| Gents Without Cents | |
| Director: | Jules White |
| Starring: | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Lindsay Bourquin Laverne Thompson Betty Phares Judy Malcolm John Tyrrell Lew Davis Lynton Brent |
| Cinematography: | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Editing: | Charles Hochberg |
| Producer: | Jules White |
| Distributor: | Columbia Pictures |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Gents Without Cents is a 1944 short subject directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 81st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Stooges are a troupe of aspiring performers navigating the challenges of the entertainment industry. Faced with the obstacle of noisy neighbors disrupting their rehearsals, the trio unexpectedly encounter three talented dancers, Flo, Mary, and Shirley, residing in the apartment above them. A fortuitous friendship ensues, leading the group to seek representation from talent agent Manny Weeks.
Initially met with skepticism by Weeks, the Stooges secure a performance opportunity at the Noazark Shipbuilding Company to entertain defense workers. Their uproarious "Niagara Falls" routine captivates the audience, propelling the Stooges and their newfound friends into the spotlight when they offer to replace the scheduled headliners.
Weeks, impressed by their performance, extends an offer to the Stooges for a Broadway debut. Amidst the whirlwind of opportunities, the Stooges grapple with the prospect of leaving their romantic partners behind, ultimately culminating in a series of nuptials and a chase scene reminiscent of their "Niagara Falls" routine.
The Stooges filmed the "Niagara Falls" routine in 1943 for the feature film Good Luck, Mr. Yates, but the scene was cut at the last minute. Instead of wasting the footage, Columbia built Gents Without Cents around it.[1] Filming commenced on June 14–16, 1944.[2]
Gents Without Cents is the first Stooge film to employ a syncopated, jazzy version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' theme song. The new version is in the key of F, while the key of G was previously utilized. This syncopated version would be used briefly after the next film, No Dough Boys. This version was revamped during the Shemp Howard and Joe Besser era. The title is a play on "without sense." Other parodies include The Noazark (Noah's Ark) Shipbuilding Company and show headliners, the Castor and Earl (castor oil) Revue.[1]
Weeks is unimpressed at first because the trio sing a peppy/sappy song in the passé style of about 1910 called "We Just Dropped In To Say Hello". He brightens up when they start a more up-to-date, jazzy nonsense scat singing number called "Rat-tat-toodle-oodle-day-ay".
The theatrical agent's sign lists business locations as "New York, Chicago, London ... Berlin soon". This film was released just a few months after D-Day, at a time when Allied forces were making steady advances. The scat singing part of the Stooges' audition for the agent includes parodies of Hideki Tōjō (Larry), Benito Mussolini (Curly), and Adolf Hitler (Moe).[1]
An obvious flub was left in the short at approximately 12:27 (the end of the "Niagara Falls" routine) as Larry misses the line "... step-by-step" going directly to "...inch by inch," while Moe says the line correctly. It is unclear why director Jules White left the mistake in, when using an alternate, correct take would have taken only a few minutes, unless he felt such a mistake would be consistent with the amateur entertainment Howard, Fine, and Howard were supposed to be providing in the short.