Three Loan Wolves

That's Larry's version of "The Three Bears". The first two were heavyweight prizefighters and the third a famous sportswriter.

There are two fight sequences where Curly seems to be holding his own physically;other times when he just stands around and lets Larry take the brunt of the plot.

How do you stop a baby from crying? LARRY:"Lock the baby in the safe and you won't hear it!". Moe does not agree.

In addition to clumsily caring for an abandoned baby,the boys have to fend off protection racketeers on their pawnshop.

The head "tough guy" is knocked out with a bowling ball,placed ina baby carraige with a bottle in his mouth;and shoved out into traffic.

A good showcase for Larry,but 1942's SOCK A BYE BABY is much better.

"How did that baby get here?"

"Business as usual"

WHAT???

"I mean,the kid walks in and asks for a match and I say--"Nah,I don't smoke....."

This is a perfect example of what I consider to be exploiting someone. Here it is that Curly has already had several mild strokes and yet because of "contractural obligations" he is forced to work. The Stooges should have sought out a real sharpie lawyer on this one. For me this is a painful short to watch in that we're looking at someone who in all the other earlier shorts is so full of life and literally steals every scene and now appears to be just part of the staging and unable to do any of his old stuff. Harry Cohn of Columbia must have been a real "nice" guy to work for. A real sweatshop type of slave driver. The actress Jean Arthur summed it up pretty well when she remembered the day her contract at Columbia was through. She said, "Now I'm free!"

For years I've wondered if there was a more ungrateful cinema brat than the wiseacre kid from this short film. After all our stooges did raising this little chump when even his own mother apparently didn't go to any great lengths to find him, and what kind of thanks do they get--a triple slap to the kisser; and a slap that must have been edited before its initial release, but still noticeable despite the rough jump in the film.

At any rate, I'm looking over the cast credits and "Eggbert" was apparently the boy's given name in this story. "Eggbert Howard" or maybe "Eggbert Fine Howard"... with a name like that, maybe the kid had a right to be ticked?!

I rate this one higher than most, perhaps because I have bad taste (I've been told so a few times) or more likely I just think Larry owns in this episode. "The bag left me holding the babe."

Jules White, the long-time director and producer for The Three Stooges, finally came to the realization Curly Howard, undoubtably the most popular member of the group, was suffering physically. In July 1946's "Three Loan Wolves," White handed Larry Fine the lines Curly was originally scripted to say, and boiled down the ailing comic's dialogue to a few brief passages.

Curly, recovering from a series of minor strokes, filmed "Three Loan Wolves" in late February of 1946, a year after he was released from the hospital from his first stroke, and while he was in the middle of a messy divorce from gold digger Marion Buxbaum. Columbia Pictures Harry Cohn had given the Stooges a seven-month hiatus, from August 1945 until January 1946. Despite Curly's declining health, the Stooges had performed a two-month daily stage show in New York City, further wearing down an already exhausted Curly. Returning to Los Angeles to resume filming the Stooges shorts, Curly was having trouble remembering his scripted lines. It was at this point Jules White decided to minimize his on screen presence and have Larry the feature Stooge, the first time he received the spotlight since the trio's first Columbia short, 1934's "Woman Haters." In the Felix Adler screenplay, the Stooges own a pawn shop, and are forced to explain to their son the circumstances behind his adoption. The girlfriend (Beverly Warren) of a loan shark enforcer borrows her sister's baby and leaves the infant with Larry, who's minding the store. Larry has a lot of screen time playing with the infant before Moe and Curly return. During a fight with the trio of loan sharks, Curly is seen grasping for breath after he sends one of the racketeers into an accordion desk. Film critic Leonard Maltin said of Larry's role with the Stooges, "He's the least distinctive character of the trio, but he adds a pleasing touch by siding with either Moe or Curly, depending on the situation, thereby enabling him to show moments of lucidity as well as lunacy." This was the first Stooges film for actor Harold "Bill" Brauer, who played the head racketeer. He and actor Emile Sitka are the only two actors who have appeared with all six Stooges throughout the years.

The Stooges, in flashback, tell their son how he came to be adopted by them. In the flashback, they are pressured by a protection racket to come up with protection money -- or else. In the usual Stooge chaos and confusion that follows, Larry is left to care for the gun moll's baby! What will the Stooges do?

"Three Loan Wolves" is among the dozen Stooges films from 1945-46 that clearly shows Curly Howard was not a well man. During this time he had some highs where he seemed like the old Curly ("Micro-Phonies") and lows where his strength was at a low ebb. "Three Loan Wolves" falls into the "low ebb" category. Curly's voice croaks and crumbles; listen to how muffled and congested his voice sounds when he says "Watch me!" as he uses the punching bag.

Due to Curly's illness, Larry gets most of the screen time, and to his credit, he shines. Larry's comedic talents are put to the test in his first featured Stooge role, and he comes through admirably. It is obvious that Larry's role was written for Curly, but Larry is able to handle it with his own distinct panache.

There is a disturbing scene in the film where Curly allows the baby to teethe on a loaded pistol. Clearly these Stooges are not capable of raising a child!

An interesting short, notable only for Curly's illness and Larry's featured role. 5 out of 10.