Idiots Deluxe

Infobox Film
name = Idiots Deluxe


caption =
director = Jules White
writer = Elwood Ullman
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Vernon Dent
Paul Kruger
Al Thompson
Eddie Laughton
cinematography = Glen Gano |
editing = Charles Hochberg
producer = Jules White
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US July 20, 1945
runtime = 17' 28"
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:140212
imdb_id = 0037812
preceded_by = "Booby Dupes"
followed_by = "If a Body Meets a Body"

"Idiots Deluxe" is the 85th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges.

Plot

Moe is on trial for assaulting Larry and Curly. Moe appeals to the judge (Vernon Dent), claiming he is a sick man who was instructed by his doctor to maintain peace and quiet. This peace is broken by Larry and Curly who are loudly rehearsing their "The Original Two-Man Quartet" routine. Moe cracks, and wraps Curly's trombone slide around the quartet's necks. Realizing Moe is in bad shape, Larry and Curly decide to take their ailing leader on a hunting trip to relieve his stress. Moe agrees, and the Stooges start packing.

No sooner do they arrive in an empty cabin when a hungry bear devours some eggs and potatoes while Moe has his back turned. His nerves double frayed, Moe asks Larry and Curly to pursue the bear. One thing leads to another, and the bear ends up behind the wheel of the Stooges' car, and ultimately wrecks it.

Back in the courtroom, Moe ends his story by concluding that he must go back to bed for six additional months. The judge takes pity on him, and finds him not guilty. The judge then returns Moe's axe, and Moe immediately goes after Larry and Curly with it.

Notes

*"Idiots Deluxe" marks a radical change in the title screens. Most notably, the background screens feature the Greco-Roman comic mask in the upper left-hand corner. This new format would remain in place until the last Stooge short, "Sappy Bull Fighters".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 = 261 | 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]
*"Idiots Deluxe" would later be reworked in 1957 as "Guns a Poppin!", using ample stock footage.
* The title is a satire on "Idiot's Delight", a play by Robert E. Sherwood and later an MGM movie with Norma Shearer and Clark Gable.

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).