Three Loan Wolves (1946) starring the Three Stooges – Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard
Three Loan Wolves is told in flashback as the Three Stooges explain to “their” son how he came to live with them — years before, they had inherited a pawn shop from their Uncle Tom, and
Larry was already giving away money to anybody who came through the door — after some slapstick, a loan shark enters the shop, wanting them to start paying “protection money.” The boys refuse, and after a short slapstick fight, Curly accidentally knocks the thug out (with “bowling balls – cheep“). After throwing the criminal out (in a baby buggy) Moe and Curly leave for lunch, warning Larry not to give money to anybody for anything. And in walks a beautiful blonde …
The blonde is Molly the Glamour Girl, girlfriend of the criminal who had tried to extort money from the Stooges — and to avoid police attention, she’s “borrowed” her sister’s infant son, which she carried into the pawn shop, hoping to pawn her “diamond” ring for money — but she drops it, and the cheap glass breaks. While Larry is infatuated with the baby she leaves — leaving the baby behind. Moe and Curly return, and soon it’s “Three Men and a Baby” starring the Three Stooges, as they try to make the child stop crying — a highlight of this segment is Curly trying to make a “baby bottle” out of a jug, a funnel and a rubber glove.
The criminals return, and the slapstick fight
Eventually, the criminal returns with two friends, and after a slapstick fight (ending with Larry rescuing Moe) and the Stooges turning them into the police, and ending the story. The film ends with the little boy walking out on his adoptive fathers to look for his mother, and with Moe and Curly taking their revenge on Larry for starting the trouble in the first place!
Three Loan Wolves is available on DVD as part of The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-1948
Funny movie quotes from Three Loan Wolves
Larry Fine: [Larry’s holding a guitar. He bows to an imaginary audience and Moe walks up behind him and kicks him] Hey, what’s the big idea? I was about to play Comin’ Through the Corn.
Curly Howard: You mean Rye.
Larry Fine: The way I play it, it’s Corn.
Moe Howard: Where’d you get that?
Larry Fine: This cost 50 bucks. A genuine stratosphere.
Moe Howard: Stratosphere? Go play some air.
Molly: [asking for water] Please give me a drink.
Larry Fine: Sure! [starts mixing a drink behind the counter]
Larry Fine: [to Moe] What do you mean by striking a mother with a child in his arms?
Moe Howard: That baby cryin’! I can’t stand it!
Larry Fine: I got it! Put the baby in the safe, and you won’t hear it!
Moe Howard: Applehead, get that kid a bottle with a nipple on it, and milk in it.
Curly Howard: Aye, aye!
Moe Howard: Aye, aye?
Curly Howard: Aye, aye!
[Moe pokes him in the eyes]
Curly Howard: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
Thug: What for?
Curly Howard: So I can hit ya!
Cast of characters
- Curly Howard … Curly
- Larry Fine … Larry
- Moe Howard … Moe
- Beverly Warren … Molly the Glamour Girl
- Tiny Brauer (Sing a Song of Six Pants) … Butch McGee
- Jackie Jackson (Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town) … Eggbert–tough little boy
- Joe Palma (Punchy Cowpunchers) … Second Henchman
- Wally Rose … First Henchman (uncredited)
