Brideless Groom – The Full Short

Production Information
Title: Brideless Groom
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 101
Release Date: September 11, 1947
Running Time: 16:36

“Poor ol’ Uncle Caleb… give you the shirt off his back and throw in the buttons too.”

Short Take

Shemp plays a voice instructor to tone-deaf vocal student Miss Dinkelmeyer (Dee Green), with Larry as his musical accompanist. After an excruciating session, Moe enters his classroom to tell Shemp that his uncle had died and left him an inheritance of $500,000. However, Shemp cannot collect the money unless he marries within 48 hours after the reading of the will, leaving him only a few hours. Shemp uses his address book to propose to any and all women he has ever known, with unsuccessful results. With time running out, Moe and Larry lead Shemp through a series of disastrous situations including Shemp being beaten silly by a woman named Miss Hopkins (Christine McIntyre), who had just moved into the building and mistook Shemp for her cousin Basil.

Upon recovering from his bruising, Shemp unintentionally proposes to his unattractive student, Miss Dinkelmeyer. She happily accepts and everyone heads over to the Justice of Peace (Emil Sitka) to get married. However, The Stooges’ landlord calls Moe to tell him that newspaper reported Shemp’s new inheritance. This results in all his ex-girlfriends finding out about it and they set out looking for him. They all arrive at the Justice of Peace’s office looking to marry Shemp to get his money, whereupon chaos ensues.

The women start fighting, taking out their aggression not only on each other but upon The Stooges as well. Both Moe and Larry are repeatedly kicked in the shins while standing among the crowd of battling women, trying to break them up. Nonetheless, Shemp, in a dazed state, ends up marrying his student, just in time to collect the money. Shemp comes to, learns what happened, and cannot fathom his new marriage.

Brideless Groom Cast & Crew

Directed byEdward Bernds
Produced byHugh McCollum
Written byClyde Bruckman
StarringShemp Howard
Larry Fine
Moe Howard
Dee Green
Emil Sitka
Christine McIntyre
Doris Colleen
Nancy Saunders
Johnny Kascier
Alyn Lockwood
CinematographyVincent J. Farrar
Edited byHenry DeMond

Brideless Groom Trivia

  • The film features longtime Stooges supporting player Emil Sitka‘s best-remembered line “Hold hands, you lovebirds!” (the line is actually engraved on Sitka’s headstone)
  • Brideless Groom is one of four Stooge shorts that fell into the public domain after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other three being Malice in the Palace, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Disorder in the Court)
  • The working title was Love and Learn

Production Notes

  • Filming took place from March 12-13, 1947
  • During filming of the scene where Ms. Hopkins finds out Shemp is not her cousin, Christine McIntyre leaned in too far and actually broke Shemp’s nose when she punched him