SATURDAY STOOGEFEST

‘Who Done It?’ (1949) is the one-hundred and fourteenth short film made by The Three Stooges for Columbia Pictures. It was photographed from Tuesday, December 9 through Friday, December 12, 1947 and released fifteen months later, on March 3, 1949. Written and Directed by Edward L. Bernds, the film is a top-notch Shemp entry, featuring superb turns by Emil Sitka as a terrified (with reason) millionaire and Christine McIntyre (never more alluring a noir villainess was there to be found in the confines of the Columbia Pictures shorts department). Goodies to look out for include the brilliant routine between Shemp and Ms. McIntyre, where each keeps switching the drink laced with the Mickey Finn. Shemp’s stunt work at the climax of the scene is a clever integration of work by Shemp and Joe Palma, Shemp’s double who later became the ‘fake Shemp’ in the last handful of shorts the team had to churn out after Shemp’s death in 1955. Look out also for Moe’s pronounced limp during the scenes of them running down the mansion hallways–it likely was the result of an injury sustained in the crashing-through-the-door stunt that happens at 11:55. Finally, is that an Emil Sitka dummy used at 14:14? If so, who has it now? And how much do they want for it?

MOVIES
'TIL
DAWN

Sign up for news & updates so you don't miss a thing!

2 Responses

  1. This episode actually elevated my appreciation of Shep. Coming from a very Pro Curly family, we begrudgingly accepted Shep, never Curly Joe, haha, but Sep shines in this one, and the shots and editing are great.

    1. Yeah its an unusually good short–tight, funny and inventive.As a kid I was always pro-Curly since his childish innocence, victimhood and tantrums are very kid-like. As an adult, though, I relate more to Shemp–a braggart, a coward, a lech and a fool.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More
articles