And welcome again to Stooges Sunday with today's entry, Violent is the World for Curly. The title is a switch on Valiant Is the Word for Carrie, a popular 1936 film starring Gladys George. The Stooges made their film in 1938 and it was directed by Charley Chase, the great film comedian.
Chase had been making very funny short comedies for Hal Roach but the market for shorts was dying off. Roach tried Chase in a feature but the result was less then wonderful and with great reluctance, the producer decided to whittle it down to a two-reel short for release. At the same time, he let Chase go and the comic headed for Columbia Pictures which, due to low overhead, was still able to make a profit making two-reelers. He starred in several for them and also directed shorts starring the Stooges as well as Andy Clyde before he passed away in 1940.
The most notable thing about this film is the song, "Swinging the Alphabet," performed by the Stooges and a classroom of female students. (For some reason, though the scene is set at a girls' school, there's a male student sitting there, not really joining in.) The Stooges must have liked the tune because they performed it other places, including recording it as a childrens' record. If you want to slide ahead to it, it starts around 11 minutes in. But you may enjoy things more if you watch from the top…
