Malice in the Palace (1949)

Set in a desert land where the stooges run a restaurant, the boys set out to recover the stolen Rootin Tootin diamond after they learn from the thieves that the Emir of Shmo has absconded ... See full summary »

Director:

Jules White

Writers:

Felix Adler (story), Felix Adler (screenplay)

Stars:

Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Shemp Howard	...	Shemp (as Shemp)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
Vernon Dent	...	Hassan Ben Sober
George J. Lewis	...	Ginna Rumma (as George Lewis)
Frank Lackteen	...	Affa Dolla

Storyline

Set in a desert land where the stooges run a restaurant, the boys set out to recover the stolen Rootin Tootin diamond after they learn from the thieves that the Emir of Shmo has absconded with the contraband jewel. They journey to the stronghold of Shmo where they disguise as Santa Clauses and scare the ruler into giving them the diamond.

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | restaurant | cat | waiter | santa claus suit | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Here We Go Shmow

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of 4 Three Stooges shorts that ended up falling into the public domain, the other 3 being Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Disorder in the Court. Because of that, these four shorts frequently appear on very cheaply processed video and DVD compilations.

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Goofs

After the table gets knocked over, a finger can briefly be seen under the leg of the table, poking at the cat to get it to leave the shot.

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Quotes

Larry: [after Hassan, Ginna, Moe, and Shemp think he's killed a dog and a cat, he comes out to serve the food] Here you are, gentlemen. Hot dogs, when it comes to cookin' are the cat's meow.

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Connections

Referenced in Army of Darkness (1992)

User Reviews

One of the funniest 3 stooges episodes ever.

When looking through the video 'discount bin' the next time you go shopping, you'll probably notice a tape saying "Three Stooges Classics" or something like that. No matter the design of the sleeve, and no matter what company manufactured the video, there is about a 99% chance that this video will contain the following episodes:

Disorder in the Court, Brideless Groom, Malice in the Palace, Sing a Song of Six Pants

Yes, these are the Three Stooges episodes that somehow slipped through the fingers of our friends at Columbia Pictures, and have found themselves in the ranks of Public Domain Films. I received copies of these episodes when I was nine or so, mainly because they were the most affordable, and I watched them quite possibly 50 times. Nowadays, when I see an episode of the Three Stooges, I tend to think its juvenile and unfunny. But these four episodes still make me chuckle. Are they funny because they're public domain, or are they public domain because they're funny? I guess it's one of those chicken/egg questions.

Malice in the Palace is one of the all-time greats. It's almost impossible not to laugh in the scene where everyone is convinced Larry is chopping up the cat and dog. And just like any Three Stooges episode, loaded with plenty of puns and lame jokes, and pokes and slaps galore. 3 1/2 stars.