Three Loan Wolves (1946)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Jules White

Writer:

Felix Adler (story)

Release Date:

4 July 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Told in flash back, the stooges tell their son how he came to have three fathers. The stooges, owners of a pawn shop...

Plot Keywords:

The Three Stooges | Musical Instrument | Seltzer | Smashing Guitar | Pawnshop

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
Beverly Warren	...	Molly the Glamour Girl
Tiny Brauer	...	Butch McGee (as Harold Brauer)

Also Known As:

In Hock (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

17 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

Larry: [Larry's holding a guitar. He bows to an imaginary audience and Moe walks up behind him and kicks him] Hey, what's the big idea? I was about to play Comin' Through the Corn.
Curly: You mean Rye.
Larry: The way I play it, it's Corn.
Moe: Where'd you get that?
Larry: This cost 50 bucks. A genuine stratosphere.
Moe: Stratosphere? Go play some air.

Needed More Of The Crooks To Compensate For Curly's 'Absence'

"Here Today, Pawn Tomorrow" reasons the pawnshop sign where our three guys - Curly, Larry and Moe - have a shop. A little kid enters the store and wonders what's the story here as all three guys claim to be his father. They tell him the story, so we are flashed back into time, and the story begins with......

Moe beating on Larry for buying a fake bass fiddle. Then, the tough guy who sold him that cardboard "instrument" comes back looking for protection money. Curly tries to show him how tough he is, but he isn't. However, he accidentally knocks the guy out. Then he and Moe go out to lunch. Moe actually calls him Curly. I don't remember hearing that too often. It's usually an insult, never just "Curly." Maybe Moe felt sorry for him because, in real life, this was one of Curly's last shows as he had suffered several strokes. It wasn't long afterward that he was gone for good, sad to say. Anyway, Larry is left alone in the story and the next thing you know, there's a baby left in the place, courtesy of a "babe" who looked the class film noir brassy blonde.

How the guys handle trying the pacify the crying little baby is the bulk of the second half. Curly was in this episode, but at the same time, was about "absent," because you could tell his energy level wasn't the same. He gave it a good try, however.

Overall, it winds up just fair, to be honest. They could have done so much more if they involved the crooks more, and Beverly Warren but it's mainly just Moe hitting on the two other guys and Larry (called "Apple Head" a few times in here) getting the brunt of it. Because Curly wasn't physically up to par, we couldn't enjoy his normal great humor. Larry is okay, but he's no Curly.