‘Squareheads of The Round Table’ was the 106th short comedy made by The Three Stooges for Columbia Pictures. It was photographed from Monday, December 9th through Thursday, December 12, 1946 and released on Thursday, March 4, 1948, fifteen months after its making. The reasons for this are buried (one might assume) with the men who worked in Columbia’s distribution department but its worth noting that one topical joke lost its punch as a result of the delay; when the Stooges learn that they are to be executed Larry says “I can’t die–I haven’t seen ‘The Jolson Story’ yet!” The film to which he refers was Columbia’s most successful film of 1946.

The script was written by the director Edward Bernds, who was inspired by having seen an elaborate set on a Columbia soundstage that had been built for ‘The Bandit Of Sherwood Forest’ (1946). He also wrote and directed ‘Hot Scots’ (1948) to further use the set. (Jules White directed ‘Fiddler’s Three’, the last of the Stooge films to milk this particular set dry). ‘Squareheads Of The Round Table’ features a role call of Stooge regulars including Christine McIntyre (who gets to do her soprano operetta bit), Vernon Dent, Phil Van Zandt as well as Jacques Mahoney who appeared in ‘Out West’, one of the best of the Shemp shorts. Mahoney became Sally Fields stepfather and…well, you’ll have to read about the childhood sexual abuse accusations for yourself in Field’s memoir ‘In Pieces’. On that cheery note…