Yes, We Have No Bonanza

In May 1939's "Yes, We Have No Bonanza," the Stooges appear as singing waiters at an Old West saloon alongside three gorgeous singing cowgirls whom they harbor marriage hopes. They decide to go prospecting for gold to save the ladies' father from debtors prison. By chance they arrive at the same location the loot the saloon owner's associate had buried after robbing a bank. While setting up camp, Moe lights a fuse of dynamite to blow a hole in the ground just before Curly hits him on the head with a rock. In anger Moe throws the lighted stick of dynamite at Curly, missing him but landing at the feet of their working mule Yorrick. Panicking, the two are preoccupied with fetching water to douse the fuse while their dog snatches the dynamite and places it into a case of food. The explosive blows up, and they think Yorrick is scattered in a million pieces, with slabs of meat landing on their head. Moe, saddened by their mule's demise, quotes from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' "Alas, poor Yorrick, I knew him well." In the opening scene of "Yes, We Have No Bonanza," Curly is seen riding an Ingo-Bike, otherwise known as an 'Exercycle." Popularized in the mid-1930s, these unique bikes contain a platform where the rider rocks back and forth propelling the large rear wheel to project the bicycle forward. One group of enthusiasts traveled on these bikes in the late 1930s from Chicago to Miami in 30 days. The Stooges' film received its name from Curly's line said late in the short, paraphrasing the popular 1923 song, 'Yes, We Have No Bananas." It's remarkable the title was used to name the long-running 1960s Western TV series, 'Bonanza,' with Lorne Greene and Michael Landon. The 14-season television program's name is also a term miners use when they strike gold or silver.