Hold That Lion!
| Hold That Lion! | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by | Felix Adler |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Curly Howard Kenneth MacDonald Emil Sitka Dudley Dickerson Heinie Conklin Victor Travers Blackie Whiteford |
| Cinematography | George F. Kelley |
| Edited by | Edwin Bryant |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
16:27 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hold That Lion! is the 100th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1947 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Stooges are the sole heirs to a grandiose inheritance, but the money is in the hands of an underhanded broker named Ichabod Slipp (Kenneth MacDonald). One by one the Stooges confront Slipp in his office. He in turn accuses first Larry, then Moe, then Shemp, of being that crook, and successfully flees his office with the money.
The Stooges follow Slipp on board a train. To avoid a conductor after them for tickets they hide out in a large crate in the baggage car. A lion is also in the crate, and the Stooges run, hiding in a sleeping berth. Moe sticks his foot out through the curtain and the lion licks it, then climbs up in the berth. After bickering with each other the Stooges escape, pulling down all the curtains to the berths and waking everyone up.
As they make their getaway in the confusion, the Stooges spot Slipp and take off after him. They chase him to the baggage car and finally defeat him, reclaiming their inheritance.
Hold That Lion! was filmed on January 28-31, 1947, the first film produced after the new year. The film premiered the final version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' theme music, an updated, faster version arranged by Spud Murphy in the key of F major (the Curly period featured versions in G major, making it easy to differentiate between the two eras). With minor variations (all in F), this version will be used through the end of Stooges' short subject releases in 1959. Although Hold That Lion! was the third film released featuring Shemp after his return to the Stooges, it was filmed after Squareheads of the Round Table and The Hot Scots, both which still utilized the "sliding strings" version of "Three Blind Mice" featured in the previous Shemp entries Fright Night and Out West, and in the final 12 entries starring Curly.
...
Wikipedia