False Alarms (1936)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Del Lord

Writer:

John Grey (story)

Release Date:

16 August 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Three inept firemen try to avoid being fired by their increasingly exasperated chief.

Plot Keywords:

Slapstick | Fire Truck | Moving Van | Fat Woman | Fire Hose

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Curly says "The birthday cake!", his lips don't move.

Quotes:

Mini: I guess the only way I can get a man to come to see me is to call a doctor.

Minnie: 'You Know I Grow On People.' Curly: 'Yeah, So Do Warts!'

This is one of those "classic" Three Stooges shorts that is funny no matter how many times you view it. You get some good sight gags, a few hilarious lines of dialog, a Keystone Kops-type wild ride in the city and the usual assortment of Stooge jokes and slapstick.

The boys are pretty new at being firemen but, of course, they are pathetic and are "fired" for sleeping on the job (among other sins, such as never helping to put out a fire). They plead with the chief, played by Stanley Blystone, to give them one more chance.

The ironic part of the story is that there never is a fire to be put out, only at the very end when the boys drive away in a big truck with the contents on fire in the back! Unfortunately, the contents happen to be the chief's brand-new car.

Much of the story centers around Curly trying to find a "fella" for fat girl "Minnie" who is one of three girls at a birthday party the Stooges were invited to, but only Curly could attend. (Why that was, you'll have to watch).

June Gittlelson, who plays the big woman, is very good. Every man she runs into, she asks, "Will you be my fella?" To Curly, she adds, "You know I grow on people." Curly answers, "Yeah, so do warts!"

Minnie wants a man in the worst way, or she wants to go somewhere and eat. I suppose fat people will be insulted with movie. Near the end, she and Curly take turns slapping each other. It's wonderful stuff you'd never see today! The goofy antics at the fire hall, at the birthday party with the women and the mayhem in the streets all make this a very entertaining Stooges film .