A Missed Fortune

Infobox Film
name = A Missed Fortune


caption =
director = Jules White
writer = Searle Kramer
Jack White
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Shemp Howard
Vernon Dent
Stanley Blystone
Nanette Bordeaux
Vivian Mason
Suzanne Ridgeway
cinematography = Fayte M. Browne
editing = Henry DeMond
producer = Jules White
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US January 3, 1952
runtime = 16' 06"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:146580
imdb_id = 0044909
preceded_by = "Pest Man Wins"
followed_by = "Listen, Judge"

"A Missed Fortune " is the 137th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

Shemp wins $50,000 for accidentally guessing the correct make of a car for a radio contest. The boys quickly spend their loot, and check in at the Hotel Costa Plente. Their suite is furnished with many expensive items which they systematically destroy. In the process, three gold diggers connive their way into the boys' room, under the guise that they are three rich widows looking to remarry. This works perfectly, as Shemp quickly discovers that all the tax deductions reduce his winnings to a minuscule $4.85. The boys hastily agree to marry the ladies, who soon find out the Stooges are broke.

Notes

*"A Missed Fortune" is a reworking of 1938's "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb". [Solomon, Jon. (2002) "The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion", p. 398; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0971186804] . Minimal stock footage, however, is utilized from the original film. When Shemp falls onto the top of the bed, the footage is actually Curly, borrowed from "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb". Additionally, the close-up of Moe yelling "Get this Henry the VIII off my neck!" is also stock. A slight inconsistency can be noted, as the the pattern on the wood changes from shot to shot. Larry taking a bath is also a stock shot.

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).