Oily To Bed, Oily To Rise is the 42nd 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.
Another classic performance by Curly.
THE PLOT
The Stooges are three hapless tramps. After nearly destroying a farmer's (Richard Fiske) pile of firewood, and destroying some of his equipment, they hit the road. Curly wishes they had a car after they stop for a break. By accident they think they've found a car for free and take it. After driving around for a bit the boys come to the assistance of the Widow Jenkins (Eva McKenzie). She graciously gives them a huge meal and in return they offer to fix her broken outdoor water pump.
As the Stooges attempt to fix the pump, they discover oil hidden under the farm when the pump turns into a oil geyser. They are happy for the lady and her beautiful daughters, until she regretfully tells them she had sold the farm. The Stooges realize she was cheated out of her land by a trio of swindlers (Dick Curtis, Eddie Laughton, James Craig). They manage to retrieve the deed to the land and are allowed to marry the now wealthy Widow Jenkins' daughters.
TRIVIA
Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise was filmed on March 16–20, 1939. The film's title is a parody of Benjamin Franklin's, "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
Towards the end of the film, Moe tells Curly to wish for quintuplets and Curly responds that honeymooning in Canada with their new found loves is how to make the wish come true, a reference to the Dionne quintuplets.
The studio crew can be heard laughing when Curly accidentally hits his head on Widow Jenkins' kitchen door while trumpeting and singing "A-Pumping We Will Go."
The shot of Curly riding the oil gusher up into the sky would be reused in Oil's Well That Ends Well.
MOE'S INJURY
Moe Howard recalled in his autobiography that he received a glob of goo (representing oil) directly under his eyelids during shooting:
"I remember once when the prop man concocted a smorgasbord of gook: chocolate, whipped cream, asbestos chips, linseed oil, ketchup, and other unknown goodies. The plot had us in one scene trying to repair a water pump. After many attempts, I took a screwdriver, knelt down, peered into the mouth of the pump, and jiggled the screwdriver inside of it. Gazing up the opening, I jiggled again and then looked up a third time. Suddenly, a blob of assorted gunk got me right in the eye...and...it took hours to clean me up for the next scene.
Moe would have a similar ordeal while filming 1946's The Three Troubledoers, when chunks of black soot became lodged under his eyelids.
Curly Clips
Here are two short clips from this episode highlighting Curly's talent:
Curly Fixes The Door: Episode 42 Oily To Bed Oily To Rise Clip1
Curly's Three Wishes: Episode 42 Oily To Bed Oily To Rise Clip2
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Curly Code: 496-317