Woman Haters Explained

See also: Woman Hater (disambiguation).

Woman Haters
Director:	Archie Gottler
Producer:	Jules White
Cinematography:	Joseph August
Editing:	James Sweeney
Music:	Louis Silvers
Distributor:	Columbia Pictures
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Woman Haters is a 1934 musical short subject directed by Archie Gottler starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerry Howard). It is the inaugural entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who would ultimately star in 190 short subjects for the studio between 1934 and 1959. This short is known to be the first program shown on Antenna TV, a channel that was launched on January 1, 2011, by Tribune Broadcasting (later bought by Nexstar Media Group).

Plot

The Stooges are staunch members of the Woman Haters Club, dedicated to eschewing romantic entanglements with women. However, their resolve is swiftly tested when Jim succumbs to the charms of Mary and proposes marriage. His comrades, Tom and Jack, initially dissuade him from the union, citing their oath to the club.

Things escalate when Mary's formidable father coerces Jim into marrying her, recounting a tale of familial honor and coercion. Reluctantly, Jim acquiesces to the marriage, leading to tension and confrontation aboard a train journey. Mary, utilizing her feminine allure, endeavors to provoke jealousy in Jim by captivating Tom and Jack with her charms, thereby undermining the Stooges' fidelity to their avowed oath. Through a series of exchanges and musical interludes, Mary's machinations unravel the Stooges' steadfast commitment to celibacy, ultimately revealing Jim's marital status. The climax unfolds as Mary, candidly disclosing her marriage to Jim, inadvertently propels Tom and Jack out of the train window during a chaotic struggle.

The denouement portrays the aging Stooges reuniting at the nearly deserted Woman Haters clubhouse, symbolizing the passage of time and the evolution of their attitudes towards relationships. Jim's desire to rejoin the club serves as a humorous conclusion.

Cast

Credited

• Moe Howard as Tom
• Larry Fine as Jim
• Jerry Howard as Jackie
• Marjorie White as Mary

Uncredited

• Bud Jamison as Woman Hater's Club chairman
• Monte Collins as Mr. Zero
• Walter Brennan as train conductor
• Jack Norton as Justice of the Peace
• Fred "Snowflake" Toones as porter
• A. R. Haysel as Mary's father
• Dorothy Vernon as Mary's mother
• June Gittelson as Mary's overweight sister
• Jack "Tiny" Sandford as Mary's policeman uncle
• George Gray as Mary's brother-in-law on crutches

Production notes

• The teaser shows the emblem of National Recovery Administration
• Woman Haters was filmed over four days on March 27–30, 1934.^[1] It was the sixth entry in Columbia's "Musical Novelty" series,^[2] with all dialogue delivered in rhyme. Jazz Age-style music plays throughout the entire short, with the rhymes spoken in rhythm with the music. Being the sixth in a “Musical Novelties” short subject series, the movie appropriated its musical score from the first five films. The song “My Life, My Love, My All”, featured in this short, was originally “At Last!” from Umpa, a previous "Musical Novelty" entry.^[1] Other music cues used in other Columbia "Musical Novelty" shorts like School for Romance and Susie's Affairs.
• Curly Howard was billed under his pre-Stooge name "Jerry Howard" in this short.
• The Stooges had different names in this short: Curly is "Jackie", Moe is "Tom", and Larry is "Jim". This also marked one of the few Stooge shorts that features Larry as the lead character. Others include Three Loan Wolves and He Cooked His Goose.^[3]
• Bud Jamison's character delivers the first "eye pokes" to the Stooges, as part of the initiation into the Woman Haters Club. He pokes Larry in the eyes first, followed by Curly. Finally, he delivers an eye poke to Moe, who mistakenly blames Curly and promptly slaps him, igniting the first real Stooge brawl of the short films.
• This short includes a young Walter Brennan playing the train conductor being initiated into the Woman Haters Club by Moe and Curly.)^[4]
• In contrast to later Stooge films, Larry and Curly are more willful and defiant to Moe, even giving him some slapstick vengeance of their own, rather than being mere subordinates.
• Curly delivers his first "woob-woob-woob-woob!" and "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" in this short, although the latter is not quite delivered in the eventual "classic" style.
• Curly spends most of this short wearing pants that are split in the back.
• This was Marjorie White's final film role before she died in a car accident in 1935.
• The clips of the Stooges fighting in the opening and closing moments were featured prominently in the 1986 film Short Circuit.

External links

• • Woman Haters at threestooges.net

Notes and References

1. Web site: Woman Haters . ThreeStooges.net . 2017-03-29.
2. Web site: The Two-Reel Comedies - the shorts department . 2011-11-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120216090208/http://theshortsdepartment.webs.com/thetworeelcomedies.htm . 2012-02-16 .
3. Book: Solomon, Jon . Jon Solomon . The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion . Comedy III Productions, Inc . 2002 . 0-9711868-0-4.
4. Book: Maurer, Joan Howard. Joan Howard Maurer . Jeff Lenburg. Greg Lenburg . The Three Stooges Scrapbook . Citadel Press . 1982 . 0-8065-0946-5.