Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb should not be confused with Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.
| Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb | |
| Director: | Del Lord |
| Starring: | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard James C. Morton Bud Jamison Lucille Lund Jean Carmen Earlene Heath |
| Cinematography: | Allen G. Siegler |
| Editing: | Charles Nelson |
| Producer: | Jules White |
| Distributor: | Columbia Pictures |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb is a 1938 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 31st entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
Propelled by a stroke of creativity, Curly secures a substantial windfall of $50,000 by virtue of crafting a memorable jingle for a radio competition. Subsequently, the collective resolves to adopt a lifestyle akin to affluent individuals, prompting their selection of the opulent accommodations offered by the esteemed Hotel Costa Plenty.
Their accommodation, replete with opulent furnishings, becomes the unwitting canvas for their characteristic clumsiness, resulting in the systematic destruction of numerous expensive items.
Concurrently, three cunning opportunists masquerading as affluent widows employ deception to gain entry into the Stooges' quarters. Under the pretense of seeking remarriage to wealthy suitors, they ensnare the unwitting trio within their scheme.
Despite initial success, Curly's realization that exorbitant tax deductions have whittled his winnings down to $4.85 prompts the gentlemen to hastily accede to matrimonial arrangements with the purported widows. However, the facade of affluence swiftly unravels when the true financial state of the Stooges is exposed, leading to a retaliatory act wherein the gold diggers incapacitate their erstwhile suitors with champagne bottles.
The title Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb is a parody of Benjamin Franklin's proverb "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."[1] It was remade with Shemp as A Missed Fortune (1952), with minimal stock footage.[1]