3 Dumb Clucks is the 22nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.
THE PLOT
The Stooges are in jail when their mother sends them a letter. The letter states that their father (Curly Howard, pulling double duty as both himself and his father) has just become rich via an oil well and is planning to leave their mother and marry young gold digging blonde Daisy (Lucille Lund). The Stooges break out of jail and set off to try to stop the wedding. But since Curly and his father look exactly alike, Daisy ends up marrying the wrong man. The Stooges manage to escape the clutches of the criminals trying to kill them for their father's oil money, and rescue their father.
TRIVIA
Filming for 3 Dumb Clucks commenced between January 31 and February 5, 1937. It is a send-up of the feature film Three Smart Girls.
This is the third of sixteen Stooge shorts using the word "three" in the title, however, 3 Dumb Clucks is the only one to use the number "3". It was reworked in 1953 as Up In Daisy's Penthouse, using minimal stock footage from the original.
In the scene where the Stooges are trying to break out of jail, Larry tries to get the oil canister to work and it squirts into Moe's face. The rubber hose used to shoot the water out of the nozzle can be seen running down Moe's right sleeve.
During the scene where Curly's father arrives for his wedding, two of the gold digger's henchmen dispose of him by throwing him down an elevator shaft. The prop men had padded the bottom of the shaft to cushion Curly's fall, but neglected to cover a protruding 2" x 4" panel. Curly was thrown down the shaft quickly, and landed head-first on the 2" x 4", tearing his scalp open. As the Stooges were workhorses at Columbia Pictures, Curly was not taken to the hospital. Instead, the studio physician was rushed to the set to apply several stitches to Curly's scalp. Some fresh hair was glued over the wound, and with a healthy dose of painkillers, the slightly wobbily Stooge was back in action within a few hours. The patch can be seen in an earlier scene where Curly is trying on hats. (See Curly Clips for that scene).
Curly Clips
Here are two short clips from this episode highlighting Curly's talent:
Curly Gets A New Hat: Episode 22 3 Dumb Clucks Clip1
Curly Double Role: Episode 22 3 Dumb Clucks Clip2
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Curly Code: 302-345