Topic: Injuries on the set of Three Stooges shorts

[Shemp]

I did a search and couldn't find a thread on this.  I apologize if there is one and I missed it.  We all know that the boys were injured regularly.  Most of them are well known and we know exactly which episodes and when - the football pile up (doubles injured actually, but you know the story), the fountain pen in Larry's head, Moe's ribs when he fell from the table, Curly falling down the elevator shaft, Moe getting soot in his eyes from an exhaust pipe, etc. 

But then there's some I've read about that weren't clearly associated with an episode, and I bet you guys know.  Here's some of those that I remember reading about:

- Larry running into the wrong part of brick wall and getting knocked out instead of going through the fake bricks
- Shemp cutting his head on a door with blood coming down his forehead (after the scene) and saying "waddya know, catsup!"
- Moe breaking his nose in a revolving door
- References to chipped teeth
- Larry getting his nose broken by a mallet handle

Anyone know in which episodes these happened?  We can also use this thread to discuss Three Stooges injuries in general. 

[Paul Pain]

- Moe breaking his nose in a revolving door

CRASH GOES THE HASH?

[Shemp]

I think you are right!!!  Look at the 8:48 mark in Crash Goes the Hash below.  It doesn't look like there are any props involved with that door that he gets his nose stuck in.  This could very well be the scene that Moe breaks his nose in: 

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

In his autobiography, Moe claims he got a chipped tooth from a triple slap by Milton Berle on some T V show.

[Shemp]

Oh yes, you are right, I forgot about that.  I think his ring hit Moe's tooth or something like that.

[Shemp]

I was watching Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise last night (and as usual laughing to tears as if it were my first time seeing it) and there was a scene where a flame shoots out of a oil pipe right in front of their faces, which seemed to have at least some danger to the gag.... but it made me remember all the other gags I've seen involving what I'm sure were real flames:  Moe's rear on fire, Shemp's rear on fire, Larry accidentally turning to Moe's direction with what is almost a flame thrower (and of course burning his rear), etc.  I'm sure there are many others that I can't remember.  How in the world is it that they apparently never got burned by these pyro-technics? 

[Mark The Shark]

Moe tells this story in his autobiography:

I remember once when the prop man concocted a smorgasbord of gook: chocolate, whipped cream, asbestos chips, linseed oil, ketchup, and other unknown goodies. I was supposed to fall face down in a vat of something or other with Curly dropping right on top of me. As luck would have it, I forgot to close my eyes. Curly had me buried under that goo for about eight seconds. When I came up, nostrils and eyes full of that brutal concoction, they needed the studio doctor and a nurse to bring me back to normal...something I haven't been for years.

Now, I think I know the Stooge shorts pretty well, but I have no idea what scene this would have been. Anyone?

[GreenCanaries]

Moe tells this story in his autobiography:

I remember once when the prop man concocted a smorgasbord of gook: chocolate, whipped cream, asbestos chips, linseed oil, ketchup, and other unknown goodies. I was supposed to fall face down in a vat of something or other with Curly dropping right on top of me. As luck would have it, I forgot to close my eyes. Curly had me buried under that goo for about eight seconds. When I came up, nostrils and eyes full of that brutal concoction, they needed the studio doctor and a nurse to bring me back to normal...something I haven't been for years.

Now, I think I know the Stooge shorts pretty well, but I have no idea what scene this would have been. Anyone?

My first guess would be the end of the tent-pitching scene in THREE MISSING LINKS. Can anyone think of any other possible examples?

[metaldams]

My first guess would be the end of the tent-pitching scene in THREE MISSING LINKS. Can anyone think of any other possible examples?

I think OILY TO BED, OILY TO RISE may be the one.  The oil may be what Moe is referring to, but THREE MISSING LINKS is also a good guess with the mud.

[GreenCanaries]

I think OILY TO BED, OILY TO RISE may be the one.  The oil may be what Moe is referring to, but THREE MISSING LINKS is also a good guess with the mud.

I do remember hearing about Moe having a problem with goop in his eyes on that short (and a similar incident later on with soot in THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS), but note that in this anecdote, Moe specifically mentions Curly being on top of him and thus pressing him into the goop, as he is in that final shot of the tent scene in LINKS. Unless I'm forgetting something, I don't recall such a moment in OILY?

[metaldams]

I do remember hearing about Moe having a problem with goop in his eyes on that short (and a similar incident later on with soot in THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS), but note that in this anecdote, Moe specifically mentions Curly being on top of him and thus pressing him into the goop, as he is in that final shot of the tent scene in LINKS. Unless I'm forgetting something, I don't recall such a moment in OILY?

If you go to Wikipedia, the quote Mark the Shark mentions above starts the same but ends different.  Now we all know Wikipedia can be inaccurate and my copy of Moe’s bio is in a box somewhere, so I would need to dig the book out and check the accuracy of the quote. Anyway....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oily_to_Bed,_Oily_to_Rise

[Mark The Shark]

Thanks for the responses. The Wikipedia citation combines the beginning of the quote I shared from Moe's autobiography with another story which immediately follows it. It says:

"Oily To Bed, Oily To Rise," another 1939 goodie, was -- what else -- an oil well picture. The plot had us in one scene, trying to repair a water pump. After many attempts, I took a screwdriver, knelt down, peered into the mouth of the pump, and jiggled the screwdriver inside of it. Gazing up the opening, I jiggled again and then looked up a third time. Suddenly a blob of assorted gunk got me right in the eye again. And again it took hours to clean me up for the next scene.

This starts on page 95 and continues to page 101 in the original 1977 edition (interrupted by several pages of photos).

So it seems like he's referring to two separate incidents. It would make sense if it's from "Three Missing Links" for me to not be as familiar with the scene, as that short was on a list of films that weren't shown on TV in Chicago for a number of years, and my Ultimate Collection DVD set is currently MIA.

[metaldams]

Thanks for the responses. The Wikipedia citation combines the beginning of the quote I shared from Moe's autobiography with another story which immediately follows it. It says:

"Oily To Bed, Oily To Rise," another 1939 goodie, was -- what else -- an oil well picture. The plot had us in one scene, trying to repair a water pump. After many attempts, I took a screwdriver, knelt down, peered into the mouth of the pump, and jiggled the screwdriver inside of it. Gazing up the opening, I jiggled again and then looked up a third time. Suddenly a blob of assorted gunk got me right in the eye again. And again it took hours to clean me up for the next scene.

This starts on page 95 and continues to page 101 in the original 1977 edition (interrupted by several pages of photos).

So it seems like he's referring to two separate incidents. It would make sense if it's from "Three Missing Links" for me to not be as familiar with the scene, as that short was on a list of films that weren't shown on TV in Chicago for a number of years, and my Ultimate Collection DVD set is currently MIA.

Thanks for the clarification.  Funny how Wikipedia combines two quotes, very misleading.  In that case, yeah, I agree with Green Canaries, probably THREE MISSING LINKS.