Topic: Punch Drunks (1934)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/2

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025688/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1







Thanks to those who participated for WOMAN HATERS, let's hope this keeps up.  Of course, you can still talk WOMAN HATERS as well.

PUNCH DRUNKS makes me wonder why the boys did not write more of their shorts, because this seems like a fully realized creation, and we're only at the second short.  Perhaps they had to write a short at this point because nobody else would, but whatever the case, the results are brilliant.

PUNCH DRUNKS is the short where The Three Stooges are born.  Moe is the boss who slaps everyone around, Larry the middle man, and Curly assumes the mantle of the third Stooge.  In WOMAN HATERS and with Healy they were a bit interchangeable, but from this point forward, they had defined characters.  Since this short defined the Stooges, one can argue it's their most important one.  Even though they were never officially credited with writing another one of their shorts again, PUNCH DRUNKS proves they were the authors of their own characters and not a studio creation.

A fun short all the way around, importance aside.  I love some of the throwaway gags like Curly placing his stuff out he window when going to work, Larry's two piece hat, Curly giving an apple to the ref, and Moe chomping on broccoli like a typewriter. 

9/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

Well, I just finished watching Punch Drunks a few minutes ago & my feelings about it haven't changed much. I still think it's one of the more overrated shorts in the stooge library. I'm not saying it's bad by any means, I just think it's good not great.

As I've said before in the comments section, I think if this same script had been done a few years later when Moe, Larry and Curly had perfected their onscreen personas it would have been a classic. In a way, I think Grips, Grunts and Groans kind of proves my theory.

At any rate, I would say "Drunks" is a solid 7 on the 10 scale, but their was much better to come from the stooges.

[hiramhorwitz]

PUNCH DRUNKS makes me wonder why the boys did not write more of their shorts, because this seems like a fully realized creation, and we're only at the second short.  Perhaps they had to write a short at this point because nobody else would, but whatever the case, the results are brilliant.

In Larry Fine's words:

"We helped to write all the shorts -- however, on account of the Writers Guild, we had to take our names off the credits after Punch Drunks."

[Dunrobin]

PUNCH DRUNKS is the short where The Three Stooges are born.  Moe is the boss who slaps everyone around, Larry the middle man, and Curly assumes the mantle of the third Stooge.  In WOMAN HATERS and with Healy they were a bit interchangeable, but from this point forward, they had defined characters.  Since this short defined the Stooges, one can argue it's their most important one.  Even though they were never officially credited with writing another one of their shorts again, PUNCH DRUNKS proves they were the authors of their own characters and not a studio creation.

That basically sums up what I was going to say.  It's an appropriate "first" short, as the storyline unites the team for the first time ("From now on we're a corporation!"), and also considering that the Stooges came up with the story themselves, as you pointed out.

All three Stooges were in excellent form throughout the short.  My favorite bits:

• Curly flipping out when he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel", of course.
• Curly rowing the cart while towing Moe and Larry in a wagon ("I lost my bal-lance!")
• "I'm in a terrible dilemma." "Yeah, I don't care much for these foreign cars either."
• Larry running down the street repeatedly, searching for new sources of "Pop Goes the Weasel" to play for Curly after his violin gets broken.

I more inclined to use the adjective "great" for this short than Shemp_Diesel is, but I agree that they did even better shorts later on.  I give Punch Drunks 8 out of 10 eye pokes.

(...) like Curly placing his stuff out (t)he window when going to work, (...)

FWIW, I think that's a display window that is curtained off, rather than a regular open window.

In Larry Fine's words:

"We helped to write all the shorts -- however, on account of the Writers Guild, we had to take our names off the credits after Punch Drunks."

I didn't know that, although I always assumed that they had input in developing their characters and worked with the writing staff to some extent.

[metaldams]

In Larry Fine's words:

"We helped to write all the shorts -- however, on account of the Writers Guild, we had to take our names off the credits after Punch Drunks."

Where or when did Larry say this quote?  I probably heard or read it somewhere and forgot, but I'd love to know the source.

[metaldams]

Well, I just finished watching Punch Drunks a few minutes ago & my feelings about it haven't changed much. I still think it's one of the more overrated shorts in the stooge library. I'm not saying it's bad by any means, I just think it's good not great.

As I've said before in the comments section, I think if this same script had been done a few years later when Moe, Larry and Curly had perfected their onscreen personas it would have been a classic. In a way, I think Grips, Grunts and Groans kind of proves my theory.

At any rate, I would say "Drunks" is a solid 7 on the 10 scale, but their was much better to come from the stooges.

I have the opposite feeling in that I feel "Grips, Grunts, and Groans," while not a bad short, is an inferior version of "Punch Drunks."  I think "Punch Drunks" does a better job at incorporating all three characters into the mix while "Grips" is a bit mor Curly centric....not that that's a bad thing in its own right.

[hiramhorwitz]

Where or when did Larry say this quote?  I probably heard or read it somewhere and forgot, but I'd love to know the source.

Give me a day or two and I'll post the audio clip.  It's from a 1973 Q&A session between Larry and my dad.  I wrote the questions, my dad dropped in on Larry and asked the questions, and Larry's responses were recorded on audio tape.  Obviously, this was prior to the slew of Stooges books and prior to the internet.  So my questions were simple and naive.  As you can imagine, getting Larry's answers on tape in 1973 was a revelation!

[metaldams]

Give me a day or two and I'll post the audio clip.  It's from a 1973 Q&A session between Larry and my dad.  I wrote the questions, my dad dropped in on Larry and asked the questions, and Larry's responses were recorded on audio tape.  Obviously, this was prior to the slew of Stooges books and prior to the internet.  So my questions were simple and naive.  As you can imagine, getting Larry's answers on tape in 1973 was a revelation!

Thank you!  Looking forward to it whenever you get the chance.

[JazzBill]

I agree with most of you, this is the short that helped define their roles. I like the scene when after being pushed in the water, it takes Moe and Curly a couple minutes to find Larry on his head in the water. After he gets pulled out of the water Larry pulls that fish out his jacket. I swear that looks like a real fish and not one of them cheap props they used most of the time. Columbia did a remake of this in 1945 in a Shemp solo short called "A Hit With A Miss". Shemp was doing the Curly role, they even used some of the footage from the Stooge short in it. Punch Drunks is very high on my list of favorites. 10 pokes

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

I wonder if anyone else has noticed that the song " Let's Fall in Love ", which Larry keeps playing on the violin, is so durable that they use it again 23 years later in Sweet And Hot.  Same song in the almost-the-first short and the almost-the-last short.  And speaking of this and unions, my guess would be that even though everybody knows that Larry was a good violinist, that's probably not him on the soundtrack.  Wrong union.

[pipboytaylor]

I'd like to chime in on this one. Punch Drunks, while not in my top ten favorites was always an instant pleaser when it would pop up on tv when my siblings and I would be watching the Stooges, early Sunday mornings. It was just a fun short to watch. I always enjoyed the second half of this short (when the boxing match starts) more so than the beginning.

My favorite bits:

• Larry blazing down the street at super speed
• The cat and mouse game between the kid with the jawbreakers and the bellman.
• The "look" Larry gives when he sits down ringside, relaxing and ready to play his violin. Absolutely hilarious! Possibly the single funniest facial expression given by Larry FIne in any stooge short!

[metaldams]

I wonder if anyone else has noticed that the song " Let's Fall in Love ", which Larry keeps playing on the violin, is so durable that they use it again 23 years later in Sweet And Hot.  Same song in the almost-the-first short and the almost-the-last short.  And speaking of this and unions, my guess would be that even though everybody knows that Larry was a good violinist, that's probably not him on the soundtrack.  Wrong union.

Believe it or not, when I watched the PUNCH DRUNKS yesterday, I did notice Larry was playing "Let's Fall in Love" from SWEET AND HOT.  Never caught it before that, and I've seen the short dozens of times.

[Dunrobin]

Give me a day or two and I'll post the audio clip.  It's from a 1973 Q&A session between Larry and my dad.  I wrote the questions, my dad dropped in on Larry and asked the questions, and Larry's responses were recorded on audio tape.  Obviously, this was prior to the slew of Stooges books and prior to the internet.  So my questions were simple and naive.  As you can imagine, getting Larry's answers on tape in 1973 was a revelation!

That's awesome!  I look forward to hearing it when you can get it posted.   

How old were you when you came up with the questions, and how did you get your Dad to go interview Larry?

[hiramhorwitz]

That's awesome!  I look forward to hearing it when you can get it posted.   

How old were you when you came up with the questions, and how did you get your Dad to go interview Larry?

Here 'tis -- the question and Larry Fine's answer -- short and sweet.  I was 16 at the time (April 1973), and my dad saw Larry while on a business trip to LA.  Details of how I got my dad to visit Larry are documented in Stooges Among Us (my chapter on pages 111-147).  But the bottom line is that I asked my dad if he'd visit Larry and he said he'd try.  A great dad then and still a great dad at age 91!

[Dunrobin]

Here 'tis -- the question and Larry Fine's answer -- short and sweet.  I was 16 at the time (April 1973), and my dad saw Larry while on a business trip to LA.  Details of how I got my dad to visit Larry are documented in Stooges Among Us (my chapter on pages 111-147).  But the bottom line is that I asked my dad if he'd visit Larry and he said he'd try.  A great dad then and still a great dad at age 91!

That is so cool that your Dad would do that for you; I can't imagine mine being willing to do that.  Thanks for sharing the audio clip!

[hiramhorwitz]

That is so cool that your Dad would do that for you; I can't imagine mine being willing to do that.  Thanks for sharing the audio clip!

My pleasure -- you're certainly welcome!

[Squirrelbait]

As mentioned, this is the short in which the Stooges' personalities really take shape. It's also the only short that gives them a writing credit.

Originally called 'A Symphony Of Punches,' Larry was meant to play 'Stars And Stripes Forever,' but Columbia used 'Pop Goes The Weasel' because it was in the public domanin and they wouldn't have to pay any rights for it.

Also, Moe was 'Bangs,' Larry was 'Fuzzy,' and Curly was...well, Curley!

Always loved this one, especially seeing Curly go nuts over 'Pop Goes The Weasel.'

Other favorite moments include: 'I lost my ba-lance' - The guys horsing around in the background during the fight - Curly's glove swelling to the size of a watermelon - Larry driving through the wall of the building.

Also, pay attention to the very end, just before Curly knocks out Moe and Larry. All of a sudden, everybody except the Stooges are lying on the floor of the ring (reminds me of the ending to 'Grips, Grunts And Groans)!

My Rating: 8/10 (Skip the colorized version though...)

[ThumpTheShoes]

Here 'tis -- the question and Larry Fine's answer -- short and sweet.  I was 16 at the time (April 1973), and my dad saw Larry while on a business trip to LA.  Details of how I got my dad to visit Larry are documented in Stooges Among Us (my chapter on pages 111-147).  But the bottom line is that I asked my dad if he'd visit Larry and he said he'd try.  A great dad then and still a great dad at age 91!

Awesome little trip back in time there! So clear and Porcupine sounds more like himself than in some other interviews. Please post more! Or send me an audio file.. I'd love to hear the whole tape!

[Rich Finegan]

I wonder if anyone else has noticed that the song " Let's Fall in Love ", which Larry keeps playing on the violin, is so durable that they use it again 23 years later in Sweet And Hot.  Same song in the almost-the-first short and the almost-the-last short. 

That song is played not only at the beginning and end of The Stooges' Columbia shorts career, as you noted, but also once right in the middle: in RHYTHM AND WEEP (1946) on piano by Jack Norton (at 6 minutes into the short, after Curly falls off the roof).

[QuinceHead]

Isn't this the first Three Stooges short to trot out the "tapeworm" gag?

And as metaladams said in the first post, to me, this is the first Three Stooges short, not Women Haters!   

For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead

[metaldams]

Here 'tis -- the question and Larry Fine's answer -- short and sweet.  I was 16 at the time (April 1973), and my dad saw Larry while on a business trip to LA.  Details of how I got my dad to visit Larry are documented in Stooges Among Us (my chapter on pages 111-147).  But the bottom line is that I asked my dad if he'd visit Larry and he said he'd try.  A great dad then and still a great dad at age 91!

Thanks for posting this, much appreciated!

[hiramhorwitz]

Thanks for posting this, much appreciated!

Glad to do it!

[Rich Finegan]

Regarding writing credits on PUNCH DRUNKS:
The story was filmed before. The Stooges short is a "partial/unofficial" remake of the 1928 Al Christie/Paramount silent comedy short LAY ON, MACDUFF. Whether or not the credited writers Howard, Fine and Howard and Jack Cluett on PUNCH DRUNKS ever saw that earlier short we'll probably never know, but the story and situations are very similar to PUNCH DRUNKS. The silent short was part of the "Sandy MacDuff" series starring Jack Duffy playing a Scotchman. In this version it is bagpipe music that makes him go nuts (which works well visually, since this is a silent film). The writer credited on this short is Sig Herzig.

[fearlessfrizzletop]

The same basic plot would be used in the Patsy Kelly film KELLY THE SECOND, with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams getting fighting mad whenever he hears "The Irish Washer Woman".

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/241916/Kelly-The-Second-Feature-Film-.html

And of course Laurel & Hardy put their spin on the gag with Ollie's "hornomania" in SAPS AT SEA.

Chris

[Rich Finegan]

The same basic plot would be used in the Patsy Kelly film KELLY THE SECOND, with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams getting fighting mad whenever he hears "The Irish Washer Woman".

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/241916/Kelly-The-Second-Feature-Film-.html

And of course Laurel & Hardy put their spin on the gag with Ollie's "hornomania" in SAPS AT SEA.

Chris

And of course, also the idea of Curly going nuts when he sees a mouse (HORSES' COLLARS), smelling Wild Hyacinth perfume (GRIPS, GRUNTS AND GROANS) and when he sees a tassel (TASSELS IN THE AIR) are more variations on the theme.