Somewhere I have an entire lexicon of title origins for Stooge films, unfortunately I can't find which disk I put the info on.
Few I recall:
Dutiful but Dumb = Beautiful but Dumb (1941 film)
Three Little Pigskins = Three Little Pigs (1933 Disney cartoon)
Guns A-Poppin' = Hellzapoppin' (1941 film, costarring Shemp, based on stage revue of same name)
Goofs and Saddles = Boots and Saddles (1937 Western)
Three Dumb Clucks = Three Smart Girls (1937 Deanna Durbin film, cf. also THREE SMART SAPS)
Termites of 1938 takes off on the 1930s penchant for including a year in a musical comedy, which in turn derived from the popular stage revues (Follies, George White's Scandals, etc.). So it's a parody of things like Broadway Melody of 1936, Gold Diggers of 1935, etc.
Sometimes the working titles of a Stooge short reveal the film being parodied: e.g. the working title of SHOT IN THE FRONTIER was LOW AFTERNOON, clearly parodying HIGH NOON. The short spoofs the main action of High Noon, right down to closeups of a clockface and a burlesque "showdown" in which the Stooges and the villains walk right by each other on an otherwise deserted street. While you don't have to be familiar w/High Noon to appreciate the sendup, it's an unusually careful parody from the Stooges and really deserves comparison with the feature.
Just as many Stooge titles derived from popular songs. Some of the previous posts include a few of these. E.g. the two Hitler spoofs, YOU NAZTY SPY and I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN, both derive their titles from hit songs of the 30s ("Oh, You Nasty Man" and "I'll Never Smile Again"). In the case of YOU NAZTY SPY, the short actually went into production as "Oh, You Nazty Spy" before someone decided to shorten the title.
