In their quest for beer, the Stooges resort to brewing their own concoction, leading to a comical explosion due to simultaneous efforts in mixing ingredients. Despite eventual success, their venture takes a legal turn when Curly inadvertently sells a bottle to an undercover detective at an inflated price, resulting in their incarceration. In prison, the Stooges initiate an escape plan, unintentionally incapacitating the warden in the process.
While serving time on the rock pile, they encounter a fellow inmate and an old acquaintance, Percy Pomeroy, with whom they collaborate on a prison break. The attempt fails, leading to their transfer to solitary confinement.
Decades later, the elderly trio is finally released as senior citizens. Curly expresses his desire for a tall bottle of beer upon freedom, prompting Moe and Larry to intervene by attacking Curly and convincing the warden to return him to jail, thereby avoiding further complications.
When the Stooges drop their iron balls chained to their legs, the NBC Chimes are heard, a gag recycled from the team's 1937 short Back to the Woods.[1]
A colorized version of this film was released in 2007 as part of the DVD collection "Hapless Half-Wits."[2]
This short also marks the final appearance of the late Eddie Laughton, who died in 1952, the same year Curly, Duke York, and Dick Curtis all died.
Curly's illnessedit
Beer Barrel Polecats was filmed over two days on April 25–26, 1945, several months after Curly Howard suffered a minor stroke.[3] His resulting performances were marred by slurred speech and slower timing. DVD Talk critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that Curly looked "notably thinner (Curly, Moe, and Larry are about the same weight in this) and inexpressive throughout, his face almost like a mask."[4] Curly's illness prevented him from maintaining the vitality for the duration of the normal 4-5 day filming schedule. To compensate for his unavailability, director Jules White utilized footage from In the Sweet Pie and Pie and So Long Mr. Chumps, which featured a healthier and heavier Curly.[1] However, according to threestooges.net, a possible lawsuit by comedian Harold Lloyd resulted in a hastily reworked script; this prompted the use of older footage in the film, and was not related to Curly's illness.[3]
Referencesedit
^ abcSolomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 271. ISBN0-9711868-0-4.
beer, barrel, polecats, 1946, short, subject, directed, jules, white, starring, american, slapstick, comedy, team, three, stooges, howard, larry, fine, curly, howard, 88th, entry, series, released, columbia, pictures, starring, comedians, released, shorts, stu. Beer Barrel Polecats is a 1946 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges Moe Howard Larry Fine and Curly Howard It is the 88th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959 Beer Barrel PolecatsDirected byJules WhiteWritten byGilbert PrattProduced byJules WhiteStarringMoe HowardLarry FineCurly HowardVernon DentRobert WilliamsEddie LaughtonJoe PalmaCinematographyGeorge F KelleyEdited byCharles HochbergDistributed byColumbia PicturesRelease dateJanuary 10 1946 1946 01 10 U S Running time17 33CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Plot 2 Production notes 2 1 Curly s illness 3 References 4 External linksPlot editIn their quest for beer the Stooges resort to brewing their own concoction leading to a comical explosion due to simultaneous efforts in mixing ingredients Despite eventual success their venture takes a legal turn when Curly inadvertently sells a bottle to an undercover detective at an inflated price resulting in their incarceration In prison the Stooges initiate an escape plan unintentionally incapacitating the warden in the process While serving time on the rock pile they encounter a fellow inmate and an old acquaintance Percy Pomeroy with whom they collaborate on a prison break The attempt fails leading to their transfer to solitary confinement Decades later the elderly trio is finally released as senior citizens Curly expresses his desire for a tall bottle of beer upon freedom prompting Moe and Larry to intervene by attacking Curly and convincing the warden to return him to jail thereby avoiding further complications Production notes editThe title Beer Barrel Polecats is a pun of the song Beer Barrel Polka The idea of producing and selling their own beer during Prohibition was borrowed from Laurel and Hardy s 1931 film Pardon Us 1 When the Stooges drop their iron balls chained to their legs the NBC Chimes are heard a gag recycled from the team s 1937 short Back to the Woods 1 A colorized version of this film was released in 2007 as part of the DVD collection Hapless Half Wits 2 This short also marks the final appearance of the late Eddie Laughton who died in 1952 the same year Curly Duke York and Dick Curtis all died Curly s illness edit Beer Barrel Polecats was filmed over two days on April 25 26 1945 several months after Curly Howard suffered a minor stroke 3 His resulting performances were marred by slurred speech and slower timing DVD Talk critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that Curly looked notably thinner Curly Moe and Larry are about the same weight in this and inexpressive throughout his face almost like a mask 4 Curly s illness prevented him from maintaining the vitality for the duration of the normal 4 5 day filming schedule To compensate for his unavailability director Jules White utilized footage from In the Sweet Pie and Pie and So Long Mr Chumps which featured a healthier and heavier Curly 1 However according to threestooges net a possible lawsuit by comedian Harold Lloyd resulted in a hastily reworked script this prompted the use of older footage in the film and was not related to Curly s illness 3 References edit a b c Solomon Jon 2002 The Complete Three Stooges The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion Comedy III Productions Inc p 271 ISBN 0 9711868 0 4 Hapless Half Wits a b Beer Barrel Polecats threestooges net Galbraith IV Stuart July 7 2012 The Three Stooges The Ultimate Collection DVD Talk Retrieved September 5 2013 External links editBeer Barrel Polecats at IMDb nbsp Beer Barrel Polecats at AllMovie Beer Barrel Polecats at threestooges net Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beer Barrel Polecats amp oldid 1222268768, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
