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How did Columbia handle the Curly to Shemp change???
Dr. Belch:
--- Quote from: Pilsner Panther on June 29, 2005, 11:56:32 PM ---There's an (unconfirmed) story that Buddy Hackett was being considered for the part, but he turned it down because he didn't want to do hard slapstick— he was afraid of getting injured.
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--- Quote from: kinderscenen on July 01, 2005, 06:56:40 PM ---I still never understood the story about the whole "hitting with pipes." As a comedian, I would think that Hackett would've known that foam appliances were used, even if he wasn't that familiar with the Stooges. Now, if he'd seen them on stage....that may have changed his mind--the fact that the slaps were real would be off-putting to most.
--- End quote ---
True, but sometimes things went wrong with the props. For example, Moe actually fractured a couple of ribs on a breakway table that separated wrong. And during a pie fight the prop guys would scoop up the shaving cream mixture off the floor for another take, and it'd have dirt and hair and cigarette butts and mouse droppings and God knew what all mixed in there. Imagine taking a kisser full of that. Or worse--one poor actress, it seems, opened her mouth at the wrong time and got some "pie" gook caught in her throat. She needed medical attention there on the set to get it out.
I wonder if they considered any of the other stars they'd worked with over the years as third Stooge? Emil Sitka was too new at that point, and Eddie Laughton only had minor parts in a half dozen fims before his death (1952).
archiezappa:
I'm learning a lot of things that I never knew about the Stooges, lately. First, that Joe Besser was fired, supposedly. And now, they were gonna fire Shemp? What madness! Well, then again, in the Stooges biopic, they played Shemp like he didn't want to be a Stooge. Go figure.
BeAStooge:
--- Quote from: archiezappa on July 17, 2008, 05:24:16 PM ---I'm learning a lot of things that I never knew about the Stooges, lately. First, that Joe Besser was fired, supposedly. And now, they were gonna fire Shemp? What madness! Well, then again, in the Stooges biopic, they played Shemp like he didn't want to be a Stooge. Go figure.
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- Joe Besser was not fired. He quit.
- No one was going to fire Shemp.
- The Stooge biopic was intentionally slanted to make Shemp look bad by a couple people involved in its production, who at the time were having a "disagreement" with Shemp's family.
- The Buddy Hackett story is bullshit. As Jules White told film fan/author/historian Jim Neibaur in an early '80s interview... "Hackett is full of it." As Ed Bernds told me back in 1998, "That's a load of crap." Hackett told stories; he was infamous for it... this is one of 'em. He starred in one 1948 comedy-bowling instruction one-reeler for Jules White... possibly seeing the Stooges on the lot, that's the closest he came to being a Stooge.
archiezappa:
Thanks for straightening this out, BeAStooge. I'm glad that you're here. You seem to have the lowdown on everything.
curlysdame:
An interesting question. I don't think I ever thought of that before. I kind of agree with X; I believe that there were some small articles in newspapers saying that Shemp took over for Curly "due to illness." It was certainly written that way for a personal appearance The Stooges made in January 1945, even though it was still a year before Curly's big stroke. All four of them must've known that something wasn't right. (see One Fine Stooge p. 55). There's one thing I find eerie, though, about the mentioned article: apparently, it was dated Jan. 18th, 1945 - seven years to the day that Curly would pass away.
Thanks for clearing up that Hackett story, BeAStooge. I had never heard that before, and I don't think I would've believed it, either.
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