Rhythm And Weep is the 95th short subject starring the American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. This is the third-to-last short in which Curly Howard was billed.
THE PLOT
The Stooges play the roles of unsuccessful actors who have decided to end it all by jumping off a skyscraper. On top of the building, they discover three girls with an unsuccessful dancing act who have also decided to jump. The Stooges immediately fall in love with the girls. The six distraught lovers are still planning to jump when they suddenly hear piano music playing. They leave the ledge to go find the source of the music. On a lower floor they discover a piano-playing millionaire who is looking for a talented act. He promises them a significant amount of money if they are good. Their act is a success with the millionaire, who doubles their salaries and says, "The way I throw my money around, I bet you think I'm crazy!" As if on cue, two men in white coats come to take him back to an asylum.
TRIVIA
The title parodies the card-game expression "Read 'Em and Weep."
Ruth Godfrey, who played one of the very talented dancers that the Stooges meet up with in this short, was assistant dance director at Warner Brothers Studio for ten years. She was under contract to Columbia Studios for two years and was the choreographer for “The Ten Commandments” at Paramount. Miss Godfrey taught such stars as Jimmy Cagney, Gene Nelson, Jane Powell, Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball.
Godfrey first joined Columbia Pictures as a member of The Jack Cole Dancers, along with supporting actresses Nita Bieber and Gloria Patrice, who round out the trio in this short.
Godfrey was the daughter-in-law of Columbia Pictures short subject head Jules White, director of this short. Godfrey appeared in several more Three Stooges films throughout the 1950s. Memorably, Godfrey became the only actress in the history of the slapstick comedy trio to deliver a triple slap—twice—to the Stooges in 1957's A Merry Mix Up, in the Joe Besser era. Though she made less than 10 films with the comedy team, Godfrey is one of the few actresses to have worked with five of the six Stooges (Shemp Howard, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, and now in this short at the very end of his career, Curly Howard).
Godfrey retired from film shortly after production on the Stooge short films ceased in December 1957.
This short contained one of the few instances that the Stooges broke the "fourth wall". ("The fourth wall" is an expression stemming from the world of theater. In most modern theater design, a room will consist of three physical walls, as well as a an imaginary fourth that serves to separate the world of the characters from that of the audience).During his time on the ledge, Larry hugs his girl, looks into the camera, and says to the audience: "This I like! And I get paid for it, too!"
Curly's illness
Rhythm and Weep was filmed on April 23-26, 1946, near the end of Curly Howard's career. The 42-year-old comedian had suffered a series of minor strokes several months prior to filming, and his performances had been unpredictable. By the time of Rhythm and Weep, he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and lines had creased his face.
While director Edward Bernds devised ways to cover his illness, Jules White simply gave most of Curly's lines to Larry. In fact, Curly was so ill during production that he could no longer remember what few lines he had. Moe's son-in-law Norman Maurer was present during filming, and recalled Curly was hurting. "He was having trouble with his coordination," recalled Maurer. "He was supposed to pop pills in his mouth during the (doctor's office) scene, but the scene was switched to Moe putting the pills into Curly's mouth because of Curly's physical problems (see Curly clip below).
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
Watching Curly's career come to and end is very sad. In each of these final shorts he just gets worse and worse.
(The clip below will also be useful in solving bonus cache GC718FK Jerome Lester Horwitz: Death And Legacy)
Curly's Examination: Episode 95 Rhythm And Weep Clip1
Have fun! Get the family involved.
Curly Code: 052-062