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How High Is Up?

  • 1940
  • Approved
  • 17m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
600
YOUR RATING
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard in Three Missing Links (1938)
SlapstickComedyShort

The stooges are the 'Minute Menders', three tinkers who live under their car. The boys decide to drum up some business by punching holes in the unattended lunch boxes of some workmen. When t... Read allThe stooges are the 'Minute Menders', three tinkers who live under their car. The boys decide to drum up some business by punching holes in the unattended lunch boxes of some workmen. When they're caught in the act, they escape and accidentally get hired as riveters on a new buil... Read allThe stooges are the 'Minute Menders', three tinkers who live under their car. The boys decide to drum up some business by punching holes in the unattended lunch boxes of some workmen. When they're caught in the act, they escape and accidentally get hired as riveters on a new building, working on the 97th floor. Their ineptitude and lousy workmanship screw up construct... Read all

  • Director
    • Del Lord
  • Writer
    • Elwood Ullman
  • Stars
    • Moe Howard
    • Larry Fine
    • Curly Howard
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    600
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Del Lord
    • Writer
      • Elwood Ullman
    • Stars
      • Moe Howard
      • Larry Fine
      • Curly Howard
    • 13User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos3

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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Moe Howard
    Moe Howard
    • Moe
    • (as Moe)
    Larry Fine
    Larry Fine
    • Larry
    • (as Larry)
    Curly Howard
    Curly Howard
    • Curly
    • (as Curly)
    Bruce Bennett
    Bruce Bennett
    • Workman with Leaky Lunchpail
    • (uncredited)
    Edmund Cobb
    Edmund Cobb
    • Construction Foreman
    • (uncredited)
    Vernon Dent
    Vernon Dent
    • Mr. Blake
    • (uncredited)
    Marjorie Kane
    Marjorie Kane
    • Pedestrian
    • (uncredited)
    Johnny Kascier
    • Street Worker
    • (uncredited)
    George Lloyd
    George Lloyd
    • Workman
    • (uncredited)
    Sam Lufkin
    Sam Lufkin
    • Workman
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Phillips
    • Workman
    • (uncredited)
    Cy Schindell
    Cy Schindell
    • Workman with Blake
    • (uncredited)
    Victor Travis
    • Pedestrian
    • (uncredited)
    Duke York
    Duke York
    • Workman
    • (uncredited)
    Bert Young
    • Workman
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Del Lord
    • Writer
      • Elwood Ullman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews13

    7.8600
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    Featured reviews

    10tcchelsey

    THE 97TH FLOOR!!!!!!

    Nearing to BIG 50. The Stooges 48th classic comedy short, and really, really trippy stuff. Let's put it this way -- had this been real life, these guys would have been TOAST.

    This one is terrific. Absolutely. Moe, Larry and Curly get hired(?) as riveters on the 97th floor(!) of a skyscraper under construction. Director Del Lord's super camera work gets you paranoid at times, it seems so real. Curly, without fail, is the menace to society here, messing things up big time for Moe and Larry, not to mention nearly having them all fall off the building! There's always food around -- because these guy are hungry all the time -- and watch for the sausages, mistaken for rivets? The best gag.

    Their hot tempered boss, Mr. Blake, is played to the hilt by Vernon Dent, the guy all us kids loved to hate. Look for actor Bruce Bennett as one of the workmen. Bruce would go onto appear in many Warner Brothers film classics, like TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE.

    BEST comes at the end -- the Stooges use parachutes to escape the 97th floor!

    Beautifully written insanity by Elwood Ullman, one of their best writers. Notes indicate the aerial shots of the building were filmed at the Empire State Building in New York City.

    Thanks so much to METV for running these oldies Saturdays non stop. Always on dvd, remastered Columbia box set. Generally boxed by decades, 30s, 40s and 50s episodes.
    7xyzkozak

    Fix Your Lunch-Pail For A Nickel A Hole?

    In this classic, 3 Stooges, comedy-short from 1940, Curly, Larry & Moe, of Minute Menders Inc., offer the public, from the convenience of their vehicle, cut-rate repair work while-u-wait.

    In an attempt to dodge the wrath of angry construction workers whose lunch-pails they deliberately punctured with holes (for the sake of business), our 3 crazy guys get themselves hired on by Apex Construction, claiming to be "the best riveters who ever riveted".

    Hoisted up to the 97th floor of a building still only a shell, The Three Stooges waste no time fouling things up as only they could possibly foul things up (with, the usual, guaranteed hilarious results).

    Featuring all of their trademark shenanigans (face-slaps, eye-pokes, belly-wallops, and all), How High Is Up? is yet another first-rate example of Three Stooges' slapstick-comedy at its laughable best.
    8springfieldrental

    Stooges Master of Simple Tasks Stretched to Hilarious Skits

    The Three Stooges were masters in creating memorable skits by stretching the simplest of tasks and making them sidesplitting hilarious. A prime example finds Curly struggling to get his tight sweater off in July 1940's "How High is Up?" Moe and Larry lend a hand, only to compound his problems. The three are paid tinkers who think they can do any job that comes their way-except for removing sweaters.

    Between jobs, Curly's tight-fitting sweater causes him fits. Instead of simply pulling off the sweater over his head, Curly's head can't fit through the neck opening. Moe has the bright idea of using tools in his company's arsenal. Wedging two crowbars around Curly's neck, Moe and Larry attempt to slip the sweater over the tools, but instead press his nose between the two bars. Moe then takes the tactic to hit Curly in the head with a giant hammer while lifting the sweater in an attempt to smash down his skull through its neckline. Alas, after several wacks, Moe's hammer still hasn't produced the intended results. Finally, Moe opts for pulling the sweater over Curly's head and cutting his prized apparel with scissors. The plan has its disadvantages by destroying Curly's valuable sweater. But he finds himself with two mittens out of the carnage.

    "How High is Up?" gets its title from the Stooges standing on the 97th floor of a building under construction. To drum up work, the three tinkers come across a construction site where the workers lunch pails are lined up. As Larry pokes holes in the containers, Moe offers to fix the workers' pails before the targets realize they've been had. Ducking into the site where the foreman (Edmund Cobb) is hiring riveters, Moe brags how he and his two colleagues are proficient in the task. One of the extras waiting in line for a job is actor Bruce Bennett, an Olympian silver medalist shot putter who played in the Rose Bowl for the University of Washington football team. He was picked by MGM to be its first sound version of Tarzan. But he broke his shoulder while filming the 1931 movie 'Touchdown,' and was replaced by Johnny Weissmuller. He later played roles in such classics as 1945's "Mildred Pierce" and 1948's "The Treasure of Sierra Madre."
    8SnoopyStyle

    Curly Stooges with a bit of vertigo

    Larry, Curly, and Moe are the Minute Menders using scams to get by. They look for small jobs working out of their slap-dashed truck. They sleep under their truck at night. They get jobs as riveters on the 97th floor on a construction site.

    This one is not for people with vertigo. It's fun but it leaves me with butterflies in my stomach. It's a little exciting which is an interesting addition to a Three Stooges short. It has a bit of Harold Lloyd feel. It's good fun with some thrills.
    10Movie Nuttball

    Good Three Stooges short! Hilarious!

    The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

    One of the most hilarious Three Stooges shorts is How High is Up? In this short are Vernon Dent, Cy Schindell, and Bert Young. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent, and Schindell. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one to all!

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    Related interests

    Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
    Slapstick
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the scene in which Curly is hit on the head with a rubber hammer when he is stuck in the sweater, if you look closely, Larry cracks up and laughs at the last BONK! on Curly's head. When Curly says, "Don't mind ME! DON'T MIND ME!!" He stares up at Moe, in which Moe starts to crack up as well and hides his face from the camera. Then the scene is cut to a close up.
    • Goofs
      Larry breaks character when Curly shouts the line, "Don't mind me! Don't mind me!"
    • Quotes

      Moe: [sarcastically] Three of the best riveters who ever riveted. Why didn't you tell them you were a groundhog?

      Curly: Listen, you laugh when you say that!

      Moe: HA, HA, HA.

      [slaps Curly]

    • Connections
      Edited into Stop! Look! and Laugh! (1960)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 26, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • YouTube - Video
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 17m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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