This clip is just thirty seconds from a Three Stooges short but it's an interesting thirty seconds.
As we all learned in college, the third member of that famed comedy trio kept changing over the years. Moe and Larry were the constants but different men at different times held the exalted status of Stooge #3. Shemp (brother of Moe) was originally in that slot when they were a stage act. He left and was replaced by another brother, Jerry, who shaved his head and called himself Curly. I always liked Shemp and sometimes even Joe Besser better but even I have to admit that Curly was, out and away, the most popular of the "third" Stooges.
In 1946, Curly began having prolonged periods of illness, and Shemp began filling in for him during the team's occasional live stage appearances. In May of that year, Curly suffered a stroke and Shemp replaced him in the films in what was intended to be a temporary arrangement during the recovery period. This did not happen. Jerry/Curly never got to a point where he and his doctors felt he could resume performing and he died in early 1952 without ever returning to the screen…
…with one exception. In the third Stooges short with Shemp, Curly made a brief cameo appearance. It was called Hold That Lion, and it was released in 1947. The same footage was also used in another Stooge film, Booty and the Beast, released one year after Curly's death.
Our clip today is that scene…the only on-screen appearance to my knowledge of Moe Howard, Shemp Howard and Curly Howard, all together. It came about, they say, because Curly was visiting the set and someone thought it might bolster his sagging spirits. The scene was written on the spot and one can only wonder what audiences of the day thought. Even though he'd let his hair grow to human length, Curly was pretty recognizable. I'm sure some moviegoers assumed Shemp had taken over because the other guy had died…and now, here the other guy was in another film. Without further delay, we bring you the relevant half a minute of that film…
