Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Hold That Lion!

(Short # 100 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Curly has a cameo; this is why Lion holds a special place in the heart of many Stooge fans. The trio are looking for the villain on a train; thinking he may be in disguise, they find a sleeping passenger, face obscured by a hat. Removing the hat, it’s Curly, w/ HAIR, a clothespin on his nose. Removing the clothespin, he made Curly noises then barked like a dog. Frightened, the trio moved on.

That cameo was only done because Curly happened to be on set that day. As nice as it was to see all four together-even if for only 20 seconds-the rest of the short is also well worth seeing. The boys are to inherit the estate of “millionaire junk dealer” Ambrose Rose, who is their uncle. However, investment broker Icabod Slipp has control of the funds and is eluding attempts to give him a subpoena. 

Moe, Larry and Shemp could do a successful routine off of attempting to close a filing cabinet, and something so simple was so riotous. Kenneth MacDonald did a swell job as the villainous Slipp; one scene had him beat up all three Stooges individually. On the train, a lion becomes involved; obviously, a pane of glass separates the lion from the boys during one scene. This was done due to Shemp having apprehension over being in a small space next to a wild animal. Even if it was sickly (as she allegedly was) I imagine most still would balk over sitting right next to a LION, no matter how trained it was.

In addition, there are small roles for Emil Sitka and Black actor Dudley Dickerson, as the train’s porter who has a tremendous scene w/ the lioness. It will be awhile but eventually I’ll post a review for a short that Curly filmed a scene for-that scene was cut. Thus, this won’t be the last that I’ll mention him.


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