Three Pests in a Mess (1945) starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Christine McIntyre
Synopsis of Three Pests in a Mess
In Three Pests in a Mess, The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard) are three inventors trying to a get a patent on their preposterous fly catching invention. But of course, a patent will cost money. Which, as normal, the Stooges are short of.
When they learn they’ll have to catch 100,000 flies to earn enough to get a patent, some crooks across the hall overhear and think the Stooges are the $100,000 sweepstakes winners. A woman (Christine McIntyre) with the crooks corners the gullible Curly and tries to finagle the non-existent money out of him. When he confesses that the 100,000 are flies and not dollars, she turns against him, and has the crooks go after the Stooges.
The Stooges hide in a sporting goods store where Curly shoots a dummy, which they mistake for a real person. The Stooges decide to bury the “corpse” in a pet cemetery. There’s a funny bit where Curly scares himself silly, as he’s carrying the mannequin in a sack. And the mannequin’s arm keeps tapping him on the head as he’s moving!
However, the cemetery’s night watchman (Snub Pollard) contacts the cemetery owner (Stooge regular Vernon Dent) who arrives from a costume party with his partners, all dressed as spooks, and they proceed to scare the devil out of the Stooges.
Funny movie quotes from Three Pests in a Mess
Larry: You gonna hit him with the water?
Moe: No, I’m gonna throw the water away and hit him with the bucket.
Larry: Oh. [Moe stomps on his foot] Ow!
Curly: [falls down] Yaaah!
Cheetham’s Secretary (Christine McIntyre): Are you hurt?
Curly: I think I’ve been stabbed. [gets up]
Cheetham’s Secretary (Christine McIntyre): [pulls ball of yarn and knitting needles out of his seat] Well look what you did to my knitting needles.
Curly: It didn’t do me much good either.
Curly: Hey Moe, you know that dead guy? He just slapped me.
Moe: Like this? [slaps Curly]
Curly: Yeah, just like that only it was on the other side.
Larry: Where’s the body?
Curly: I ain’t got any body, I lost it.
Moe: Well you’re gonna go find it!
Curly: [the guard’s in a bag, Curly thinks it’s the corpse] This is all your fault. [kicks the guard, the guard kicks him back]
Curly: Did you kick me?
Cemetery Guard: No.
Curly: Well it’s a good thing you didn’t because if you did I’d…
[screams and runs off]
Curly: [tumble weed rolls past him] Somebody just ran by me.
Moe: What’d he look like?
Curly: I couldn’t tell, he was on his hands and knees and had a big head full of curls…
Larry: Say, why don’t we put him [referring to the corpse] out in the street?
Curly: What? And have somebody run over him and kill him again? [shakes his head] We’re gonna bury him right here!
Cast of characters
- Curly Howard … Curly
- Larry Fine … Larry
- Moe Howard … Moe
- Christine McIntyre (Who Done It?) … Cheatham’s Secretary
- Brian O’Hara (Champagne for Caesar) … I. Cheatham
- Vernon Dent (A Bird in the Head) … Philip Black
Additional Cast
- Heinie Conklin (Back from the Front) … Man in Demon Costume
- Johnny Kascier (Sing a Song of Six Pants) … Man in Window
- William Kelley (Spook Louder) … Joe (Man in Skeleton costume)
- Paul Kruger (Hello Everybody!) … Cop
- ‘Snub’ Pollard (Booby Dupes) … Cemetery Guard
- Gene Sheldon (Babes in Toyland) … Mannequin’s Hand
- Victor Travis (If a Body Meets a Body) … Patent Office Man
- Robert B. Williams (Beer Barrel Polecats) … Cheatham’s Associate