Slappily Married
Slappily Married is an American short subject by Columbia Pictures, released on November 7, 1946. The short was directed by Edward Bernds and stars Joe DeRita, who later joined the Three Stooges and became "Curly Joe" DeRita, and features Christine McIntyre, Dorothy Granger and Dick Wessel. It is the first of four shorts in the Joe DeRita series produced by Columbia from 1946-1948; all entries were remakes of other Columbia shorts.
Slappily Married | |
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Directed by | Edward Bernds |
Produced by | Hugh McCollum |
Written by | Al Giebler Elwood Ullman |
Starring | Joe DeRita Christine McIntyre Jean Willes Florence Auer Symona Boniface Dick Wessel |
Cinematography | Fred Mandl |
Edited by | Edwin H. Bryant |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 16:55 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
Dress shop owner Joe Bates (Joe DeRita) is a happily married man who dreads Friday the 13th. Fearing the worst, Joe decides not to go to work to avoid any catastrophes, but his wife (Christine McIntyre) simply dismisses it and tells him that he is being superstitious. Joe agrees with her and decides to start preparing breakfast, but things quickly go wrong. Food begins to fly everywhere, dishes fall and break all over the place and a bowl of waffle batter drapes all over Joe. When his wife returns to the kitchen, she tells him that yesterday was Friday the 13th and to start getting ready for work.
Later at the dress shop, Joe mistakes a female customer (Dorothy Granger) for a mannequin. When her jealous husband (Dick Wessel) goes over to find out what is going on, a nervous Joe tells him that it was a misunderstanding. Another problem occurs shortly after when the same female customer and another one (Jean Willes) get into a scuffle involving a hat they both want to purchase. Joe tries to break up the fight, but ends up getting knocked to the floor along with the first customer. Joe's wife and the jealous husband show up and Joe's wife, thinking that he is cheating on him runs off and Joe gets punched out by the jealous husband.
Joe eventually tracks down his wife at the Amazon hotel, which is a hotel for women only. The concierge (Symona Boniface) tells Joe that she was given orders by his wife that she does not want to be disturbed, but Joe manages to disguise himself as a woman to find the room his wife is in. He winds up in the same room with the female customer he met earlier at the shop. He also has to dodge the jealous husband and a female house detective, before finally reuniting with his wife at the end.
Cast
- Joe DeRita - Joe Bates
- Christine McIntyre - Mrs. Bates
- Dorothy Granger - Honey
- Dick Wessel - Honey's husband
- Jean Willes - Dress store customer
- Symona Boniface - Hotel desk clerk
- Florence Auer - Violet, hotel matron
Production notes
Slappily Married is a remake of the 1943 Andy Clyde short A Maid Made Mad.[1]
DeRita did not think highly of his output at Columbia Pictures, once commenting, "My comedy in those scripts was limited to getting hit on the head with something, then going over to my screen wife to say, 'Honey, don't leave me!' For this kind of comedy material, you could have gotten a busboy to do it and it would have been just as funny."[1]
References
- Maurer, Joan Howard; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (2012) [1982]. The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Citadel Press. p. 52-59. ISBN 978-1-61374-074-3.