Termites of 1938

Infobox Film
name = Termites of 1938


caption =
director = Del Lord
writer = Elwood Ullman
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Bess Flowers
Bud Jamison
Dorothy Granger
Hattie McDaniel
John Ince
Symona Boniface
cinematography = André Barlatier |
editing = Art Seid
producer = Charley Chase
Hugh McCollum
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US January 7, 1938
runtime = 16' 33"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:143118
imdb_id = 0030842
preceded_by = "The Sitter Downers"
followed_by = "Wee Wee Monsieur"

"Termites of 1938" is the 28th 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

The Stooges are exterminators (i.e., 'pest men') at the Acme Exterminator Co., mistakenly hired by a woman of society seeking 'college boy' escorts (from the Acme Escort Service) to a swanky dinner party. The Stooges show up at the fancy mansion where the party takes place and thwart the expectations of the guest of honor, English Lord Wafflebottom (Bud Jamison).

Notes

*The title "Termites of 1938" is a parody of the film title "Gold Diggers of 1937". [Solomon, Jon. (2002) "The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion", p. 123; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0971186804]
* "Termites" features a classic "replacement gag." During the faux music-playing scene, Moe reaches for a bow to 'play' his bass cello, but mistakenly grabs a saw. Then, in mock-playing the bass, Moe proceeds to saw the instrument in two.
* This film was remade as "Society Mugs", a non-Stooge short that starred Shemp Howard, as well as Tom Kennedy, a frequent Shemp co-star.
* This short has two musical quirks unusual for Stooge shorts. First, the Three Stooges' opening theme, "Listen to the Mockingbird," is played again when we first see the Stooges. Second, background music plays during the otherwise silent scene in which the Stooges and other guests are eating.
* This is the first short in which Curly drops to the ground and spins in a circle. This 'coffee grinder' would be a recurring routine in later Stooge shorts.

Quotes

**Moe: "Now, if I only had a mouse."
**Curly "(pulling out a piccolo)": "Why didn't you say so? That's a cinch."
**Moe: "What's the idea?"
**Curly "(showing Moe the book "The Pied Piper of Hamelin")": "I've been been readin' up on it. See?"
**Moe: "So what?"
**Curly: "If a pie-eyed piper can call 'em out, I guess I can sober." [ [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pie%20eyed/ Dictonary.com] ]

**Three Stooges: "At your service, day and night, we do the job and do it right...Acme!"

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=sei_IpuLXrs&feature=related Watch "Termites of 1938" - first half.]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=k5cj27vuAvs&feature=related Watch "Termites of 1938" - second half.]

References

Further reading

*"Moe Howard and the Three Stooges"; by Moe Howard (Citadel Press, 1977).
*"The Three Stooges Scrapbook"; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg (Citadel Press, 1994).
*"The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons"; by Michael Fleming (Broadway Publishing, 2002).
*"One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures"; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).