The Stooges must have made a bazillion film shorts but of them all,
Mummy's Dummies,
their 111th film (November 4, 1948), is my all-time favorite. I was 8
years old and totally enamored of all things ancient, especially
Egypt and
King Tutankhamun of the
New Kingdom. At the time, it was my desire to be an
archeologist when I grew up; that didn't happen but I've never lost my fascination of ancient civilizations.
Mummy's Dummies had the zany trio cast as used
chariot salesmen in
Ancient Egypt; need I say more?
The
Pharaoh was King Rootentootin, played by
Vernon Dent.
I remember howling with unbridled laughter every time his name was
mentioned. Well, to be honest, I still do; yes, I admit I HAVE to watch
it when I come across it on TV.
Dent was featured in many of the
Three Stooges films; he
made more appearances in their films than any other supporting actor
(96). Dent also appeared with The Three Stooges on a live
CBS Television broadcast of
The Frank Sinatra Show on January 1, 1952. Through his association with the Stooges, Dent became a close friend of
Shemp Howard.
The plot
King Rootentootin has a toothache and Shemp is Painless Papyrus, an expert (
???)
dentist. Eventually Rootentootin offers the hand of his
daughter Fatima, played by
Dee Green, in marriage to Painless (Shemp). The laughs generated by this
exchange are non-stop. Totally silly, totally wacky but totally hysterical (
link to YouTube below).
When
Larry Fine was a child, his left arm was badly burned from acid used by his
father in his jewelry business and a skin graft was done on his arm. The
doctors recommended that he be given violin lessons as a form of
therapy; playing the violin was supposed to strengthen his damaged arm
muscles. His skill as a violinist became so impressive that
eventually, he began to play professionally and played in local
theater amateur nights usually taking the top prize.
Fine was also a boxer who earned money
as a lightweight fighter. Later on, he would develop an act in which he
would do a Russian dance while playing the violin. He went on with
Moe Howard and
Curly Howard to form
The Three Stooges, who appeared in the
Columbia Pictures shorts beginning in 1934.
On January 9, 1970, Fine suffered a
stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. It marked the end of his performing career. He moved to the
Motion Picture Country House, an industry retirement community in
Woodland Hills, where he completed his "as told to" autobiography,
Stroke of Luck. He suffered several additional strokes before his death on January 24, 1975, at the nursing home, at age 72.
Viewfinder links:
The Three Stooges
The Andrews Sisters
Batman, Adam West & the Whole Gang
The Night of the Hunter & Robert Mitchum
Net links:
The Three Stooges:
Filmography
website bios
NY Times Larry Fine obit
YouTube links:
The Three Stooges 111: Mummy's Dummies 1948 (16 minutes) Disorder in the Court
Thanks for the yuks, Larry!
Styrous® ~ Thursday, October 5, 2017
