A Pain in the Pullman is the sixteenth Three Stooges short subject made by Columbia Pictures.
Plot[]
The Stooges are small-time actors traveling by train to an engagement—and fleeing the landlady for their unpaid rent. They are told to put their pet monkey, Joe, in the baggage car because they don't allow pet monkeys onto the passenger train, but are afraid he will get hurt. The baggage car door closes before they can get Joe in there, so they sneak Joe onto the Southern Pacific train with them. Joe eventually gets loose, and they have a hard time finding him and also getting up to their berth. They wind up making a lot of noises, and disturbing all of the train's passengers, including Paul Payne (James C. Morton) and Mr. Johnson, the stage manager and boss (Bud Jamison), the latter of which routinely hits his head on the upper berth upon awakening. Ultimately, a terrified Joe pulls the train's emergency cord, abruptly stopping the train in the process. And so the angry passengers, Paul Payne, Mr. Johnson and the angry conductor (Eddie Laughton) then forcibly threw the Stooges from the train and they hobble away into the night on three cows because they were fired for making a lot of noises and for bringing their pet monkey onto the train.
Notes[]
- This short is the longest film in the series, with 1959's Sappy Bull Fighters being the shortest.
- This is also the longest Three Stooges short to feature Curly Howard.
- The other shorts were also running in 19 minutes as Woman Haters, Uncivil Warriors, Back to the Woods and Gents Without Cents.
Shellfish and the Stooges[]
Moe Howard had fond memories of filming A Pain in the Pullman. He also recalled his intense dislike for shellfish, and how brother Curly Howard cut the inside of his mouth eating the shells from a Dungeness crab:
- ...In one sequence, all three of us wound up in the same upper berth. Later, we found ourselves a drawing room, not knowing it was assigned to the star of the show (James C. Morton ). There was a lovely table set in the room with all kinds of delicacies.
- At one point Curly picked up the hard-shelled Dungeness crab. We, of course, were not supposed to know what it was. Larry thought it was a tarantula, Curly figured it to be a turtle, and I concluded that it must be something to eat or it wouldn't be on the table with crackers and sauce.
- As the scene progressed, Curly tried to open the crab shell and bent the tines of his fork. I took the fork from Curly, tossed a napkin on the floor, and asked him to pick it up. When Curly bent over, I hit him on the head with the crab, breaking the shell into a million pieces. Then Curly scooped out some of the meat, tasted it, and made a face. He threw the meat away and proceeded to eat the shell.
- I have to tell you, if there's one thing to which I have an aversion, it's shellfish, and I couldn't bring myself—even for a film—to put that claw in my mouth. Preston Black , the director, asked me to just lick the claw, but I couldn't. He finally had the prop man duplicate the claw out of sugar and food coloring and had me nibble on it as though I was enjoying it. I was still very wary during the scene. I was afraid they had coated the real shell with sugar and that that awful claw was underneath. I chewed that claw during the scene, but if you'll notice, I did it very gingerly.
- In the meantime, Curly was still chewing on the shell, which was cutting the inside of his mouth. Finally, our star comes back to his room and kicks us out, and we three climb into our upper berth to go to sleep.
Cast[]
- Moe Howard as Moe
- Larry Fine as Larry
- Curly Howard as Curly
- Bud Jamison as Mr. Johnson
- James C. Morton as Paul Paine
- Hilda Title as Crab Dinner Companion
- Eddie Laughton as Train Conductor
- Phyllis Crane as Girl Curly Kisses
- Loretta Andrews as Show Girl