Grips, Grunts and Groans

Infobox Film
name = Grips, Grunts and Groans


caption =
director = Preston Black
writer =Herman Boxer
Clyde Bruckman
Searle Kramer
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Harrison Greene
Casey Colombo
William Irving
Herb Stagman
Blackie Whiteford
Elaine Waters
cinematography = Benjamin H. Kline |
editing = Charles Nelson
producer = Jules White
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US January 13, 1937
runtime = 18' 44"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:143494
imdb_id = 0028960
preceded_by = "Slippery Silks"
followed_by = "Dizzy Doctors"

"Grips, Grunts and Groans" is the 20th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

After escaping from the railroad police after stowing away on a train, the Stooges befriend a champion wrestler named Ivan Bustoff (Harrison Greene). His trainers, who are part of the mob, have a large bet placed on Bustoff to win the big match. But Bustoff likes to go out drinking, so the mobsters hire/force the Stooges to become Bustoff's managers and get him to the ring sober. Eventually, Bustoff goes down, drunk and hit by dumbbells and a locker.

In fear, the Stooges substitute Curly, who possesses a tendency to get violent in reaction to the smell of the Wild Hyacinth. This can be used to their advantage. But the subsequent wrestling match is not a good time for Curly as he performs poorly. Moe then spots a bottle of Wild Hyacinth from a woman spectator and gets it from her. (By this time, the mobsters got wind of Bustoff's non-participation and are threatening the Stooges with harm if Curly does not win as planned). The Wild Hyacinth is then applied to Curly, and soon the challenger is knocked out cold along with nearly everyone else in attendance as Curly goes on a rampage using the match bell as a cudgel. The bell then slips out of Curly's hands and lands on his head, knocking him out as well.

Notes

*Curly has a violent reaction to the smell of the perfume, Wild Hyacinth. The only cure is for someone to tickle his feet. This is similar to the device used in "Punch Drunks" and "Horses' Collars".
*When the Stooges run from the train, turn a corner, and bump into a baby carriage, you can see it's doubles (stunt men) and not the Stooges. Even more: when "Moe" falls down, his coat is buttoned up, but when the real Moe stands up, his coat is unbuttoned.
*This is the first short in which the Stooges attempt to escape a room but wind up simply running in circles. This would be a recurring joke in the Stooge shorts.

Further reading

*"Moe Howard and the Three Stooges"; by Moe Howard [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806507233] , (Citadel Press, 1977).
*"The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion"; by Jon Solomon [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971186804] , (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
*"The Three Stooges Scrapbook"; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806509465] (Citadel Press, 1994).
*"The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons"; by Michael Fleming [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767905563] (Broadway Publishing, 2002).
*"One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures"; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581823630] , (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).