Three Little Sew and Sews

1939 film by Del Lord

Three Little Sew and Sews

Directed by| Del Lord
Written by| Ewart Adamson
Produced by| Jules White
Starring| Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Harry Semels
James C. Morton
Phyllis Barry
Bud Jamison
Vernon Dent
Lew Davis
Ned Glass
Cinematography| Lucien Ballard
Edited by| Charles Nelson
Distributed by| Columbia Pictures

Release date

* January 9, 1939 (1939-01-09) (U.S.)

Running time

| 15:47
Country| United States
Language| English

Three Little Sew and Sews is a 1939 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 36th 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 are sailors stationed at a naval base, where they are gainfully employed within a tailor shop. The inciting incident arises when Curly, driven by impulsive folly, pilfers the uniform of Admiral Taylor, harboring intentions of leveraging its authority to engage in romantic dalliances. This act of subterfuge sets the stage for a series of misadventures that propel the trio into a labyrinthine plot involving espionage.

Under the guise of the counterfeit Admiral and his purported aides, Moe and Larry, the Stooges unwittingly become ensnared in the machinations of nefarious agents, Count Alfred Gehrol and Miss Olga Arvin, who serve as operatives of an antagonistic regime. Deceived by their adversaries, the trio is coerced into perpetrating a scheme involving the theft and hijacking of a submarine, thus unwittingly becoming pawns in a larger geopolitical game.

Despite their unwitting complicity, the Stooges eventually succeed in apprehending the spies, thereby thwarting their malevolent designs. However, their triumph is short-lived as a twist of fate intervenes during a reenactment of the capture for the genuine Admiral Taylor. In a calamitous turn of events, Curly inadvertently triggers an explosion due to a moment of hapless clumsiness. As a result, the Stooges are depicted as celestial beings ascending to the realm of heaven. However, they find themselves pursued by the ireful Admiral, who also assumes a celestial form.[1]

## Cast

[edit]

### Credited

[edit]

* Moe Howard as Moe
* Larry Fine as Larry
* Curly Howard as Curly
* Phyllis Barry as Miss Olga Arvin
* Harry Semels as Count Alfred Gehrol[2]

### Uncredited

* James C. Morton as Admiral H. S. Taylor
* Ned Glass as Sailor
* Pat Lane as Lieutenant
* Cy Schindell as Brig guard
* John Ince as Butler
* Vernon Dent as laughing party guest
* Bud Jamison as Policeman
* John Tyrrell as Naval Officer
* Bert Young, Charles Dorety as S.P.'s on submarine
* Lew Davis, Earlene Heath, Elaine Waters, Al Thompson as party guests[2]

## Production notes

[edit]

Three Little Sew and Sews was filmed on March 21–24, 1938, and was the last entry to utilize "Listen to the Mockingbird" as the Stooges' official theme song. It was filmed directly after Violent Is the Word for Curly but before Flat Foot Stooges, the latter being the first film to employ "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' official theme song.[2]

The title Sew and Sew is a euphemism on "so and so," a softly worded insult for a person one finds unimpressionable.[3] (generally a "son-of-a-bitch").[2]

Three Little Sew and Sews is one of several Stooge shorts in which a sofa spring manages to become attached to someone's backside. This gag was also used in Hoi Polloi, An Ache in Every Stake, Hugs and Mugs and Have Rocket, Will Travel. In addition, footage of war scenes were later used in Boobs in Arms and They Stooge to Conga. The short is also the fifth of sixteen Stooge shorts with the word "three" in the title.[3]

Unlike most Stooge films, Three Little Sew and Sews ends with the trio being killed. This plot device was only used in a handful of their shorts, among them being You Nazty Spy!, I'll Never Heil Again and Half Shot Shooters.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Garza, Janiss (2011). "Three Little Sew and Sews (1938)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
2. ^ a b c d "Three Little Sew and Sews at threestooges.net". Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
3. ^ a b Solomon, Jon. (2002) The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion, p. 140; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0-9711868-0-4

## External links

[edit]

* Three Little Sew and Sews at IMDb
* Three Little Sew and Sews at AllMovie

* 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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