Flat Foot Stooges
| Flat Foot Stooges | |
|---|---|
| File:FlatFootstoogesTITLE.jpg | |
| Directed by | Charley Chase |
| Written by | Charley Chase |
| Produced by | Charley Chase Hugh McCollum |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Dick Curtis Lola Jensen Chester Conklin Heinie Conklin Al Thompson |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Art Seid |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | December 5, 1938 |
Running time | 15' 37" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Flat Foot Stooges is the 35th 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.
Plot
The trio are firemen (a la 1936's False Alarms) at an engine company that still employs horse-powered engines. After sleazy salesman Mr. Reardon (Dick Curtis) fails to convince Fire Chief Kelly (Chester Conklin) that horse-powered engines are on the way out, he tries to sabotage the firehouse by committing arson. He drops a can of gunpowder into the old-fashioned pump boiler and the chief's daughter sees him. Reardon does not know that the can has a leak, and a duck has been eating the spilled gunpowder. The duck alights on a window ledge in the station and lays an egg, which falls to the floor and explodes like a hand grenade, starting a fire. Realizing too late that the blaze is coming from their own fire station, the Stooges manage to arrive just in time to save the chief's daughter (Lola Jensen) from the flames.
Production notes
The title Flat Foot Stooges is a pun on the 1938 jazz song "Flat Foot Floogie".[1]
A rarity among Stooge shorts, the boys are shown reciting dialogue incorrectly on several occassions, a result of director Charley Chase's rushed directing style. Chase rarely stopped for retakes in an effort to finish a film ahead of schedule.[1]
When Larry slides down the fire pole and is accidentally punched by Moe, he calls himself a "victim of circumstance". This marks the first time a Stooge other than Curly says the line.
"Wrong Way" Corrigan
Upon realizing they are heading in the wrong direction, Curly quips "Hey, we're doing the Corrigan!", a reference to aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan. Corrigan had recently returned from a transcontinental flight from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York to Long Beach, California. Instead of returning to New York, he bypassed it, and headed to Ireland.[1]
References
External links
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