Snow White and The Three Stooges is the second feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita. Released by 20th Century Fox, Snow White and The Three Stooges was the trio's take on the classic fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Olympic gold medalist figure skater Carol Heiss starred as Snow White, who must flee her home after her stepmother wishes her to be dead. Seeking refuge in the cottage of the seven dwarfs, she accidentally meets the Stooges, who are house sitting for them while they are away.
Snow White and The Three Stooges was the only 1960s Stooges feature filmed in color, as well as the only one not made by Columbia Pictures. It also became the least popular. Critics did not take kindly to the film, citing a lack of on-screen time for the trio. Even Moe Howard later commented that Snow White and The Three Stooges was the team's "technicolor mistake." The film was also a box-office flop. Nonetheless, it was nominated for the Writers Guild of America award for Best Musical Screenplay for 1961. The film was produced and co-written by future U.S. Information Agency head Charles Z. Wick.
Plot
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Fortunia, a noble king and his lovely young queen lack but one blessing to make their joy complete. The queen gives birth to a daughter named Snow White, but dies soon after. The king mourns her, but in time, he remarries because of the pleading of his people. His new queen is a beautiful, but evil woman who soon becomes jealous of Snow White's beauty.
On her 17th birthday, Snow White's father dies and the wicked queen immediately imprisons her. Eventually, the queen's jealousy of her stepdaughter becomes so great that she orders her killed. Snow White escapes her hired assassin and finds refuge in the empty cottage of the seven dwarfs, soon to be joined by the Three Stooges, who are traveling to the castle with their ward Quatro. But the boy they have raised since childhood (also narrowly escaping as assassination attempt by the queen) is in reality Prince Charming, who though he has lost his memory, is betrothed to Snow White.
Snow White and the Prince fall in love, but the queen has him kidnapped when she suspects his true identity. The Stooges, disguised as cooks, attempt to rescue him, but he falls from a staircase in the palace and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, the queen learns from her magic mirror that Snow White is still alive. With the help of her magician, Count Oga, she transforms herself into a witch and succeeds in getting Snow White to take a bite from a poisoned apple.
As she rides back to the palace, she encounters the Stooges, and thanks to an inadvertent wish they make on a magic sword (stolen from Count Oga), she crashes her broom into a mountainside and falls to her death. The Stooges then find the poisoned Snow White, but they do not bury her. Instead, they place her on a bed, and pray to her each day.
Meanwhile, the Prince (Quatro) has not died from his fall. Instead, he is saved by a group of men who want to revolt against the Evil Queen's rule over Fortunia. As the prince recovers, he realizes that his memory has returned, and so he knows that he is indeed a Prince, and that Snow White is the princess he was destined to marry.
After leading a successful revolt which places him on the throne of Fortunia, the prince sends out searchers to find Snow White and the Stooges, unaware that, thanks to yet another inadvertent wish on Count Oga's sword, they are no longer in the country of Fortunia. All searches are fruitless, and Prince Charming is close to giving up hope when he learns of the Evil Queen's magic mirror. The mirror responds truthfully to the desperate Prince's pleas, and the Prince sets off on his journey. He arrives at the Stooges' cabin just in time to dispel the effects of the poisoned apple. Snow White and Prince Charming are married and live happily ever after.
Primary Cast
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