Dutiful But Dumb

Dutiful but Dumb
Directed by	Del Lord
Produced by	Hugh McCollum Del Lord
Written by	Elwood Ullman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent Bud Jamison Fred Kelsey Eddie Laughton Chester Conklin Marjorie Deanne Stanley Brown Lew Davis
Cinematography	Benjamin H. Kline
Editing by	Art Seid
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Release date(s)	March 21, 1941(U.S.)
Running time	16' 47"
Country	United States
Language	English

Dutiful but Dumb is the 54th 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 "Click, Clack and Cluck", paparazzi-like photographers working for Whack Magazine ("If it's a good picture, it's out of Whack!") who continue to grate at their weary boss (Vernon Dent). To get them out of his hair, he sends them to Vulgaria for their next job, knowing full well that taking pictures in Vulgaria is against the law, leading to execution. The inept trio are caught once they set foot on Vulgarian soil. As the firing squad is setting up, Curly requests one last smoke, leading to him pulling out a cigar the length of a hero sandwich. The wait puts everyone to sleep, and enables the boys to escape. As they try to avoid their captors, they end up in a local cafe, in which Curly pits his wits against a strong drink, and then a defiant oyster in his stew. When the oyster works Curly's last nerve he pulls out his gun and fires at it repeatedly. This gets the attention of the guards who promptly capture the Stooges and carry them off, upside down, on the bayonets of their guns.

Curly dares to take a swig of some powerful "spirit".

Notes

The title is a play on "beautiful but dumb."^[1]

An adaptation of the oyster soup scene is featured in the The Three Stooges video game, where players control Curly who attempts to rescue as many crackers as possible from the oysters. ^[2]

References

1. ^ Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 193. ISBN 0971186804. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Three-Stooges-Filmography-Companion/dp/0971186804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201570359&sr=1-1. 
2. ^ Fletcher, JC (2008-04-17). "Virtually Overlooked: The Three Stooges". http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/17/virtually-overlooked-the-three-stooges/. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 

External links

• Dutiful But Dumb at the Internet Movie Database
• Dutiful But Dumb at AllRovi