Topic: Shemp's Risky Stunt

[DianaStoogeFanNYC]

I was looking at a Shemp video in which he (not a stuntman) has his backside on fire for a really long time. Sorry I cannot recall the title of the short. Even with the best of precautions, it still looked dangerous. I got nervous watching it. Was Shemp or any of the other  Stooges ever injured from  a stunt?. I have seen them use stuntmen a lot , and other times they are the ones doing stunts. Shemp was fearless.

[Pilsner Panther]

I was looking at a Shemp video in which he (not a stuntman) has his backside on fire for a really long time. Sorry I cannot recall the title of the short. Even with the best of precautions, it still looked dangerous. I got nervous watching it. Was Shemp or any of the other  Stooges ever injured from  a stunt?. I have seen them use stuntmen a lot , and other times they are the ones doing stunts. Shemp was fearless.

You're thinking of "Heavenly Daze," where Shemp apparently dies and goes to Heaven; but at the end, he wakes up with his pants on fire because he's been smoking in bed. That does look dangerous, but I'm sure the pants had some asbestos (or other fireproof material) padding the seat.

There were a lot of Stooge injuries; some of the best-known are Moe's. He broke a rib taking a pratfall off a table in "Pardon My Scotch" (but he got up and finished the scene anyway— now that's a mensch!). Moe was hurt again in "Oily To Bed, Oily To Rise," when he's trying to unblock a water pump and he suddenly gets a face full of oil out of the spout. The stuff got in his eyes and he had to be treated by a doctor, but once again, he finished the scene; he looks up and makes a pun: "Well, well!"

Curly broke his leg taking a fall down an elevator shaft in "Three Little Pigskins."

I'm sure that some of the other regulars here (Brent? Stooge?) can think of more instances where a Stooge was actually hurt while doing a stunt. Stooging was serious business!

 

[Im Not Me]

There's the scene in Punch Drunks Three Little Pigskins where the Stooges and the cameramen on the sidelines got tackled.  Larry (or one of the Stooges, anyway) objected to the risk, and it was a good thing - the stunt doubles got injured - including broken bones, I believe.

[Waldo Twitchell]

Actually, the scene where the Stooges got tackled was from "Three Little Pigskins" during the football game. Moe specifically talks about this incident in his autobiography, 'Moe Howard and the Three Stooges', and he was the one who objected to doing the scene.

The next time you see "Heavenly Daze", watch Larry's expression when the fountain pen from the whipped cream mixer lands on his forehead. He wasn't acting when he screamed in pain!

[Stooge]

Moe was hurt again in "Oily To Bed, Oily To Rise," when he's trying to unblock a water pump and he suddenly gets a face full of oil out of the spout. The stuff got in his eyes and he had to be treated by a doctor, but once again, he finished the scene; he looks up and makes a pun: "Well, well!"

That "Well, well..." always cracks me up, and the way he just spits out some oil in his mouth afterwards before yelling at Curly and Larry.  Anyway, a similar injury happened to Moe in THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS, when the soot from the bazooka shot into his face really fast and hard.  Even though he had his eyes closed, the soot still got inside his eyes and he was almost blinded.  The first aid man had to pry his eyes open and take out the soot in chunks. 

Some other Stooge injuries not mentioned that I can remember:

Curly cutting his scalp open on a misplaced plank when falling down the elevator shaft in 3 DUMB CLUCKS.

Moe twisting his ankle, tripping over a bed, and knocking himself out on a bed leg at the beginning of SELF MADE MAIDS when the Stooges are skipping in their high heels.

Curly actually getting singed by the flames in real life when he's hanging over the roasting fire in VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY.

[Im Not Me]

Actually, the scene where the Stooges got tackled was from "Three Little Pigskins" during the football game. Moe specifically talks about this incident in his autobiography, 'Moe Howard and the Three Stooges', and he was the one who objected to doing the scene.

My error!  (Guess I shouldn't be drinking rum while posting.)   

[Baggie]

 Apparantly in Heavenly Daze that fountain pen embedded itself in Larry's skull. Then Moe/Larry had a go at Jules White because he promised Larry wouldn't get hurt.
 If anyone has seen His First Flame, the 1935 Vitaphone short with Shemp Howard, you'll see he sets himself on fire, and it's a lot worse than Heavenly Daze. It's obviously Shemp and not a stuntman. I wonder how he could have done that with him being scared to death of everything.