What's the Matador?
| What's the Matador? | |
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| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by |
Saul Ward Jack White |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Suzanne Kaaren Harry Burns Dorothy Appleby John Tyrrell Cy Schindell Eddie Laughton Don Zelaya |
| Cinematography | L. William O'Connell |
| Edited by | Jerome Thoms |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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16:16 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
What's the Matador? is the 62nd short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1942 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Stooges are vaudeville entertainers who trek to Mexico to perform their gag bullfight shtick, with Curly as the brave matador, and Moe and Larry dressed in a bull costume. Along the way, they cross paths with attractive senorita Dolores Sanchez (Suzanne Kaaren). They also cross paths with her evil jealous, and hot-tempered, man-hating husband named José (Harry Burns). In an act of revenge on Curly for flirting with Dolores, José pays the bullring attendants to release a live bull into the ring. Moe and Larry flee the ring, but Curly is unaware of the switch. He eventually head-butts the wild animal, and is paraded out of the ring to the rousing cheers of "Olé, Americano!"
What's the Matador? was the last short filmed in 1941, shot on August 14–18 of that year. It was remade in 1959 as Sappy Bull Fighters, using minimal from the original.
The film's title is a pun on the question "what's the matter?" The film itself is inspired by the popularity of the 1941 film Blood and Sand. While bullfighting is the reference, the two stories otherwise have nothing in common.
The Stooges have a frustrating exchange with an old Mexican local (Don Zelaya) when they ask if he has seen Dolores. Though his lengthy Spanish response seems unintelligible to them, he actually says the following:
DVD Talk critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted the beginnings of Curly Howard's physical decline, observing that "one can see the earliest signs of Curly's pre-stroke personality change. It's very subtle, and while he's still quite funny, one can see little changes in his screen persona, and about here he begins to age dramatically, with lines suddenly etched deep in his face."
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