imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* top */ add {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

2025-04-12T05:34:46Z

top: add {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

New page

{{Short description|1952 American short film by Jules White}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Cuckoo on a Choo Choo
| image = Cuckoochoochew.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Jules White]]
| writer = [[Felix Adler (screenwriter)|Felix Adler]]
| starring = [[Moe Howard]]<br>[[Larry Fine]]<br>[[Shemp Howard]]<br>[[Patricia Wright (actress)|Patricia Wright]]<br>[[Victoria Horne]]
| cinematography = [[Henry Freulich]]
| editing = [[Edwin H. Bryant]]
| producer = Jules White
| distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|1952|12|04|U.S.}}
| runtime = {{duration|m=15|s=28}}
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
'''''Cuckoo on a Choo Choo''''' is a 1952 [[short film|short subject]] directed by [[Jules White]] starring American [[slapstick]] comedy team [[The Three Stooges]] ([[Moe Howard]], [[Larry Fine]] and [[Shemp Howard]]). It is the 143rd entry in the series released by [[Columbia Pictures]] starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

==Plot==
Larry and Shemp find refuge in a purloined railway car named Schmow. Larry harbors intentions of marrying his beloved Lenore, contingent upon Shemp marrying Lenore's sister, Roberta. Lenore insists on upholding her family's tradition, wherein the eldest daughter must marry first, and Shemp's substantial wealth is an additional incentive. However, Shemp's persistent inebriation and infatuation with an imaginary avian creature, Carrie, pose significant obstacles to his marriage prospects.

Meanwhile, Moe, a railway detective tasked with locating the missing car, chances upon the clandestine hideout. To his astonishment, Moe encounters Roberta, with whom he shares a prior romantic history. Overwhelmed by nostalgia, Moe endeavors to revive their dormant affection. Larry endeavors to sow discord between Moe and Shemp over Roberta's affections, yet Shemp remains steadfast in his devotion to Carrie. Subsequently, Moe forsakes his professional duties to pursue Roberta, culminating in a tumultuous entanglement.

The narrative concludes with Shemp, ensnared in his delusion, inadvertently incapacitating himself while pursuing his fanciful muse, Carrie.

==Cast==
* [[Moe Howard]] as Moe & Radio announcer
* [[Larry Fine]] as Larry
* [[Shemp Howard]] as Shemp
* [[Patricia Wright (actress)|Patricia Wright]] as Lenore
* [[Victoria Horne]] as Roberta
* Reggie Dvorak as Carrie the canary

==Reception==
''Cuckoo on a Choo Choo'' has been dubbed one of the most original and unique shorts in the Stooge canon.<ref name=Solo/> However, fans and critics alike generally regard it as the worst Stooge comedy made.<ref>Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). ''The Three Stooges Scrapbook'', p. 259, Citadel Press. {{ISBN|0-8065-0946-5}}</ref>

==Production notes==
''Cuckoo on a Choo Choo'' was filmed on April 21–23, 1952. The plot is borrowed from two popular films of the period. The idea of a stolen [[railroad]] car is a parody of ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'', while the imaginary animal friend parodies the film ''[[Harvey (1950 film)|Harvey]]'' ([[Victoria Horne]] had starred in the latter).<ref name=Solo/> The theme of a woman's unwillingness to marry until her sister can be found in a willing husband-to-be alludes to ''[[Kiss Me, Kate]]'', a 1948 [[Cole Porter]] musical based on [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'', which also had a 1953 [[MGM]] film adaptation.

This reportedly was one of [[Larry Fine]]'s favorite shorts to watch repeatedly during his last years in the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital|Motion Picture House]]. It is one of the only Stooge shorts in which he plays a different character than usual: tougher, more domineering, and speaking in a gravelly, mumbling voice in a broad parody of [[Marlon Brando]] as [[Stanley Kowalski]] in ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.<ref name=Solo/>

Over the course of their 24 years at Columbia Pictures, the Stooges would occasionally be cast as separate characters. This course of action always worked against the team; author Jon Solomon concluded "when the writing divides them, they lose their comic dynamic."<ref name=Solo>{{cite book | last = Solomon | first = Jon | author-link = Jon Solomon | title = The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion | publisher = Comedy III Productions, Inc | date = 2002 | location = [[Glendale, California]] | pages = 316, 376 | isbn = 0-9711868-0-4}}</ref> In addition to this split occurring in ''Cuckoo on a Choo Choo'', the trio also played separate characters in ''[[Rockin' in the Rockies]]'', ''[[He Cooked His Goose]]'' (and its [[remake]] ''[[Triple Crossed (1959 film)|Triple Crossed]]''), ''[[Gypped in the Penthouse]]'', ''[[Flying Saucer Daffy]]'' and ''[[Sweet and Hot]]''.<ref name=Solo/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0044526}}
* [http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/142 ''Cuckoo on a Choo Choo'' at threestooges.net]

{{The Three Stooges}}

[[Category:1952 films]]
[[Category:The Three Stooges films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures short films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jules White]]
[[Category:Fiction about rail transport]]
[[Category:1952 comedy films]]
[[Category:1952 short films]]
[[Category:American comedy short films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy short films]]

Cuckoo on a Choo Choo - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* top */ add {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}