Memorable Quotes:

Rl. July 13 / Prod. No. 116 / 17m / d Lou Breslow / scr Jack Cluett / st Jerry Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe Howard / ph Henry Freulich / e Robert Carlisle / C: Dorothy Granger (Girl), Arthur Houseman (Fight Timekeeper), William Irving (Second Plug Ugly), Jack "Tiny" Lipson (First Plug Ugly), Billy Bletcher (Fight Announcer), Al Hill (Killer Kilduff, the Champ), Chuck Callahan (Restaurant Mgr.) and Larry McCrath (Referee)

SYN: Moe, a boxing manager, and Larry, a violinist, discover that when Larry plays "Pop Goes the Weasel," Curly explodes and starts punching any available target. Moe comes up with the bright idea to manage Curly as the ring's newest boxing sensation and hires Larry to play "Weasel" at ringside, enabling Curly to win each fight. Disaster strikes when during the championship bout, Larry's violin gets broken. Curlys momentum suddenly flies out the window and the champ Killer Kilduff starts whaling on our bald hero. Larry, out of desperation, must steal a radio and then a campaign bandwagon, blaring the "Weasel" song, which revives Curly who wins the fight.

Quick Hits:

- Did you know that Larry learned to play the violin as therapy to strengthen his arm after a childhood accident. In most Stooges shorts, Larry does his own playing?

- Did you know that Curly goes fighting mad in another short? Yep, in Grips, Grunts, and Groans (1937) each time Curly gets a sniff of the perfume "Wild Hyacinth" he loses his cool, knocking out everything in sight.

- Did you know that in the stint of his solo career, Shemp Howard starred in the short film "A Hit With a Miss" (1945) that credited the storyline to "Howard, Fine and Howard?" It followed the same premise as "Punch Drunks."

 

WT: "Symphony of Punches" and "A Symphony of Punches" / SD: 4 (W 5/2 to SA 4/5/34) / FN: Punch Drunks is the only Stooges film to credit the Stooges as writers. In the original treatment, Curly turns boxer and wins every fight when Fuzzy (Larry) plays "Stars and Stripes Forever." According to the director Lou Breslow the song was changed from "Stars and Stripes" to "Weasel" because the latter was public domain and "the only song that was half-funny." Curly becoming fighting mad upon hearing "Weasel" was redone in The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963). Remade as A Hit With a Miss (12/13/45) with Shemp Howard.

Final Thoughts:

A classic! This is one of the most famous short films that the Stooges did. This short marked the first in which the Stooges actually played characters by the names of "Moe," "Larry," and "Curly" with Columbia Pictures.