Calling All Curs

Plot

The Three Stooges play veterinarians in this 1939 short, tasked with looking after Garçon, a prized poodle owned by wealthy socialite Mrs. Bedford. After they successfully remove a thorn from the dog’s paw, two men claiming to be reporters from The Daily Star show up, asking for a tour of the clinic. The Stooges oblige, but the visitors are actually dognappers. Left alone for a moment, they steal Garçon and leave a ransom note.

To hide their mistake from Mrs. Bedford, the Stooges grab a stray mutt, glue on some hair to make it look like the poodle, and deliver the fake. The disguise falls apart when the glued hair drops off in front of the maid. Facing jail time, the Stooges desperately hunt the criminals, using the mutt as a bloodhound to track them down. They find the dognappers’ hideout, a fight breaks out, and the Stooges win.

Garçon is recovered, along with a surprise litter of puppies. The short was filmed in late December 1938. Its title puns on the phrase “Calling all cars!” Garçon, despite meaning “boy” in French, is referred to with feminine pronouns because she gives birth at the end.

This is one of the few Stooge films where they hold professional jobs, and it was a personal favorite of Curly Howard, a known dog lover.

Production notes

Filmed on December 27–30, 1938, the title Calling All Curs is a pun on the phrase "Calling all cars!" A colorized version of this film was released in 2006 as part of the DVD collection entitled "Stooges on the Run." Garçon gives birth at the end of the short, and is referred to by feminine pronouns throughout. Garçon is French for “boy.” This marks one of the few times the Stooges have respectable, professional careers as opposed to working as blue-collar laborers. This was one of Curly Howard's favorite Stooge films as he was a well-known dog lover. Footage was reused in the 1960 compilation feature film Stop! Look!