The Three Stooges were building such a lengthy portfolio of gags by the time they released March 1944's "Busy Buddies" their writers were repeating a few of the earlier laughs from past films. Writers Elwood Ullman and Del Lord (who also directed the short) dug back into the past following the trio as they attempt to raise $100 they need to pay a pastry company to keep their restaurant, Jive Cafe.
Before they ruined their inventory of pies, the Stooges, owners of a struggling diner, find themselves trying to pacify the pastry retailer with a cup of coffee while Curly is painting a sign nearby. The writers revisited the Stooges' 1938 classic "Tassels in the Air," showing a mix-up of the pastry guy drinking paint from a coffee mug while Curly applies a coat of coffee to his sign. Earlier, Curly ad a cook flings his pot holders in the air in the kitchen, only to land on the pancake dish a customer ordered. The mix-up causes Curly to prove to the irate customer what he cooked was indeed pancakes, only to cough feathers after eating it. The skit was similar to a scene in the Stooges' 1935's "Uncivil Warriors."
Former newspaper and magazine writer Elwood Ullman was a reliable scriptwriter for producer Jules White, the head of Columbia Pictures shorts. He helped write the later Stooges feature films, including 1962's "The Three Stooges in Orbit." Ullman has an interesting footnote in Academy Awards history by his Oscar nomination for Best Story for the Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra "High Society." Unfortunately, the Academy confused the star-studded 1956 "High Society" with the 1955 one with the same name with the Bowery Boys, the one Ullman formulated the story. The Academy, recognizing its mistake, still allowed Ullman to keep the prized nomination certificate. Said Steve Broidy, the president of the small studio which owned the Bowery Boys' contract, "This just proves what we've known all along - that the Bowery Boys series couldn't have lasted this long if not for the fine writers." Ullman also composed the text for the popular 1959-produced Three Stooges trading cards series.
