's established presence within the Stooges television domain. ''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' is careful to give screen credit to the source films' original producers, directors, writers, photographers, and film editors. Columbia staff editor Jerome Thoms, who had worked on seven Stooge shorts himself in the early 1940s, assembled ''Stop! Look! and Laugh!''

Controversy

''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' became embroiled in controversy following a lawsuit initiated by the Stooges against their longtime agent, producer Harry Romm. The Stooges alleged that Romm, who had produced their feature films ''

Swing Parade of 1946 ''Swing Parade of 1946'' is a 1946 musical comedy film directed by Phil Karlson and released by Monogram Pictures. The film features Gale Storm, Phil Regan, The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard), Edward Brophy, and musica ...

'' and ''

Have Rocket, Will Travel ''Have Rocket, Will Travel'' is a 1959 American science-fiction comedy film released by Columbia Pictures and starring the Three Stooges, consisting of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and new addition Joe DeRita ("Curly Joe"). The film was produced to c ...

'', had developed the "new" Three Stooges film without consulting them.

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 ...

, the eventual distributor, publicly acknowledged their oversight, expressing regret for compiling Three Stooges shorts without obtaining the team's consent. Both parties subsequently reached a settlement. The film was slated for release on July 4, 1960, with Columbia Pictures agreeing to extend financial support to the Three Stooges and co-manager

Norman Maurer Norman Albert Maurer (May 13, 1926 – November 23, 1986) was an American comic book artist and writer, and a director and producer of films and television shows. He is best known for his longtime professional and personal association with Th ...

's newly established production entity, Normandy Productions. This resolution aimed to address the grievances raised by the Stooges and fostered a collaborative resolution to the dispute. Normandy would ultimately produce four Stooge features that were released by Columbia.

Featured shorts

The following 11 Stooge shorts were featured in ''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'': * '' Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise'' (1939) * '' How High Is Up?'' (1940) * ''

Violent Is the Word for Curly ''Violent Is the Word for Curly'' is a 1938 short film, short subject directed by Charley Chase starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 32nd entry in the series released by C ...

'' (1938) * ''

Sock-a-Bye Baby ''Sock-a-Bye Baby'' is a 1942 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 66th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring th ...

'' (1942) * ''

'' (1943) * ''

What's the Matador? ''What's the Matador?'' is a 1942 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 62nd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starr ...

'' (1942) * ''

Calling All Curs ''Calling All Curs'' is a 1939 short film, short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 41st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictur ...

'' (1939) * ''

Goofs and Saddles ''Goofs and Saddles'' is a 1937 American Western short subject film directed by Del Lord and starring the slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 24th entry in the series released by Columbia ...

'' (1937) * '' Micro-Phonies'' (1945) * '' A Plumbing We Will Go'' (1940) * ''

'' (1947)Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 527; Comedy III Productions, Inc.,

References

External links