Rhythm and Weep

Infobox Film
name = Rhythm and Weep


caption =
director = Jules White
producer = Jules White
writer = Felix Adler
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Nita Bieber
Ruth Godfrey
Jack Norton
Gloria Patrice
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|US October 3, 1946
runtime = 17' 37"
country = USA
language = English
preceded_by = "G.I. Wanna Home"
followed_by = "Three Little Pirates"
amg_id = 1:146599
imdb_id = 0038881

"Rhythm and Weep" is the 95th short subject 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 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." [Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). "The Three Stooges Scrapbook", p. 77, Citadel Press. ISBN: 0806509465]

Notes

*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!" (see photo on right)
*The title is a play on the expression "Read It and Weep" or "Read 'Em and Weep." [Solomon, Jon. (2002) "The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion", p. 234; Comedy III Productions, Inc., ISBN 0971186804]

References

Further reading

*"Moe Howard and the Three Stooges"; by Moe Howard [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806507233] , (Citadel Press, 1977).
*"The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion"; by Jon Solomon [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971186804] , (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
*"The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons"; by Michael Fleming [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767905563] (Broadway Publishing, 2002).
*"One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures"; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581823630] , (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).