An Ache in Every Stake (1941)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Del Lord

Writers:

Lloyd French (screenplay)
Lloyd French (story)

Release Date:

22 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Family

Plot:

The stooges are icemen who, while delivering ice to a house on the top of a high hill, destroy several...

Plot Keywords:

The Three Stooges | Slapstick

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wilson Benge	...	Butler (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	The Cook (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Poindexter Lawrence (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Mrs. Lawrence (uncredited)
Bud Jamison	...	The Baker (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	(uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Victor Travers	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Del Lord

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lloyd French		screenplay (as Lloyd A. French)
Lloyd French		story (as Lloyd A. French)

Produced by
Del Lord	....	producer
Hugh McCollum	....	producer

Cinematography by
Philip Tannura

Film Editing by
Burton Kramer

Music Department
Ben Oakland	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical)
• Screen Gems (1958-1974) (USA) (TV) (original syndication release)
• Columbia Pictures Television (1974-1996) (USA) (TV)
• Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (1996-2001) (USA) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Television (2002-) (USA) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Filming Locations:

Steps between 2257 & 2258 Fair Oak Terrace, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Contrary to common belief, the long staircase in this film is NOT the same one used in Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's Oscar-winning short, The Music Box (1932). It is, however, in the same Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, about two miles away.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the end, when the Stooges slide down the stairway in fast motion, some people can be seen at the bottom, wondering what was going on. When they realize that a film is being shot, they try running out of the camera's line of sight.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Listen, Judge (1952)

Steps

This comment should put to rest the controversy of the "Ache in Every Stake" steps and the "Music Box" steps. The hilly area of Silver Lake, where both films were made contains a group of these staircases all around town. All of them are publicly owned, although there are private homes that can only be accessed by the stairs. The "Ache in Every Stake" steps are located between 2257 and 2258 Fair Oak View Terrace. About a mile away on the other side of the hill are the "Music Box" stairs. They are located between 923 and 937 Vendome Street. Both houses in both films are not at the top of each respective staircase. They are both studio sets. In addition, both films have different plots. The Stooge film moves faster, while the L&H is more surreal.