So Long Mr. Chumps

Infobox Film
name = So Long Mr. Chumps


director = Jules White
writer = Felix Adler|
Clyde Bruckman
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Dorothy Appleby
John Tyrrell
Eddie Laughton
Vernon Dent
Bud Jamison
producer = Jules White
cinematography = Barney McGill
editing = Mel Thorsen
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US February 7, 1941
runtime = 17' 32"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:141148
imdb_id = 0034209
preceded_by = "Boobs in Arms"
followed_by = "Dutiful but Dumb"

"So Long Mr. Chumps" is the 53rd 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 inept, but honest, street cleaners. When they come across an envelope filled with oil bonds in the trash, they return them to their owner, B.O. Davis (John Tyrrell). The grateful Davis offers them a 5,000-dollar reward if they can find an honest man with executive abilities. An honest dog ultimately leads them to a weeping girl (Dorothy Appleby) who explains that her sweetheart has been unfairly jailed. The best way to talk to him, the Stooges figure, is to get arrested themselves. They land in the clink and track down their man, Percy Pomeroy (Eddie Laughton). With some black paint, they make their prison outfits look like guard uniforms and make their escape. Just as they are leaving, Davis is coming in — who is nothing more than a bond swindler. The Stooges wind up back in jail, breaking rocks over Curly's head.

Notes

*The title "So Long Mr. Chumps" is a parody of Oscar-nominated film "Goodbye, Mr. Chips".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 = 187
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 jail sequences were reused in "Beer Barrel Polecats".
*In the final scene, where Moe and Larry were breaking rocks over Curly's head, Larry picks up what seems to be a rather heavy rock. Curly notices the rock and replies, "Hey! That's a REAL one! I'm no fool." Larry and Moe smile as the scene fades to black. This scene is one of few times the Stooges break character on screen, as Larry and Curly seem to be breaking character in the last few seconds.

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).