MUTTS TO YOU (1938) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released October 14, 1938
Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly

Columbia
18.2 min. (Short Subject)

The Stooges run a dog washing service and they have a rather weird way of washing a dog. Taking a lunch break, they see a baby left on a doorstep and assume it's abandoned, so they take it home. They have a little trouble because the landlord doesn't want babies in the building, and then they shockingly discover that the parents are looking for the baby and a search is on for the kidnappers!

Avg. Rating:

[7.00/10]

Cast List

Jerry Howard
Curly

Moe Howard
Moe

Larry Fine
Larry

Bess Flowers
Mrs. Manning

Lane Chandler
Mr. Doug Manning

Vernon Dent
Mr. Stutz

Eugene Anderson Jr.
Paperboy

Bud Jamison
Officer O'Halloran

John Rand
Mr. Mulcahy

Charley Chase
Curly's legs, stand-in

Cy Schindell
Policeman

Bobby Burns
Man on street

Charlie Phillips
Man with hose

Unidentified MUTTS TO YOU 1
Baby Manning

Unidentified MUTTS TO YOU 2
Chauffeur

Unidentified MUTTS TO YOU 3
Couple on street

Unidentified MUTTS TO YOU 4
Officer Murphy

Production Crew

Charley Chase
Producer

Hugh McCollum
Producer

Charley Chase
Director

Elwood Ullman
Story and Screenplay

Al Giebler
Story and Screenplay

Allen G. Siegler
Photography

Arthur Seid
Film Editor

Louis Silvers
Music

Stooge Businesses (2)

Stooge Goofs (6)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 2.50)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2024-04-14 20:00:11 by DasManiac

The problem with this short is that it abandons its initial premise with the Stooges running a dog grooming facility. That premise could support a short so it's puzzling that it ao quickly abandons it. It's a decent but unremarkable Stooge film.

Reviewer's Rating:

(5)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-10-08 13:49:00 by Shemp_Diesel
Edited 2014-12-24 01:03:09 by Shemp_Diesel

I have to agree, this is the weakest Curly short--not counting some of the 1945-46 efforts. Now that I think about it, I would actually take a short like A Bird in the Head or Beer Barrel Polecats over this one. Larry batting his eyes at Moe--who was sniffing the dropper he used on the dog--is hilarious though.

3 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(3)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2010-10-19 11:27:18 by Final Shemp

The idea of the Stooges playing parents is an obvious one, and it's been revisited several times down the road with Sock-A-Bye Baby, Three Loan Wolves, and Baby Sitter Jitters. However, Mutts to You was the first and arguably the best.Containing some of the more inventive parenting gags, Mutts to You is a fairly pleasurable outing. The desperate antics of hiding the baby in their apartment are wild, and Curly's rig for the baby is genius.One could argue that the Stooges don't spend nearly enough time trying to care for the baby, possibly making it lesser than the other "Three Stooges and a Baby" shorts in which the parenting skills are more upfront, but as those shorts went on, I felt the premise wearing thin. A little more with the baby probably could have been done, which is why I don't really consider Mutts to You a classic, but it doesn't wear out it's welcome.Final Shemp's Final Word: 3 Pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(8)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2007-12-17 23:20:01 by KingKongFu

This was the first actual Stooge short I watched. I haven't seen this short in a while, but here goes. At first, I thought this was a real gem to begin with, but compared to other superior shorts, this one's just average. The premise with the Stooges taking care of a so-called lost baby was all right, but I think the whole story worked better in SOCK A BYE BABY. There were some good moments in this, though.

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2007-11-08 17:25:55 by skeit

An underrated short. It's true that Curly is not up to his usual calibre, but Moe and Larry more than make up for it. Matter of fact it's one of the best "Larry shorts." The Chinese/Yiddish stuff is hillarious, but I most crack up at the goofy look Larry gives Moe after he puts the perfume on the dog which is followed by a Moe slap. Vernon D. and Bud J. are both great in this one as well. They really were versatile, too bad they aren't the household names they deserve to be.

Curly is weak and the plot is a little thin, but I'm going with 3 pokes (Moe and Larry shine in this one).

Reviewer's Rating:

(8)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2002-03-25 14:24:00 by BJR
Edited 2006-03-24 19:53:19 by shemps#1

Awful effort for Curly! And this from the same year that classics like TERMITES OF 1938 were released. The problem seems to be Charley Chase, who also directed the pitiful SAVED BY THE BELLE. This short is the worst of his batch. Dog washing scene: not funny at all, easily five or six minutes of wasted time! I didn't laugh a single time... it's novel, not funny. This isn't slapstick comedy, it's there to appeal to kids. What's more, the short doesn't improve much even when they leave the dog-washing place! The baby scenes were only mildly funny... at their best moments. I must admit the "Chinese" scene was pretty good, but that was the one and only time I laughed out loud at this short. This, my fellow Stoogeheads, is fair game for a match with OUTER SPACE JITTERS and HOOFS AND GOOFS. 1/2 poke

Reviewer's Rating:

(1)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-03-30 15:29:00 by Stooge
Edited 2003-06-30 03:55:00 by Stooge

A pretty boring short. These "baby" shorts never seem to work with the Stooges. The ending was also lame and why were the two parents smiling while their baby was being spanked?

Reviewer's Rating:

(6)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-08-26 11:04:00 by Ingagy

I wonder if anyone knows who the two extras are that played the hand-in-hand black couple that are bowled over by the speeding hamper... the scene is only about two seconds long but I never fail to guffaw when I see it... so many of the Stooges shorts contains these priceless little moments that add so much to the overall films...

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-07-23 01:02:00 by [Deleted Member]

I totally agree with the "Our Gang" analogy. I wonder if Hal Roach was called for advice on this one. Not only can we bring up the "Our Gang" analogy, but also say that this is the kind of stuff that the "New Three Stooges" cartoons showed them doing.While the baby-oriented shorts may be slower-paced, I still enjoy them. I don't care if every moment is fast-paced, as long as the gags are hillarious as usual.How hard do you think it would be to build that dog-washing mashine yourself?I wouldn't mind trying it.Great short!ISLIPP, then I get up and ISLIPP some more. ®2001

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-07-20 14:52:00 by Genius In the Lamp

It's a cute short, but the cuteness cuts a bit into the comedy. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable enough, especially with the "hands" in the dogwash and Larry speaking Yiddish while posing as a Chinese laundryman.

Reviewer's Rating:

(5)

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-04-13 08:48:00 by Uncle Mortimer

Stooge: the parents were smiling because that kid was a no good lousy BRAT who deserved it! ....I love Soitainly's Little Rascals analogy; good insight Soitainly! Me personally, I like the dog washing machine, but overall the short is slow and somewhat forgetable. It does have a cute quality but not enough Stoogery. To me, when Charley Chase was "on", the short could be great but sometimes he was just too soft. Although I enjoy many of his shorts(a few of them classics), I don't think that he had enough "STOOGE" in him to make consistently funny films.

Re: MUTTS TO YOU
Posted 2001-02-06 03:31:00 by sickdrjoe

Haven't seen all the Charley Chases but those I have all seem to be missing something. MUTTS TO YOU is a good example: there are funny things in it like the Rube Goldberg dog laundry but they all seem to belong in another movie. I just don't think Chase had a flair for vicious low comedy and leaned towards the more subdued gentle whimsy of his own series of shorts. His work with the Stooges is inventive and certainly a change of pace from the Lord/White mayhem, but he never gets down and dirty. Sometimes a pliers twisting a nose is called for, by George!

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Working Title(s):	MUTS TO YOU
Title Origin:	Expression, "Nuts to you!"
Prod. No.:	427
Shooting Days:	4 days From: 1938-03-30 To: 1938-04-02

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