Production Information
Title: Listen, Judge
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 138
Release Date: March 6, 1952
Running Time: 17:01
“G’wan you French poodle, your father’s got fleas!”
(Moe)
Short Take
The Stooges are repairmen who are on trial for stealing chickens but are found not guilty. However, Shemp opens his suit jacket, resulting in a live chicken flying out of his grip and into the face of Judge Henderson (Vernon Dent). The boys then flee the courtroom and pursue some work.
The trio comes upon a lady customer (Kitty McHugh) whose doorbell is in need of repair. The Stooges manage to ruin most of the house while working on the wiring, ultimately clobbering the chef (Emil Sitka) who is preparing dinner at the customer’s house. The irate chef abruptly quits, resulting in the Stooges being hired to prepare dinner for her husband’s friend’s birthday party. To their shock and horror, the party in question is for none other than Judge Henderson, and their lady customer is the Judge’s wife.
Now frantic, the trio tries their best to make the dinner at least partially edible. All hell nearly breaks loose when the birthday cake they prepare is accidentally pierced, deflating in the process. The cake is then “re-inflated” using town gas through the gas stove’s connection.
During the party, Judge Henderson’s friend blows out the candles, and the gas-filled cake explodes all over him and the judge, ruining his chance for re-election. The judge angrily realizes who the new “help” is, and the Stooges are forced to leave in a hurry.
McCollum/Bernds/Ullman
This is the ninth and final McCollum/Berns/Ullman production. McCollum and Bernds will make one last Stooge film during 1952 and Ullman and Bernds will have a fine renascence in the 1960’s when The Stooges begin starring in their own feature films. But it is important to observe here the end of an era in Stooge films which gave us some of the finest scare comedies (The Hot Scots), crime dramas (Crime on Their Hands, Vagabond Loafers; A Snitch in Time), extended slapstick sequences (Mummy’s Dummies), multi-door chases (Studio Stoops) and wacky adversaries (Three Arabian Nuts) in the entire Stooge corpus, not to mention tow forays into the world of the Cold War (Fuelin’ Around and Dopey Dicks.)
Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Edward Bernds |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Hugh McCollum |
| Written by | Elwood Ullman |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Kitty McHugh Vernon Dent Emil Sitka John Hamilton |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Edited by | Edwin H. Bryant |
Listen, Judge Trivia
- The chicken stealing sequence in the courtroom is from A Plumbing We Will Go.
- The doorbell repair sequence is from They Stooge To Conga.
- The food preparation sequences and exploding cake (comprising the second half of the film) are from An Ache in Every Stake.
Production Notes
- Filmed on November 6-8, 1951,
- Listen, Judge is a hybrid of plot devices borrowed from three different Stooge films featuring Curly Howard.
