THE PLOT
The Stooges are small-time song-and-dance performers who are having trouble rehearsing due to loud tapping that is going on one story above them. When they go to give the rowdies a piece of their mind, three lovely ladies named Flo (Lindsay Bourquin), Mary (Laverne Thompson) and Shirley (Betty Phares) come to the door. It turns out the girls are performing their tap dance routine. The six become friends and go to a talent agent, Manny Weeks (John Tyrrell), to show of their stuff. However, he is at first unimpressed with the Stooges' act, but hires them anyway to perform at the Noazark Shipbuilding Company to entertain defense workers.
The Stooges, as "Two Souls and a Heel", slay the audience with their hilarious "Niagara Falls" routine ("slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch..."). When the boys receive word that the headliners (The Castor and Earl Review) have to bail, they and the girls offer to take their place. Weeks is so enthralled with the boys' performance that he offers to send the trio to Broadway.
The Stooges nearly leave their ladies, but end up getting married first with a honeymoon planned for — where else? — Niagara Falls.
TRIVIA
The Stooges filmed the "Niagara Falls" routine in 1943 for the feature film Good Luck, Mr. Yates, but the scene was cut at the last minute. Instead of wasting the footage, Columbia built Gents Without Cents around it. Filming commenced on June 14–16, 1944.
Gents Without Cents is the first Stooge film to employ a syncopated, jazzy version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' theme song. The new version is in the key of F, while the key of G was previously utilized. This syncopated version would be used briefly after the next film, No Dough Boys. This version was revamped during the Shemp Howard and Joe Besser era. The title is a play on "without sense." Other parodies, include The Noazark (Noah's Ark) Shipbuilding Company and show headliners, the Castor and Earl (castor oil) Revue.
Among other locations, the theatrical agent's sign lists a business location of ... Berlin soon. This film was released just a few months after D-Day, at a time when Allied forces were making steady advances. The Stooges' audition for the agent includes parodies of Hideki Tojo (Larry), Benito Mussolini (Curly), and Adolf Hitler (Moe).
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
My guess is that the Niagara Falls routine was one of Moe's favorite Stooge routines. Years later, in the early 70s, he recreated the skit on the Mike Douglas Show.
Curly is starting to look very worn and frazzled. One can tell that the lifestyle he was leading looked to be catching up with him.
This is a very interestingly put together short. The melding of the regular acting wth the more polished routines intended for the film Good Luck, Mr. Yates worked well in this short.
Any Stooges fan has recreated the Niagara Falls routine in the privacy of his own home at least once.
THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE POSTED COORDINATES.
Watch the following short Curly clips
Curly's Audition: Episode 81 Gents Without Cents Clip1
Curly's Performance: Episode 81 Gents Without Cents Clip2
Determine the two character United States identifiers in which Moe trailed Larry through before they entered the state of New York and met up in Niagara Falls. Using A=1, B=2, C=3, etc., add up the numerical values that are representative of those U.S. states. SUBTRACT this value from the last three digits of the posted North coordinates.
Determine the two character United States identifiers in which agent Manny Weeks operates. Using A=1, B=2, C=3, etc., add up the numerical values that are representative of those U.S. states. ADD this value to the last three digits of the posted West coordinates.
Have fun! Get the family involved.
Curly Code: 486-183