OILY TO BED, OILY TO RISE

Production Information
Title: Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise
Studio: Columbia
Short Number: 42
Release Date: October 6, 1939
Running Time: 18:13

“If I wasn’t so weak from hunger, I’d bat your brains out if you had brains.”

Short Take

The Stooges are three hapless tramps. After nearly destroying a farmer’s (Richard Fiske) pile of firewood, and destroying some of his equipment, they hit the road. Curly wishes they had a car after they stop for a break. By accident, they think they’ve found a car for free and take it. After driving around for a bit The Boys come to the assistance of the Widow Jenkins (Eva McKenzie). She graciously gives them a huge meal and in return they offer to fix her broken outdoor water pump.

As The Stooges attempt to fix the pump, they discover oil hidden under the farm when the pump turns into an oil geyser. They are happy for the lady and her beautiful daughters, until she regretfully tells them she had sold the farm. The Stooges realize she was cheated out of her land by a trio of swindlers (Dick Curtis, Eddie Laughton, James Craig). They manage to retrieve the deed to the land and marry the now wealthy Widow Jenkins’ daughters.

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise Cast & Crew

Directed byJules White
Produced byJules White
Written byAndrew Bennison
Mauri Grashin
StarringMoe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Dick Curtis
Eddie Laughton
James Craig
Eva McKenzie
Dorothy Moore
Lorna Gray
Dorothy Comingore
Richard Fiske
CinematographyHenry Freulich
Edited byCharles Nelson

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise Trivia

  • During filming of the scene where The Stooges are fixing the pump, Moe actually got a blob of the “oil” stuck in his eye
  • The studio crew can be heard laughing when Curly accidentally hits his head on Widow Jenkins’ kitchen door while trumpeting and singing “A-Pumping We Will Go”

Production Notes

  • The film’s title is a parody of Benjamin Franklin’s, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”
  • Filming occurred between March 16-20, 1939