So Long Mr. Chumps (1941)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jules White

Writers:

Felix Adler (story)
Clyde Bruckman (story)

Release Date:

7 February 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

The stooges are street cleaners who find some valuable bonds and return them to their owner. The man...

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:
Dorothy Appleby	...	Pomeroy's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Bruce Bennett	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Lynton Brent	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Stanley Brown	...	Officer in charge of Lone Wolf Louie (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Laughing Pedestrian (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Gyp dePeople (uncredited)
Bud Jamison	...	(uncredited)
Johnny Kascier	...	Wallet Finder #2 (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Percy Pomeroy (uncredited)
Louis Mason	...	Policeman #2 (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	B.O. Davis (uncredited)
Bert Young	...	Policeman #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Jules White

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Felix Adler		story and screenplay
Clyde Bruckman		story and screenplay

Produced by
Jules White	....	producer

Cinematography by
Barney McGill		(archive footage) (uncredited)

Film Editing by
Mel Thorsen

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Screen Gems (1958) (USA) (TV)

Runtime:

17 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Why the fur-collared overcoats & top hats?

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Directed by Jules White, with a supporting cast that includes John Tyrrell, Eddie Laughton, and Vernon Dent, "So Long Mr. Chumps" is something of an oddity in the Three Stooges catalogue of films. Moe, Larry, and Curly begin this short as bumbling street cleaners who find an envelope filled with bonds and return it to its "rightful owner" (Tyrrell). The Stooges are then hired by this "gentleman" to find him an honest man with executive ability. When the boys hear about a gentleman named Percy Pomeroy (Laughton), who resides in jail on false charges, they decide to try to break into jail in order to flee him.

Highlights from "So Long Mr. Chumps" include the following. As the boys diligently clean the street, Larry accidentally stabs Moe in the posterior while chasing after some trash blown in the air. While in jail, Curly accidentally bonks Moe on the head when he flings his shackle ball over his shoulder. And who could forget the Stooges' act of painting their prison clothes into guard uniforms (somehow neglecting their backs)? Equally unforgettable is Curly's closing ad-lib when Moe prepares to crush a rock over his head: "Hey, wait a minute! That's a real one. I'm no fool." This line receives an amusing reaction from Moe and especially Larry, thus proving that no harm could be done when an actor in a Stooge short briefly breaks out of character.