Commotion on the Ocean

Commotion on the Ocean
Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Gene Roth Harriette Tarler Joe Palma Emil Sitka Charles C. Wilson
Cinematography	Ray Cory
Editing by	Harold White
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	November 8, 1956 (U.S.)
Running time	16' 34"
Country	United States
Language	English

Commotion on the Ocean is the 174th 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 play janitors who work at a newspaper office, begging to be given a chance to become reporters. The managing editor (Charles C. Wilson) promises to think about it over dinner. The phone rings while he is out and Moe answers. The person on the other end is one of the boss's reporters, Smitty (Emil Sitka), who relays a scoop to Moe that some important documents have been stolen by foreign spies. Coincidentally, the spy with the microfilmed documents, Mr. Borscht (Gene Roth) lives next door to the Stooges. He and the boys wind up as stowaways on an ocean liner. Stranded on a freighter on the high seas, and sustained by eating salami, the boys eventually overtake Borscht, recover the microfilm, and are thrilled with their newspaper scoop.

End of the Shemp Howard era

As he had already died, Commotion on the Ocean would be the last Stooge film featuring Shemp Howard as the third stooge. For his last four films (Rumpus in the Harem, Hot Stuff, Scheming Schemers and Commotion on the Ocean), Columbia utilized supporting actor Joe Palma to be Shemp's double. Even though these films were remakes of earlier Shemp efforts, Palma's services were needed to link what few new scenes were filmed to the older stock footage.^[1] At one point, then-Columbia boss Harry Cohn and Stooges director Jules White considered making shorts with Palma as a Shemp double indefinitely. However, Larry and a very grief-stricken Moe disagreed, believing that if they did that, the Stooges' days as a comedy act would definitely be numbered and that they had to have a living "Third Stooge."^[2] By the time the Stooges returned to making shorts, comedian Joe Besser had been recruited to be the new "Third Stooge."

For this film, Palma appears in only one new shot during the newspaper office scene. After Larry says, "Oh, I know Smitty: 'Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smitty stands'," Moe slaps him. Palma gets involved in the slapstick exchange and shields himself in defense, obstructing his face.^[1]

All other new footage throughout the film consists of Moe and Larry working as a duo, often discussing Shemp's absence aloud:

• • Moe: "I wonder what became of that Shemp?"
  • Larry: "You know he went on deck to scout out some food."
  • Moe: "Oh, yeah. That's right."^[3]

Moe Howard and Larry Fine film some new scenes in Commotion on the Ocean without the late Shemp Howard.

Notes

• Commotion on the Ocean is a remake of 1949's Dunked in the Deep, using ample stock footage. In addition, the newspaper room scenes were lifted from 1948's Crime on Their Hands.^[1]
• Hiding microfilm in watermelons is an allusion to an actual event that occurred in 1948. Time Magazine's managing editor Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist spy-turned government informer, accused Alger Hiss of being a member of the Communist Party and a spy for the Soviet Union. In presenting evidence against Hiss, Chambers produced the Pumpkin Papers: four rolls of microfilm of State Department documents, which Chambers had concealed in a hollowed-out pumpkin on his Maryland farm.^[1][4]

See also

• Fake Shemp

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Solomon, Jon. (2002) The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion, p. 481; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0971186804
2. ^ Forrester, Jeff. Forrester, Tom. (2005) The Three Stooges: The Triumphs and Tragedies of The Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time, p. 152; Donaldson Books, ISBN 0-9715801-0-3
3. ^ Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook, p. 263, Citadel Press. ISBN 0806509465
4. ^ [|Chambers, Whittaker] (1952). Witness. Random House. pp. 751–755. ISBN 0-89526-571-0. 

External links

• Commotion on the Ocean at the Internet Movie Database
• Commotion on the Ocean at AllRovi