MovieChat Forums > They Stooge to Conga (1943) Discussion > Was Moe injured by the radio?

Was Moe injured by the radio?

posted 18 years ago by madjohnw
1 reply | jump to latest

I know this short is infamous for its "graphic" violence, mostly because of Curly climbing a telephone pole and hitting Moe with his spikes a couple of times. I never thought it was that bad, since the cutting of the film makes it an obvious fake. One scene that does look real, is when Moe gets whacked by the radio shortly after the "Why can't a chicken lay a loaf of bread" line. Curly is tugging the radio, but then suddenly lets go, and it recoils into Moe. Maybe it was a paper prop, but it certainly looks real, and if it was, I don't see how it could not have knocked him cold.

[–] WalterDenton 10 years ago

madjohnw,

I read a book about them a number of years ago, and Larry and Moe both said they did get hurt at times with props. One thing I have learned watching other Columbia shorts and then the Three Stooges is this. THe Stooges shorts are superb because they look authentic, I do know the slaps were real, and so were likely some of those hits with props-the radio one is hysteric, but Moe said in an interview Columbia had a great collection of sounds they would add into the shots, and he also as said earlier, they would let themselves get hit for real with some objects. The radio was likely made of balsa wood.

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