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Disorder in the Court is the fifteenth Three Stooges short subject from Columbia Pictures.

Plot[]

Right hand

The Stooges are key witnesses at a murder trial. Their friend and colleague, Gail Tempest (Suzanne Kaaren), is a dancer at the Black Bottom cafe where the Stooges are musicians. She is accused of killing Kirk Robin (a play on "Who Killed Cock Robin?"). The Stooges harass the defense attorney (Bud Jamison) in Disorder in the Court  When Curly is called to the witness stand, he is nowhere to be found. The defense attorney (Bud Jamison) goes out into the hall only to find the Stooges playing jacks and tic-tac-toe simultaneously on the floor. After considerable mutual frustration, the court finally swears in Curly, who begins to describe the events that took place on the night of the murder. He offers to show the court exactly what happened, and the Stooges break into their musical routine, with Larry on violin, Moe harmonica, and Curly on spoons. Gail Tempest shrugs off her coat and reveals her dancer costume, to the great surprise of the jury.  The act ends when Larry mistakes a toupée for a tarantula; Moe subsequently takes the guard's gun and starts shooting the toupée, causing pandemonium in the court. After everything is brought under control, Moe and Curly re-enact the actual murder (with Curly on the receiving end). Moe then looks at the parrot, who was at the murder scene, and sees a note tied to the parrot's foot. He opens the parrot cage, and the parrot flies out. The Stooges eventually capture the bird by shooting water at it through a fire hose. Moe then reads the letter out loud and reveals that it is a confession from the real murderer, Buck Wing, which proves Gail's innocence. The note also said that Buck Wing will disappear. Just when they were going to get their picture taken for the front page, the water hose exploded causing everyone to get wet.

Notes[]

  • Solomon Horwitz, the father of Moe, Curly and Shemp Howard appears in this short as a Gallery Spectator. Solomon was visiting the set during production, and was unexpectedly pulled into the shot as a seat filler.
  • This is the first short to feature in the opening sequence to have the stooges in a different order, as Curly, Larry, and Moe, when in the previous shorts it was ordered, Moe, Larry, and Curly. This is also the first short to have a different Columbia torch lady. It is also the first short to have the spelling C-U-R-L-Y on the opening titles.
  • When the Stooges run back into the courtroom after being caught playing games, Curly is noticeably limping when he is running. This limp was caused when he accidentally shot himself in the foot while hunting with his brother Moe.
  • When playing the dance number for Gail, Larry is noticeably the only one playing his instrument live for the entirety of the scene, although the actual music he's producing is cut from all but the final of the performance. Larry was in fact a classically trained violinist, thus leading to many of his performances playing throughout the short films. However, being a good musician in his own right, Curly does play the spoons at the beginning of the song. This was a skill he had also displayed during their MGM run in the short, Beer and Pretzels.
  • Disorder in the Court is one of the four Three Stooges short films to enter the public domain. As a result, the short is frequently found on budget release VHS and DVD releases. It is also the only one of the four films to feature Curly instead of his brother Shemp.
  • While on the Witness Stand, Curly uses a middle finger to move some gum in his mouth. It's not known why it wasn't edited out around the time, decades after filming, that the gesture first became a form of profanity.

Goofs[]

  • When Curly falls off the chair, it is clearly a stunt double in his place.
  • When Curly hits the toupée with the mallet, he visibly doesn't actually hit Moe's foot.

Cast[]

  • Sam Lufkin as Gallery spectator
  • Harry Semels as District Attorney
  • Edward LeSaint as Judge
  • Al Thompson as Bailiff
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