Production Information
Title: Spook Louder
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 69
Release Date: April 2, 1943
Running Time: 15:59
“I’ll knock your head right through your socks!
(Moe)
Spook Louder Short Take
Spook Louder is told in flashback by Professor J.O. Dunkfeather (Lew Kelly) in an interview with a newspaper reporter (Stanley Brown). The Professor relates to the reporter the story of Graves, the master spy (Ted Lorch). As the tale begins, we see the Three Stooges as traveling salesmen, trying their best to sell their “Miracle Reducing Machine”, which essentially shakes and rattles off the pounds (as Curly demonstrates). Upon failing to sell any of their machines, they trudge onward, needing money to pay their rent. As luck would have it, the boys stumble upon the home of Graves, who assumes the Stooges are the new caretakers. Graves is on his way to Washington, D.C. to test his new death ray machine, and leaves his eerie, spooky mansion in the hands of the trio. Naturally, spies disguised in Halloween costumes show up once Graves departs. The Stooges are on edge the entire time, particularly because mysterious cream pies continuously come flying out of thin air. After being cornered by the spies, the Stooges detonate a bomb given to them by Graves before he departed; they end up subduing the thieves, thus assuring that Graves’ secrets remain in good hands.
Back in the office, the reporter is desperate to know who was throwing the cream pies. Dunkfeather confesses that he was throwing the pies; however, this claim is compromised when, out of nowhere, a pie flies into his face.
Spook Louder Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Del Lord |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Del Lord Hugh McCollum |
| Written by | Clyde Bruckman |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Stanley Blystone Lew Kelly Symona Boniface Stanley Brown Charles Middleton Ted Lorch Shirley Patterson |
| Cinematography | John Stumar |
| Edited by | Paul Borofsky |
Spook Louder Trivia
- The title Spook Louder is a pun combining the request “speak louder” with the “spooks” of a mansion.
- It is a remake of the 1931 Mack Sennett film The Great Pie Mystery.
- Co-stars Charles Middleton and Ted Lorch also appeared together in the 1936 serial Flash Gordon.
- Spook Louder was one of several World War II-era Stooges shorts that engaged in propaganda against the then-enemy Japanese, with others including No Dough Boys, Booby Dupes and, notably, The Yokes on Me.
- Several scenes from Spook Louder appear in the 1992 film Radio Flyer.
- Moe’s hair stands on end for the first time in Spook Louder.
- What was Dr. Graves trying to sell the government in Spook Louder? (A: A Death Ray)
Production Notes
Filmed on July 17-21, 1942.
