Goofs and Saddles

Infobox Film
name = Goofs and Saddles


caption =
director = Del Lord
writer = Felix Adler
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Stanley Blystone
Ted Lorch
Cy Schindell
Eddie Laughton
Hank Bell
cinematography = Benjamin H. Kline |
editing = Charles Nelson
producer = Jules White
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US July 2, 1937
runtime = 17' 10"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:143481
imdb_id = 0028947
preceded_by = "Back to the Woods"
followed_by = "Cash and Carry"

"Goofs and Saddles" is the 24th 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

Set in the Old West, the Stooges are scouts for the United States Cavalry. They are sent by General Muster (Ted Lorch) to catch a gang of cattle rustlers, so they hide as bushes to try to find the gang's leader, Longhorn Pete (Stanley Blystone). The rustlers are befuddled by the moving bushes. The Stooges eventually wind up in Longhorn Pete's saloon, and the Stooges disguise themselves as gamblers and get into a card game with Pete as they wait for the cavalry.

Moe attempts to send a message to General Muster for help via carrier pigeon, but the pigeon returns to Pete, who reads the incriminating message aloud. The jig is up, and the Stooges are forced to escape for their lives, jumping on a covered wagon filled with household equipment — and a monkey. The Trio toss pots and pans from the wagon onto the ground, which their horse’s hoofs catch them. The wagon loosens up from the horse team, and goes down in its own power until it stops. Eventually, they end up on a shed.

A gun battle ensues. A bullet hits the monkey in the back, and he is forced to use a dipper as a helmet. Amidst the melee, Curly spots a meat grinder and decides to make a hamburger. The whizzing bullets accidentally topple a box of ammunition to the grinder, and the grinder becomes a makeshift machine gun. Discovering the chance, they add more ammunition and even a gun belt serving as an ad hoc ammunition belt. The increase in opposing firepower befuddles the bandits, but eventually General Muster arrives and saves the day. As they are given kudos for a job well done, the monkey goes to the grinder and twists the handle, firing a few shots that caused the Stooges to be hit and flee the area.

Notes

*The Stooges' names in this short are Buffalo Billious (Curly), Wild Bill Hiccup (Moe), and Just Plain Bill (Larry). The cultural references are to, respectively, "Wild West" figures Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock, and "Just Plain Bill", the title of a long-running radio program of the era.cite book
last = Solomon
first = Jon
authorlink = Jon Solomon
coauthors =
title = "The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion"
publisher = Comedy III Productions, Inc
date = 2002
location =
pages = 142
url = http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Three-Stooges-Filmography-Companion/dp/0971186804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201570359&sr=1-1
doi =
id =
isbn = 0971186804]
*The chase sequences on horseback would be recycled in 1954's "Pals and Gals".
* Moe only slaps Larry once, and softly smacks Curly on the head, the smallest slap count in any of the shorts.
* The tile is a spoof of Hoofs and Saddles

Quotes

**"The Stooges have sent for the cavalry"
**Moe "(needing money for gambling)": "How about a little credit, Pete, until our reserves get here?"
**Longhorn Pete: "Oh, I guess you're good for 25."
**Curly: "Soiteny! They'll probably send more than that!"

**Curly "(before running into the shack)": "I'll tell them we're not home!"

References

Further reading

*"Moe Howard and the Three Stooges"; by Moe Howard [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806507233] , (Citadel Press, 1977).
*"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).