Rhythm and Weep

Rhythm and Weep
Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Nita Bieber Ruth Godfrey Jack Norton Gloria Patrice
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 3, 1946
Running time	17' 37"
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	G.I. Wanna Home
Followed by	Three Little Pirates

Rhythm and Weep is the 95th short subject film starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges beg for their job back in Rhythm and Weep. Note a thinner Curly (far left), who was ill at the time of filming.

The Stooges play the roles of unsuccessful actors who have decided to end it all by jumping off a skyscraper. On top of the building, they discover three girls with an unsuccessful dancing act who have also decided to jump. The Stooges immediately fall in love with the girls. The six distraught lovers are still planning to jump when they suddenly hear piano music playing. They leave the ledge to go find the source of the music. On a lower floor they discover a piano-playing millionaire who is looking for a talented act. He promises them a significant amount of money if they are good. Their act is a success with the millionaire, and it looks like everything will end happily...until the devastating revelation at the end.

The millionaire has just promised to double their salaries when he says, "The way I throw my money around, I bet you think I'm crazy!" As if on cue, two men in white coats come to take him back to an asylum. He wants to go "by train," and one of them gives him a toy locomotive; as they escort him away he says, "Choo choo choo..." Moe moans, "He's as nutty as a nest of cuckoos!"

Curly's illness

Rhythm and Weep was filmed near the end of Curly Howard's career. The 42-year-old comedian had suffered a series of minor strokes several months prior to filming, and his performances had been unpredictable. By the time of Rhythm and Weep, he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and lines had creased his baby face.

While director Edward Bernds devised ways to cover his illness, Jules White simply gave most of Curly's lines to Larry. In fact, Curly was so ill during production that he could no longer remember what few lines he had. To complete a scene, Moe would say Curly's lines to him, and then Curly would repeat them for the camera. Moe's son-in-law Norman Maurer was present during filming, and recalled Curly was hurting. "He was having trouble with his coordination," recalled Maurer. "He was supposed to pop pills in his mouth during the (doctor's office) scene, but the scene was switched to Moe putting the pills into Curly's mouth because of Curly's physical problems."^[1]

Notes

Larry breaks the fourth wall in Rhythm and Weep. "This I like...and I get paid for it, too!" he quips.

• Aside from the Stooges, Rhythm and Weep also features the three dancers Nita Bieber, Ruth Godfrey, and Gloria Patrice. Ruth Godfrey, who debuted in Rhythm and Weep, was director Jules White's daughter-in-law.
• Rhythm and Weep features one of the few times that the Stooges broke the "fourth wall". During his time on the ledge, Larry hugs his girl, looks into the camera, and says to the audience: "This I like! And I get paid for it, too!"
• The title is a play on the expression "Read It and Weep" or "Read 'Em and Weep."^[2]

References

External links

• Rhythm and Weep at the Internet Movie Database
• Rhythm and Weep at Allmovie