Listen, Judge

Listen, Judge is a 1952 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 138th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Listen, Judge
Directed byEdward Bernds
Produced byHugh McCollum
Written byElwood Ullman
StarringMoe Howard
Larry Fine
Shemp Howard
Kitty McHugh
Vernon Dent
Emil Sitka
John Hamilton
CinematographyEllis W. Carter
Edited byEdwin H. Bryant
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • March 6, 1952 (1952-03-06) (U.S.)
Running time
17:06
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The Stooges are repairmen who are on trial for stealing chickens, but are found not guilty. However, Shemp opens his suit jacket, resulting in a live chicken flying out of his grip and into the face of Judge Henderson (Vernon Dent). The boys then flee the courtroom, and pursue some work.

The trio comes upon a lady customer (Kitty McHugh) whose doorbell is in need of repair. The Stooges manage to ruin most of the house while working on the wiring, ultimately clobbering the chef (Emil Sitka) who is preparing dinner at the customer's house. The irate chef abruptly quits, resulting in the Stooges being hired to prepare dinner for her husband's friend's birthday party. To their shock and horror, the party in question involves none other than Judge Henderson, and their lady customer is the Judge's wife. The party is actually for Henderson's friend, Judge Morton (John Hamilton)

Now frantic, the trio try their best to make the dinner at least partially edible. All hell nearly breaks loose when the birthday cake they prepare is accidentally pierced, deflating in the process. The cake is then "re-inflated" using town gas through the gas stove's connection.

During the party, Judge Morton blows out the candles, and the gas-filled cake explodes all over him and the judge, ruining Henderson's chance for re-election. Henderson angrily realizes who the new "help" are, and the Stooges are forced to leave in a hurry.

Production notes

Filmed on November 6–8, 1951, Listen, Judge is a hybrid of plot devices borrowed from three different Stooge films featuring Curly Howard:

It is also the last film released during Eddie Laughton's lifetime. He passed away 15 days later on March 21, 1952, which was two months after Curly Howard's death.

References
  1. Solomon, Jon. (2002) The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion, p. 401; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0-9711868-0-4
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