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Released July 04, 1962
Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly Joe
Columbia
87 min. (Feature Film)

While rehearsing a new opening bit for their children's television program THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK, Moe, Larry and Curly Joe are evicted by their landlady for cooking in the rooming house. Searching for a new apartment, the Stooges travel to Professor Danforth's (Emil Sitka) house in Lompoc. Professor Danforth is convinced that Martians will soon invade Earth, and persuades the boys to help him guard his new invention... a military craft with the ability to move on the ground like a tank, in the air like a helicopter, in the water like a submarine, and even orbit like a spacecraft. Danforth's butler is a Martian spy in human disguise, and he attempts, successfully, to frighten the Stooges away. Fleeing to their television studio, the Stooges learn that their ratings are falling, and the producer doesn't care for any of their new animation ideas. He gives them 10 days to come up with a ratings gimmick, or he'll cancel the show. Danforth arrives on the scene with a deal: he'll create a new "electronic animation" machine for them to use in their TV show, if they return to his house and help with the helio-tank invention. Meanwhile, the Martians have sent two more spies, Ogg and Zogg, to prepare for the invasion. After Danforth's vehicle is finished and given a test run by the Stooges, the Martians steal it and mount their own "ray gun,", to destroy selected Earth targets. The Stooges sneak onto the craft and attempt to stop the Martians!

Most of the first two reels of the film is stock footage, taken from THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (1960) television pilot. Filmed in color, footage was printed in black & white and reused for ORBIT. However, due to plot, character and casting revisions, virtually every scene with Emil Sitka (Prof. Danforth) is new, not stock footage.

Among the silent film footage shown in a scene with the martians is a clip from the Billy Bevan comedy BE REASONABLE (1921). Portions of the martian attack on Los Angeles is stock footage from EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956 Columbia).

Costars Edson Stroll (McHALE'S NAVY) and Carol Christensen were interviewed in 2003, appearing in The Three Stooges Journal # 108 (Winter 2003).

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Avg. Rating: [6.83/10]
 
THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT, THE on IMDb

Joe DeRita
Curly Joe

Don Lamond
Narrator / Radio announcer

Marjorie Eaton
Mrs. McGinnis

Emil Sitka
Prof. Danforth

Carol Christensen
Carol Danforth

Edson Stroll
Capt. Tom Andrews

Nestor Paiva
Martian Chairman

Guy Way
Martian Council Member

Hubie Kerns
Martian Council Member

Maurice Manson
Mr. Lansing

Thomas Glynn
George Galveston

Mel Blanc
Feathers, voice

Roy Engel
Agent Welby

Jane Wald
Bathing girl

Cheerio Meredith
Woman in TV commercial

Peter Dawson
General Bixby

Don Lamond
Colonel Smithers

Bill Dyer
Colonel Lane

Paul Bradley
Air Force officer

Duane Ament
Air Force messenger

Guy Way
Air Force jeep driver

Hubie Kerns
Air Force jeep passenger

Peter Brocco
Doctor Appleby

Harold Miller
Naval officer at AEC test

George DeNormand
Army officer at AEC test

Cosmo Sardo
AEC official

George N. Neise
Airline pilot

Rayford Barnes
Airline co-pilot

Jean Charney
WAF Sergeant

Mickey Martin
Moe's stand-in

Charles Cross
Larry's stand-in

Bill Chaney
Curly Joe's stand-in


Sidney Miller
Director, stock footage

Elwood Ullman
Story and Screenplay

William E. Whitley
Director of Photography

Hal A. McAlpin
Photography, stock footage

Emil Oster
Camera Operator

Nelson Cording
Camera Operator, stock footage

Albert Bettcher
Assistant Cameraman

Owen Marsh
Asst. Cameraman, stock footage

Albert Scheving
Asst. Cameraman, stock footage

Edwin Bryant
Film Editor

Chuck Gladden
Film Editor, stock footage

James M. Falkinburg
Supervising Sound Editor

Charles J. Rice
Sound Supervisor

Harry Foy
Sound Recording

George H. Anderson
Sound Recording

Leon Leon
Sound Recording, stock footage

Doug Grant
Assistant Sound Recording

Larry Golding
Asst. Sound Recording, stock footage

Don Ament
Art Director

Richard Mansfield
Set Decorator

Frank Lombardo
Set Decorator, stock footage

Paul Dunlap
Original Music

George Duning
Music, stock footage

Jack Angel
Costumes, stock footage

Ted Coodley
Makeup, stock footage

Peggy MacDonald
Hair Stylist

Eddie Saeta
Assistant Director

Harry Slott
Asst. Director, stock footage

Burt Astor
2nd Assistant Director

Dave Marks
2nd Asst. Director, stock footage

Eylla Jacobs
Script Supervisor

Joe Franklin
Script Supervisor, stock footage

Chick Chichetti
Property Master, stock footage

Mel Sternlight
Asst. Propman, stock footage

Les Gaunt
Key Grip

Tex Hayes
Grip, stock footage

Fred Pastoue
2nd Grip, stock footage

Robert Petzoldt
Electrical, stock footage

Jim Burnett
Boom, stock footage

Bobby Sharp
Crab Operator, stock footage

Bill Kane
Best Boy, stock footage

Sascha Brastoff
Special Effects, stock footage

Homer Van Pelt
Still Photographer



















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