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Hold That Lion! is the one-hundredth Columbia Pictures short subject starring the Three Stooges. Former Stooge Curly Howard made a cameo appearance in this film.

Plot[]

Holdthatlion

Hold That Lion!

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CurlyMalice

"Malice In the Palace" Curly as the chef, holding a cleaver in front of Moe, Larry, and Shemp.

The Stooges' inheritance from their late Uncle Ambrose has been stolen by crooked investment broker Icabod Slipp (Kenneth MacDonald). The boys go over to Slipp's office to subpoena him, but he beats each of them up, rips up their subpoenas and then takes off on a train with the boys' inheritance. The Stooges then trail him to the train, and accidentally free a lion from the baggage car. Eventually, the boys capture Slipp and retrieve their inheritance money from him.

Cast[]

Curly Howard Returns[]

Hold That Lion! is notable for a cameo appearance by Curly Howard. He appears as a snoring passenger who the Stooges think is Ichabod Slipp, the man for whom they are looking. This is the only time that all four of the orginal stooges (the three Howard brothers and Larry Fine) appear on-screen together. This also marks the first time Curly is shown on camera with a full head of hair, and his only surviving film appearance following the stroke that ended his career as a full-time Stooge. He was to return for a more significant role in the short Malice in the Palace (as a mustachioed chef), but his performance was deemed to be sub-par, so the scene was cut. Although the footage is lost, an image from the scene exists and was used in lobby cards for the short.

Trivia[]

  • The short was the first time filming in new year (1947) and same released in year. It also was Jules White's first directed in Shemp era.
  • It was the last Three Stooges film (excluding Booty and the Beast) to feature Tanner the Lion, possibly also his last recent on-screen footage. Tanner could only be filmed with the Stooges for tame shots. For shots requiring him to growl or act angry, he was filmed by himself.
  • During to that fact Shemp is afraid of Lion (Tanner), as he don't want working with real lion in side and crew members putting the glass to protect them without getting attacked by Tanner.
  • The incorrect of the newspaper scene is firmly that Icabod Slipp's first name is Elmer but the original screenplay stated that Slipp's name is still to be "Icabod" not "Elmer", as Shemp Howard reading the character's name correctly and Slipp's name sign is also present in his desk with the "I" stood for "Icabod" and also the poster of him. It was possible that writer Felix Adler later change the character's name.

Notes[]

Hold that Lion! was also recycled by films post-1953:

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