Muscle Up a Little Closer

Muscle Up a Little Closer
Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Joe Besser Maxine Gates Ruth Godfrey Harriette Tarler Matt Murphy
Cinematography	Irving Lippman
Editing by	Harold White
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	February 28, 1957 (1957-02-28)
Running time	16' 46"
Country	United States
Language	English

Muscle Up a Little Closer is the 176th 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

Moe, Larry, and Joe are about propose marriage to their sweethearts. But later, the boys discover that Joe's fiancee's ring has been stolen. The Stooges suspect it is Elmo, a muscular bully who works at their plant. The Stooges come face to face with him in the company gym, but when they try to make him give the ring back by physical force, the plan backfires and Moe and Larry are knocked senseless. But Joe's girl (Maxine Gates) is tougher and knocks out Elmo. She retrieves the ring and she can now marry Joe.

The trio take on Matt Murphy

Notes

Muscle Up a Little Closer was the first film to feature Moe and Larry's more "gentlemanly" haircuts, first suggested by Joe Besser. These had to be used sparingly, however, as most of the shorts with Besser were remakes of earlier films, and new footage had to be matched with old.^[1]

References

1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook, p. 264, Citadel Press. ISBN 0806509465

External links

• Muscle Up a Little Closer at the Internet Movie Database
• Muscle Up a Little Closer at AllRovi