Disorder in the Court

1936 American short film starring the Three Stooges

Disorder in the Court

Directed by| Preston Black
Written by| Felix Adler
Produced by| Jules White
Starring| Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Bud Jamison
Harry Semels
Suzanne Kaaren
James C. Morton
Edward LeSaint
Sol Horwitz
Al Thompson
Eddie Laughton
Cinematography| Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by| William A. Lyon
Distributed by| Columbia Pictures

Release date

* May 30, 1936 (1936-05-30) (U.S.)

Running time

| 16:37
Country| United States
Language| English
Disorder in the Court, full movie

Disorder in the Court is a 1936 short subject directed by Preston Black starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 15th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

## Plot

[edit]

The Stooges harass defense attorney Bud Jamison in Disorder in the Court

The Stooges are key witnesses at a murder trial where their colleague, Gail Tempest, stands accused of murdering Kirk Robin. Despite being pivotal witnesses, the Stooges are initially absent, preoccupied with leisurely activities, namely playing Jacks. Eventually, Curly takes the stand and recounts the events, ultimately offering a musical interlude with Larry on violin, Moe on harmonica, and Curly on both spoons and upright bass to illustrate the night of the crime.

However, the courtroom is thrown into chaos when Larry mistakenly identifies the court clerk's toupee as a tarantula, prompting Moe to discharge the guard's firearm. After the confusion, Moe and Curly enact the purported murder. Further antics lead to the discovery of a parrot carrying a confession from the true culprit, Buck Wing.

With Tempest's innocence established, the proceedings conclude amidst a comedic mishap involving a ruptured fire hose.

## Cast

[edit]

### Credited

[edit]

* Moe Howard as Moe
* Larry Fine as Larry
* Curly Howard as Curly

### Uncredited

[edit]

* Bud Jamison as Defense Attorney
* Harry Semels as District Attorney
* Suzanne Kaaren as Gail Tempest
* James C. Morton as Court clerk
* Edward LeSaint as Judge
* Al Thompson as Bailiff
* Eddie Laughton as Co-Counsel
* Johnny Kascier as Court recorder
* Alice Belcher as Flirting juror
* Solomon Horwitz as Gallery spectator
* Harold Kening as Gallery spectator
* Bobby Barber as Gallery spectator
* Bobby Burns as Gallery spectator
* Sam Lufkin as Gallery spectator
* Arthur Thalasso as Tall man in Hallway

## Production notes

[edit]

Disorder in the Court was filmed over six days on April 1–6, 1936.[1] The film title is a play on the stereotypical judge's cry, "Order in the court!"[2]

A colorized version of this film was released in 2006 as part of the DVD collection "Stooges on the Run."

The two Howard brothers' real life father Sol Horwitz, (the father of Moe, Curly, and Shemp Howard), makes an uncredited appearance as a member of the public audience.[2]

Disorder in the Court was the first Stooges short to give Curly Howard top billing over costars Larry Fine and Moe Howard.

This is the first Stooges short in which Curly is spelled "C-U-R-L-Y" in the opening titles instead of the previous "C-U-R-L-E-Y." The title card also has the Stooges inverted reading from left to right, Curly-Larry-Moe, as opposed to Moe-Larry-Curly in previous shorts, effectively giving Curly "top billing." This change in the title card coincides with the refined and more familiar Columbia Pictures image of a torch-bearing woman, with a shimmering light instead of the primitive animation of light rays in the previous version. In addition, the "Columbia" theme now uses a more upbeat theme, featuring a brass introduction.[2]

## Copyright status

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Disorder in the Court  is one of four Columbia Stooges shorts that fell into the public domain after the copyright expired in 1964, the other three being Malice in the Palace (1949), Sing a Song of Six Pants and Brideless Groom (both 1947). Consequently, these four shorts frequently appear on budget video compilations and streaming services.[2] A remastered version of the film was released on Blu-ray as part of The Three Stooges Collection on August 13, 2024, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

## In popular culture

[edit]

Gail Tempest (Suzanne Kaaren) dancing in the courtroom.

The presumed perpetrator is a dancer named Buck Wing, a reference to the buck-and-wing dance common in vaudeville and minstrel shows.[2]

The classic "swearing in" routine ("Take off your hat!"; "Raise your right hand"; "Judgy Wudgy") was borrowed nearly verbatim from Buster Keaton's 1931 film Sidewalks of New York, directed by Stooges producer Jules White.[2]

A shot of the trio performing in court was used by Hershey's in a 1980s advertising campaign.[3]

The short appears in the 2019 horror film 3 from Hell.

## See also

[edit]

* Public domain film
* List of American films of 1936
* List of films in the public domain in the United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Disorder in the Court at threestooges.net". Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
2. ^ a b c d e f Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 96\. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
3. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "1987 Hershey's Commercial (One of the All-Time Greats)". YouTube. December 4, 2012.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Disorder in the Court.

* Disorder in the Court at IMDb
* Disorder in the Court at threestooges.net
* Disorder in the Court is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive

* v
* t
* e

The Three Stooges

* Moe Howard
* Larry Fine
* Curly Howard
* Shemp Howard
* Joe Besser
* Curly Joe DeRita

Works|

* The Three Stooges filmography
* The Three Stooges Collection
* Jerks of All Trades
* The New 3 Stooges
* The Three Stooges Scrapbook
* Kook's Tour
* Moe Howard and the Three Stooges

Related
topics|

* List of supporting actors in Three Stooges films
* Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No
* The Robonic Stooges
* Stoogemania
* "Swingin' the Alphabet"
* "The Curly Shuffle"
* 1984 arcade game
* 1987 video game
* 2000 TV biopic
* 2012 feature film
* C3 Entertainment

Associated
people|

* Felix Adler
* Edward Bernds
* Tiny Brauer
* Clyde Bruckman
* Charley Chase
* Paul Garner
* Ted Healy
* Rich Koz
* Del Lord
* Norman Maurer
* Hugh McCollum
* Christine McIntyre
* Frank Mitchell
* Joe Palma/Fake Shemp
* Fred Sanborn
* Emil Sitka
* Greta Thyssen
* Elwood Ullman
* Jack White
* Jules White

* Category

* v
* t
* e

The Three Stooges filmography (1934–1946)

1934|

* Woman Haters
* Punch Drunks
* Men in Black
* Three Little Pigskins

1935|

* Horses' Collars
* Restless Knights
* Pop Goes the Easel
* Uncivil Warriors
* Pardon My Scotch
* Hoi Polloi
* Three Little Beers

1936|

* Ants in the Pantry
* Movie Maniacs
* Half Shot Shooters
* Disorder in the Court
* A Pain in the Pullman
* False Alarms
* Whoops, I'm an Indian!
* Slippery Silks

1937|

* Grips, Grunts and Groans
* Dizzy Doctors
* 3 Dumb Clucks
* Back to the Woods
* Goofs and Saddles
* Cash and Carry
* Playing the Ponies
* The Sitter Downers

1938|

* Termites of 1938
* Wee Wee Monsieur
* Tassels in the Air
* Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb
* Violent Is the Word for Curly
* Three Missing Links
* Mutts to You
* Flat Foot Stooges

1939|

* Three Little Sew and Sews
* We Want Our Mummy
* A Ducking They Did Go
* Yes, We Have No Bonanza
* Saved by the Belle
* Calling All Curs
* Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise
* Three Sappy People

1940|

* You Nazty Spy!
* Rockin' thru the Rockies
* A Plumbing We Will Go
* Nutty but Nice
* How High Is Up?
* From Nurse to Worse
* No Census, No Feeling
* Cookoo Cavaliers
* Boobs in Arms

1941|

* So Long, Mr. Chumps
* Dutiful But Dumb
* All the World's a Stooge
* I'll Never Heil Again
* An Ache in Every Stake
* In the Sweet Pie and Pie
* Some More of Samoa

1942|

* Loco Boy Makes Good
* Cactus Makes Perfect
* What's the Matador?
* Matri-Phony
* Three Smart Saps
* Even as IOU
* Sock-a-Bye Baby

1943|

* They Stooge to Conga
* Dizzy Detectives
* Spook Louder
* Back From the Front
* Three Little Twirps
* Higher Than a Kite
* I Can Hardly Wait
* Dizzy Pilots
* Phony Express
* A Gem of a Jam

1944|

* Crash Goes the Hash
* Busy Buddies
* The Yoke's on Me
* Idle Roomers
* Gents Without Cents
* No Dough Boys

1945|

* Three Pests in a Mess
* Booby Dupes
* Idiots Deluxe
* If a Body Meets a Body
* Micro-Phonies

1946|

* Beer Barrel Polecats
* A Bird in the Head
* Uncivil War Birds
* The Three Troubledoers
* Monkey Businessmen
* Three Loan Wolves
* G.I. Wanna Home
* Rhythm and Weep
* Three Little Pirates

1947|

* Half-Wits Holiday

* Category

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