The Three Stooges Meet Hercules

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
Directed by Edward Bernds
Produced by Norman Maurer
Written by Norman Maurer
Elwood Ullman
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Joe DeRita
Vicki Trickett
Quinn Redeker
George N. Neise
Samson Burke
Emil Sitka
Hal Smith
Marlin McKeever
Mike McKeever
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography Scotty Welbourne
Edited by Edwin H. Bryant
Production
company
Normandy Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • January 26, 1962 (1962-01-26) (U.S.)
Running time
 88:43
Country United States
Language English
Budget $420,000[1]
Box office $2 million[1]

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules is a 1962 comedy film directed by Edward Bernds. It is the third feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly Joe"). Released by Columbia Pictures, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules was directed by long-time Stooge director Edward Bernds. It was the most financially successful of the Stooges' feature films.

Plot

The Stooges work at Dimsal's Drug Store in Ithaca, New York, where they befriend Schuyler Davis (Quinn Redeker), the owner of the shop next door, who is attempting to build a time machine. With the boys' "help", the machine transports the boys, Schuyler and disaffected girlfriend Diane Quigley (Vicki Trickett) back in time to Ithaca in ancient Greece during the reign of the lecherous King Odius (George N. Neise). The King, after defeating and imprisoning Ulysses because the Stooges are believed to be gods, has a yearning for Diane. Realizing they have disrupted the proper course of history, Schuyler and the boys free Ulysses, after which Odius banishes them to the galleys, However the constant rowing causes Schuyler to become extremely muscular and superhumanly strong, equal to Hercules.

After an escape and shipwreck, they kill a monster with the help of Joe's sleeping pills and start billing Schuyler as Hercules at a local gladiatorial arena. The real Hercules (Samson Burke) gets wind of their game and confronts them, but after single combat, the Stooges convince Hercules to help them rescue Diane in a chariot chase. The time travelers remove Odius and, navigating by observing the progress of military technology, manage to set history straight by dumping him off into the Wild West where a tribe of Native American warriors chases him off into the distance. After that, the travelers return to Dimsal's Drug Store. Dimsal touches the time machine and disappears, but eventually returns with a pillory. The Stooges manage to remove the pillory with an electric tool.

Cast

Reception

Moe Howard expressed his fondness for the film in 1973, stating "Of course Hercules I liked very much. Especially when we were in the slave ship. We had a great special effects team on that."[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Howard Maurer, Joan; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (2012) [1982]. The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. pp. 326–327. ISBN 978-1-61374-074-3.
  2. ↑ Cox, Steve; Jim Terry. One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine’s Frizzy Life in Pictures. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-58182-363-9.
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