Men in Black (1934)

The stooges become doctors at a large hospital where they disrupt patients and staff alike.

Director:

Ray McCarey (as Raymond McCarey)

Writers:

Felix Adler (story and screen play), Felix Adler (screenplay)

Stars:

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Moe Howard	...	Dr. Moe Howard (as Moe)
Larry Fine	...	Dr. Larry Fine (as Larry)
Curly Howard	...	Dr. Curley Howard (as Curley)

Storyline

The stooges are three doctors who graduated medical school by being in it for too many years. They come across such problems as an overly chirpy nurse, a mental patient, and a combination to a safe swallowed by the hospital superintendent in the course of their attempt to get through the day.

---

Plot Keywords:

patient | hospital | nurse | medical | broken electronic works | 

---

Taglines:

A TONIC for the "BLUES"!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Short

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bizarre medical terminology used by The Three Stooges was ad-libbed.

---

Goofs

In one scene, a janitor is repairing the broken glass in a door. The Stooges come running to it and the janitor smashes the glass and The Three Stooges jump through the opening. However, when the Stooges are in the office, they are shown opening and closing a door with no broken glass.

---

Quotes

Dr. Larry Fine: [Holding a knife in the operating room] Wait a minute. Let's plug him, and see if he's ripe.

---

Connections

Referenced in Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

---

Soundtracks

I Thought I Wanted You
(uncredited)
Music by Archie Gottler
Played during the opening credits

User Reviews

In the top three!

This is one particular Stooge short that actually uses satire in conjunction with slapstick, a rarity. As mentioned, the title and concept for this short was "borrowed" from a feature film from the same year with Clark Gable called "Men In White". It's basically about the trials and tribulations of interns and their sacred cause for "duty and humanity". I saw this recently and almost treated it like the Stooge version because it does take itself a little too seriously. In any case, "Men In Black" is so well written, directed and not to mention original, it didn't borrow a thing from Chaplin or any of the others, that the Motion Picture Academy nominated it for an award as the best short comedy of 1934. Some stinky short called "La Cucaracha" outdid it though and stole the award. Some producer's brother in law must have been on the Academy's voting board. "Men In Black" pokes fun at the whole concept of the medical profession much in the same way that the Marx Bros. always did at this time. May not be a fair comparison but I can see the Marx Bros. in this short. In fact in their feature "A Day At The Races", there is a scene where there's "medical things" going on and they cause anarchy as usual. My guess that this particular short was judged along those lines and hence why it was nominated in the first place. Try this in fact: watch this short first and then watch "Duck Soup" or "Day at the Races" with the Marxes and then see if there isn't the same great quality of comedy.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Men in Black

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

19 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1