Gents Without Cents (1944)

Director:

Jules White

Writer:

Felix Adler (story)

Release Date:

22 September 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Music | War

Plot:

The stooges are three small time actors looking for a job. They meet three girl dancers in the situation...

Plot Keywords:

Shipyard | Producer | Honeymoon | Niagara Falls | Dancer

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
Lindsay Bourquin	...	Flo (as Lindsay)
Laverne Thompson	...	Mary (as LaVerne)
Betty Phares	...	Shirley (as Betty)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Borden	...	Audience Member (uncredited)
Lynton Brent	...	Army Officer in WWI Skit (uncredited)
Bobby Burns	...	Audience Member (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Audience Member (uncredited)
Judy Malcolm	...	Weeks' Secretary (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	Manny Weeks (uncredited)

Directed by
Jules White

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

Produced by
Jules White	....	producer

Cinematography by
Benjamin H. Kline		(as Benjamin Kline)

Film Editing by
Charles Hochberg

Art Direction by
Charles Clague

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Screen Gems (1958) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Tenderized Hams (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

19 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The Three Stooges perform a famous vaudeville routine known as "Slowly I Turned" (aka "Niagara Falls"), which Bud Abbott and Lou Costello performed in Lost in a Harem (1944), released the same year as this short.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the big show, after the girls fire the rifles and the flags drop, the shadow of the camera is seen as the camera dollies in towards the first flag.

Quotes:

[After Curly says Niagara Falls]
Moe: Niagara Falls! Slowly I turn... step by step... inch by inch...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973)

worth a look for "Slowly I Turned"

One of the better stooge shorts from a period when the quality and budget of their films was declining, "Gents without Cents" will forever be immortalized for the boy's rendition of the old vaudeville staple "Slowly I Turned" (a.k.a. "Niagra Falls"). Here they collectively essay a role that most reflects what they really were -- seasoned comic players who managed somehow to bring verve and added dimension to timeworn and/or second-rate material. Their performance of this old skit is definitive.

Incidentally, I have always wondered if it was strictly coincidental that Abbott and Costello revived "Slowly I Turned" in the same year, 1944, for their MGM romp "Lost in a Harum". I don't know the answer, but it would certainly please Moe Howard (who intensely disliked Abbott and Costello) to know that the version in "Gents without Cents" is considerably better than Bud and Lou's.