Boobs in Arms (1940)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jules White

Writer:

Felix Adler (story)

Release Date:

27 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

The stooges are greeting card salesmen who are mistakenly inducted into the army after escaping from the jealous husband of one of their customers...

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | Army Life | Reverse Footage | Kicked In Butt | The Three Stooges

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
Richard Fiske	...	The Sergeant
Evelyn Young	...	Sergeant's Wife

Also Known As:

All This and Bullets, Too (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

Curly: [laughing] I think we're captured!
Moe: [laughing] They'll probably shoot us!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs All This, and Heaven Too (1940)

Richard Fiske died in World War II

It is certainly ironic and kind of sad to know that Richard Fiske ("Why does everything happen to me?") was Killed In Action in Le Croix, France during World War II. Fiske had lots of movie credits and I imagine he probably earned a good income at that time. But back in those days, actors, singers, and other celebrities actively participated in World War II and sacrificed their lives for the U.S. Constition and Democracy.

Fiske was excellent in this short film as the guy that the Stooges keep foiling. At the beginning of the movie they run into him on the street and knock him down. Later they are sweet-talking his wife when he walks in on them. Finally, they join the Army and he is their Drill Instructor. Unlike another (more violent) Stooge short which ended with the Stooges getting shot by a firing squad, this one ends with the Stooges getting bombed. It seems like there was an anti-war message somewhere in this short, but the antics make it hard to stop laughing long enough to think about it.

One of the more ironic moments is when the Stooges comment on "Friendly Fire" and say "our own troops are bombing us" and Larry says "We'll get killed." I don't know if the Stooges were aware of how Friendly Fire was a major cause of casualties back in those days (before computers, electronic communications, satellites) when artillery fire was done by guessing and estimating.

It is interesting to see these old short films and to wonder if the sarcastic remarks that are often made were an over-looked social critique that was going on here. The Stooges are never given enough credit for their sophistication, and their writers have never gotten any credit either. How about the sign on Curly's uniform? "O'Brien's Kosher Restaurant" and was that a comment on the commercialization of war? Could so many sarcastic remarks and gags be anything less than social commentary? Why does Charlie Chaplin get so much credit (talk about over-rated) while the Three Stooges are never given any credit for the same thing? Last note, Philip Van Zandt committed suicide in 1958. Another Stooge extra that took his own life.