Hoi Polloi (1935 film)

Infobox Film
name = Hoi Polloi


caption =
director = Del Lord
writer = Felix Adler
Helen Howard (uncredited)
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Harry Holman
Robert Graves
Phyllis Crane
Geneva Mitchell
William Irving
Bud Jamison
James C. Morton
cinematography = Henry Freulich |
editing = James Sweeney
producer = Jules White
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US August 29, 1935
runtime = 18' 08"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:228988
imdb_id = 0026479
preceded_by = "Pardon My Scotch"
followed_by = "Three Little Beers"

"Hoi Polloi" is the tenth 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

In a Stooge adaptation of "Pygmalion", Professor Richmond (Harry Holman), certain that environment and not heredity dictates social behavior, bets one of his peers, Professor Nichols (Robert Graves) $10,000 (later extended to $2 million) that he can turn three boors into gentlemen through environment and proper training. Naturally, the Stooges, who are garbage men, are discovered and made the subjects of the wager. After many attempts to teach them proper etiquette (including a dance class punctuated by an errant bee), the Stooges will decide the wager by their behavior at a fancy society party.

The party does not go well: Curly pulls Moe's jacket threads until Moe's jacket splits. Moe takes Curly's jacket by a bop, and Curly takes a guest's jacket, again through a bop. Larry and Moe dance with stomped feet and bumps galore. Curly, as usual, gets most of the faux pas: he shaves in front of a guest; he gets stuck on a spittoon; he picks a “mascasino” cherry from a punch bowl; he hides a bottle of champagne, which Moe sees. Frustrated, Moe butt-kicks Curly, resulting in the champagne popping open and spraying on a guest.

While Moe was romancing Professor Nichols' daughter (Phyllis Crane), she coos that he will find the “eternal spring” (the season). Moe's hand unfortunately is stuck on the hole in the sofa. He removes its spring (the device), stuck on his hand, and shakes it off, which sticks to Curly's back while he is dancing. When a dancing guest bumps him and he falls, he springs back up. The spring eventually catches another guest's back and both guest and Curly spring back and forth until the spring gives way.

Eventually, the professor who bet on environment loses the bet and gives the two million dollars to his partner. The partner in turn makes a comment to a lady guest concerning being pestered by a bunch of “rowdies”. The remark does not go over well with her, and she slaps him in the face. His partner laughs, and the unfortunate fellow slaps him in turn. In quick succession, guests laugh at other guests' misfortunes, and slaps and gouges fly until the party becomes a melee.

The Stooges, having had enough “hoi polloi”, decide to leave. At that point, a group of frustrated guests, including the professor, met them, and give a variant of a classic Stooge joke: they stick out their fists and the professor says “You see that?” The Stooges tap their fists, which swing, and in the process, the other hands with champagne bottles swing out in unison and bop the Stooges on their top hats and heads.

Birth of an idea

Legend has it that the idea for "Hoi Polloi" came from Moe Howard and his wife, Helen, who was offered either screen credit or money — she took the cash.

The idea of someone of low social status being elevated to polite society is not especially new. "The Prince and the Pauper" would be an older example. Another example would be George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" and its musical version, "My Fair Lady".

The 1983 film, "Trading Places", uses a basic idea rather similar to "Hoi Polloi".

Notes

*In the "Three Stooges 75th Anniversary Special", hosted by Woody Harrelson, the dancing scene at the 6:00 mark of this short was voted by the fans as their favorite Stooge moment of all time.
*The expression hoi polloi is a generally derogatory term for "the masses"
*This is the first of several Stooge shorts in which Curly manages to get a spring attached to his backside. Another includes "An Ache in Every Stake".
*A colorized version of this short is currently available on DVD.
*When Curly antagonizes a very large women he is dancing with, she initiates a 'tit for tat' slap fest. This goes on until a 'draw' comes out of it, they makeup and continue to dance. A similar slapping gag reoccurs between Curly and Minnie June Gittelson in the short "False Alarms".
*"Half-Wits Holiday" the remake of this short, was the last starring Curly, who suffered a stroke during filming.
*In the first street scene where the Stooges are rubbish sanitation workers, you can see the original "Hollywoodland" sign on the hill in the distance.
*On the street is a marquee advertising the film "Mississippi" featuring Bing Crosby. Coincidentally, this film also co-stars Fred Kohler who was "Double Deal Decker" in the short "Horses' Collars" made the same year.

Quotes

**Moe: "Listen, mister, I can explain the whole thing."
**Curly: "Soitenly!"
**Moe: "You stay out of this!" *SLAP!*
**Moe "(to Larry)": "And you too!" *SLAP!*
**Larry: "I didn't say nothin'!"
**Moe: "Well, that was in case you do."

**Moe "(reading)": "Oh, see the deer. Has the deer a little doe?"
**Curly: "Why soiteny! Two bucks!"

**Larry "(reading)": "Oh, see the cat. Does the mouse see the cat? (turns to Moe) Yeah, the dirty rat!"
**Moe: "Who?" *SLAP!*

**Professor Richmond "(to Curly)": "Can you spell cat?"
**Curly: "Soiteny!"
**Professor Richmond: "Spell it!"
**Curly "(glancing at book)": "Cat. K-I-T-T-Y. Pussy."

**Dance instructor "(dancing)": "One, two, three, dip; one, two, three, dip. Now can you do it?"
**Curly: "It ain't the dippin', it's the countin' that's got me."

**Moe "(to Larry and Curly)": "Now then, gentlemen, remember your etiquette." *SLAP!* *SLAP!*
**Larry: "What's that for?"
**Curly: "We didn't do nothin'!"
**Moe: "That's in case you do and I'm not around."

**Woman: "Your dancing is atrocious."
**Larry: "Oh, thank you. I couldn't dance a step last year."

**Moe "(to Larry and Curly, disgusted by the other guests' behavior)": "My dear fellows, this is our punishment for associating with the hoi polloi."

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmt-UtCSHzg Watch colorized "Hoi Polloi" - first half.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGs36qEKlv8&feature=related Watch colorized "Hoi Polloi" - second half.]

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).