Dizzy Pilots

Dizzy Pilots
Directed by Jules White
Produced by Jules White
Written by Clyde Bruckman
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Richard Fiske
Harry Semels
Al Thompson
Cinematography Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by Charles Hochberg
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • September 24, 1943 (1943-09-24) (U.S.)
Running time
 16:45
Country United States
Language English

Dizzy Pilots is the 74th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1943 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges are the Wrong brothers (a parody of the Wright brothers), a trio of aviators in the "Republic of Cannabeer, P.U." who receive an army draft notice. The notice says the brothers have been granted a 30-day deferment of duty on account of their claims that the plane they are inventing, the “Buzzard”, will revolutionize flying. Curly proudly announces that their plane has put them among other "great inventors" like Robert Fulton, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Don Ameche.

The boys get to work, but a series of mishaps cause them to get sidetracked; Moe twice gets knocked into a tub of rubber cement. The first time it happens, Larry and Curly try to get the rubber off Moe by expanding the rubber with hydrogen. Unfortunately, Moe floats to the top of the airplane hangar and into the sky, and Larry and Curly take aim with a shotgun and blast him to safety, resulting in Moe falling down a nearby well.

Later, just as the boys are ready to test the Buzzard, they realize the plane is too wide to move out of the hangar. This problem is solved when the Stooges saw a larger opening in the airplane's hangar. But then they have another problem trying to start the plane's propeller. Moe pushes the propeller to get it to start, but the propeller swings back at him and carries him for numerous revolutions before he his thrown off - where he lands in the same tub of rubber cement from before. Curly remarks while trying to pull Moe out, "Here we go again!"

They eventually begin a test flight of the plane for a pair of aircraft company officials, but things begin to go awry. Curly accidentally breaks the rudder cable, Moe orders him to throw out the clutch, Curly unable to find it, throws out the gear shift lever instead. Moe attempts to repair the rudder cable but fails and the plane turns upside down and the three fall right back into the same well as before, dousing the aircraft officials with water as they splash into the well's bottom.

As expected, the Stooges are drafted into the army, where they run afoul with their drill sergeant (Richard Fiske), disrupting marching and weapons handling drills.

Production notes

Dizzy Pilots was filmed on April 6–9, 1943.[1] The army segment is stock footage from 1940's Boobs in Arms.[2]

This is the third and final Stooge short with the word "dizzy" in the title.

The gag of a plane being too large to take out of a hangar was reused in 1972 on The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode featuring the Stooges as guest stars ("The Ghost of the Red Baron").[2]

Reception

DVD Talk critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that Dizzy Pilots was the "last genuinely excellent Curly short" with "a set-up similar to Higher Than a Kite though executed infinitely better."[3]

References

  1. ↑ Pauley, Jim (2012). The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations. Solana Beach, California: Santa Monica Press, LLC. p. 85. ISBN 9781595800701.
  2. 1 2 Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 234–235. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
  3. ↑ Galbraith IV, Stuart (July 7, 2012). "The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection". DVD Talk. Retrieved September 5, 2013.

External links

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