Punchy Cowpunchers is the 120th 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.
| Punchy Cowpunchers | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Edward Bernds |
| Produced by | Hugh McCollum |
| Written by | Edward Bernds |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Christine McIntyre Jock Mahoney Kenneth MacDonald Vernon Dent Emil Sitka Dick Wessel John Cason Heinie Conklin George Chesebro Ted Mapes Stanley Price Joe Palma |
| Cinematography | Vincent J. Farrar |
| Editing by | Henry DeMond |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 17' 19" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Punchy Cowpunchers is the 120th 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[edit]
It is the old west and the Dillon clan are making life miserable for a small Western town. Sweetheart Nell (Christine McIntyre) and her dashing but dimwitted boyfriend Elmer (Jock Mahoney) rushes off to find help. Meanwhile, cavalrymen the Stooges are making life miserable for superior, Sergeant Mullins (Dick Wessel). Mullins tries to whip the boys into shape, but his plan backfire and has a run-in with his superior, Captain Daley (Emil Sitka). Daley informs Mullins about the Dillion clan's evildoings, and needs some men to run them out of town. Mullins does not miss a beat, and volunteers the unsuspecting Stooges.
The trio are made up to look like tough desperadoes, and happen upon the town saloon. They take jobs as waiters and do their best to spy on Dillion (Kenneth MacDonald) and his hombres without being discovered (complete with fake mustaches) However, Moe's mustache flies off his face, right onto Dillion's nose. The gang tie up Moe and Larry, and manage to corner Shemp into a safe.
As this is going on, Elmer is stumbling his way to the door of United States Cavalry, who are temporarily unavailable, it being pay day and all ("Boys will be boys," shrugs Cavalry colonel Vernon Dent). Disillusioned, Elmer returns to rescue his Nell, who is busy knocking every cowboy who enters her room out cold. Eventually, the Stooges emerge victorious, and Nell and Elmer settle down after Elmer, convinced that he's better off riding alone, gets a glass jug to the head.
Notes[edit]
- This episode is one of the few Three Stooges shorts that prominently features a musical soundtrack. Arguably, the most famous excerpt is a very fast insert of the main theme of Franz Von Suppe's "Light Cavalry Overture,", heard whenever Elmer is shown riding towards the town.
- One of the shorts where Moe doesn't slap the other stooges a lot. He slaps Shemp once in one scene and slaps Larry on his head when Larry is trying to let Moe know about his fake mustache peeling off.
Another short with another small slap count was 1937's Goofs and Saddles which also had two slaps.
![The Three Stooges - 120 - Punchy Cowpunchers (1950) (Shemp, Larry, Moe) [DaBaron] (17m26s)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KQmqHK8QHeo/default.jpg)
