Malice in the Palace

For the professional wrestling event, see WrestleFanFest Malice in the Palace. For the 2004 brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills, see Pacers–Pistons brawl.

Malice in the Palace
Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Vernon Dent George J. Lewis Frank Lackteen Everett Brown Johnny Kascier Joe Palma
Cinematography	Vincent J. Farrar
Editing by	Edwin H. Bryant
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	September 1, 1949 (1949-09-01)
Running time	15' 42"
Country	United States
Language	English

Malice in the Palace is the 117th 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

Shemp: "Boy, if I hadn't ducked, we'd have collided sure. What a narrow escape!"

The Stooges, while running the Cafe Casbah Bah (a Middle Eastern restaurant) and attempting to prepare a meal for customers Hassan Ben Sober (Vernon Dent) and Ginna Rumma (George J. Lewis), discover a plan that their hungry customers are hatching. These two thieves are attempting to rob the tomb of King Rootintootin, which contains a priceless diamond, but they discover that the emir of Schmow (Johnny Kascier) has already gotten his hands on the diamond. The two plotters start wailing and are thrown out of the restaurant. The Stooges then attempt to retrieve the diamond themselves, as there is a $50,000 reward at stake.

The Stooges arrive at the emir's palace, all three dressed as Santa Claus. They then manage to acquire the diamond and make a quick exit, but not before dealing with a burly guard.

Curly Howard

According to The Three Stooges Journal, a part was written for Curly — a lobby card photo shot for this film features a slim and mustachioed Curly as an angry chef. However, his scenes were cut and ultimately Larry assumed the role as the chef. Had Curly been able to appear, this would have been the second short — after Hold That Lion! — in which all four of the original Stooges appear in the same film. Curly would not work after this, as his health declined until his death in 1952.

Quotes

Curly's deleted scene as the Chef posing on "Palace" set with Larry, Moe, and Shemp

Notes

• Malice in the Palace was reworked in 1956 as Rumpus in the Harem, using ample stock footage from the original.
• The 2004 NBA brawl between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons has come to be known as the Malice at the Palace, a play on the title of this short and a reference to the fact that the event happened at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
• Malice in the Palace is one of four Stooge shorts that exist in the public domain (the others being Disorder in the Court, Brideless Groom, and Sing a Song of Six Pants). As such, these four shorts frequently appear on cheaply produced VHS and DVD compilations.
• The bit in which the Stooges break into the palace clad in Santa Claus outfits was originally done in the Curly short Wee Wee Monsieur.

External links

• Malice in the Palace at the Internet Movie Database
• Malice in the Palace is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Malice in the Palace at AllRovi