Three Little Pigskins

Harry Cohn was known to use The Three Stooges shorts as opportunities to try out young players in supporting roles. But in his wildest imagination I'm sure he never thought that in casting this short, Lucille Ball would grow up to be a comic icon, every bit as much as the stars of this film.

Of course Lucy who is a Jean Harlow platinum blond in this film does not get to display too much comic talent except as a foil for the Stooges. She's the moll of some gangsters who want to hire some football players from college on the sly so the kids don't lose amateur status. The idea is that they'll be ringers. Instead it's the gangsters who get good and rung when they hire Moe, Larry, and Curly.

College films were so popular in the Thirties, showing upper class kids who did very little study, but always had time for music, girls and the inevitable big football game. This particular short is right in keeping with Horsefeathers, College Humor and so many more I can't count. They all were pretty much the same and Three Little Pigskins doesn't break any new ground.

Still what Moe, Larry, and especially Curly do to the game of football is not to be believed. Knute Rockne must have been turning over in his grave, doubled up with laughter of course.

What I'm now reviewing here is the fourth Three Stooges short made for Columbia Pictures in which Moe, Larry, and Curley (as it was originally spelled at the time) get mistaken for actual football players and get asked to play in a game. This is the first time the boys get involved in a "mistaken identity" plot and boy, whoever makes that blunder usually regrets it soon enough! Incidentally, additional interest for this short is provided by the fact that this is one of the earliest film appearances of one young woman named Lucille Ball. She, and a couple of other young ladies, seemed game in participating in some of the shenanigans with the boys which makes what they do to them a little fun to watch. My favorite scenes, though, involve seltzer water, a dumbwaiter (basically a hand-held elevator), and many of the dumb football plays involving the boys. Not as hilarious as the first three they did but Three Little Pigskins is funny enough to recommend to any Stooge fan that just can't get enough of Howard, Fine, and Howard.

Like the previous reviewer mentioned, this movie is not the best they ever made. Part of that is attributed to the injuries that occurred on the set. Larry lost a tooth when one of the bit players mistimed a punch. Curly broke his leg in one of the scenes. Even the stunt doubles sustained injuries. These injuries probably affected their ability to perform at their best.

Nonetheless, I still think it's entertaining and funny.

This short was filmed at the Los Angeles Gilmore Stadium with the Loyola University football team as extras. The name "Three Little Pigskins" was in reference to Walt Disneys popular cartoon short "Three Little Pigs."

The scene called for The Three Stooges, disguised as college football players, to pose with the ball in front of two photographers on the sidelines in the middle of the game. The script then had them gang tackled by several opposing players, members of the Loyola Marymount University football squad. The production of December 1934's "Three Little Pigskins," was already tough on the body for the three comedians, which Moe later described it as "a humdinger of bangs and bruises." Curly had earlier broke a leg riding down a dumbwaiter one story up, and Larry lost a tooth when an actor mistakenly punched him in the face. Now they were asked by director Raymond McCarey to be piled on by much bigger boys than they.

Larry Fine was the most vocal about being a participant of that pile-up. "Look, we can't do this scene," Larry told McCarey. "We're not stuntmen and if one of those gorillas falls on us, we'll never be able to finish the picture. We've never used stunt doubles before but we certainly need them now." The director felt the three were a durable bunch and felt the scene was safe for the three comics. "Listen, fellows, you know how to take a fall," McCarey responded. "You've done enough of them. It'll take hours to find doubles for you. Besides, we can't afford them. Don't worry, you won't get hurt." Moe backed up Larry's stand by telling the director, "You're darn right we won't get hurt. We're not doing the scene."

McCarey was able to rustle up three lookalikes in an hour and dressed them up in football gear. After the hard-hitting football players steamrolled over the three extras and the two photographers, the tally of the carnage began: two of the Stooges' replacements and the two photographers all sustained broken limbs. Only the one dressed as Curly remained unscathed since he wore extra padding to duplicate the actor's girth. Moe later wrote that "McCarey was speechless and sat in his director's chair with his head in his hands." "Three Little Pigskins" was one of Lucille Ball's earliest screen credits. The 23-year-older wore a platinum blonde hairdo and was one of three gangsters' girlfriends who recruited the Stooges to play a game the criminals heavily bet on. One classic scene has the Stooges, dressed in women's night attire to get out of their wet clothes, spray seltzer water on each other. Ball, whose specialized in physical comedy, was asked years later if she gathered any tricks of the trade from the three comedians."The only thing I learned from The Three Stooges was how to duck," she remembered. "And I still got wet!" This was the only Stooges' short she appeared.

1934 was the year where a great many new viewers were introduced to the three comics. The trio's new form of comedy that harkened back to the silent movie knockabout-fare with a dose of slapstick was quickly getting scores of passionate fans. The success of their four funny shorts during the year assured Columbia Pictures the Stooges would remain with the studio as long as they wanted.

Just a funny little Three Stooges short. The slapstick is rather good , it is pretty compact and well-done, a good chance for them to do their shtick. Lucille Ball appears, very pre-Lucy . Funny concept in which Moe, Larry, and Curly get mistaken for famous football players. I saw this right after the New Years proceedings a year ago.