Dutiful But Dumb is the 54th 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.
One of the classics. The boys were on fire when they filmed this one.
THE PLOT
The Stooges are Click, Clack and Cluck, paparazzi-like photographers working for Whack Magazine ("If it's a good picture, it's out of Whack!") who continue to grate at their weary boss (Vernon Dent). To get them out of his hair, he sends them to Vulgaria (an obvious parody of Bulgaria and fictional european country) for their next job, knowing full well that taking pictures in Vulgaria is against the law, leading to execution. The inept trio are caught almost immediately after they set foot on Vulgarian soil. As the firing squad is setting up, Curly requests one last smoke, leading to him pulling out a cigar the length of a hero sandwich. The wait puts everyone to sleep, and enables the boys to escape.
As they try to avoid their captors, they end up in a local cafe, in which Curly pits his wits against a strong drink, and then a defiant oyster in his stew. When the oyster works Curly's last nerve, he pulls out his gun and fires at it repeatedly. This gets the attention of the guards, who promptly capture the Stooges and carry them off, upside down, on the bayonets of their guns.
TRIVIA
Filmed on August 1–5, 1940, the film title is a play on "beautiful but dumb."
An adaptation of the oyster soup battle is featured in the The Three Stooges video game, where players control Curly who attempts to pick up and eat as many crackers from the oyster soup as possible before the oysters do. Oysters occasionally fire soup at Curly. The gag was later performed by Moe in 1948's Shivering Sherlocks and Larry who fights the Lobster Gumbo in 1954's Icome Tax Sappy. The gag also appears in the 1945 Abbott and Costelo film, Here Come the Co-Eds.
Curly Clips
Curly was very much in a "zone" in this short. For that reason, here are three short clips from this episode highlighting Curly's talent: (What the heck, just watch the whole short).
Curly Develops A Photo: Episode 54 Dutiful But Dumb Clip1
Curly The Radio: Episode 54 Dutiful But Dumb Clip2
Curly And The Oyster (classic clip): Episode 54 Dutiful But Dumb Clip3
Enjoy the search!
Curly Code: 330-340