The Yoke's on Me

The Yoke's on Me is a 1944 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 79th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who appeared in 190 shorts at the studio between 1934 and 1959.

The Yoke's on Me
Directed byJules White
Produced byJules White
Written byClyde Bruckman
StarringMoe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Robert McKenzie
Eva McKenzie
Emmett Lynn
Al Thompson
Victor Travers
CinematographyGlen Gano
Edited byCharles Hochberg
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • May 26, 1944 (1944-05-26) (U.S.)
Running time
16:08
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The Stooges try to join the army but are labeled 4-F by the draft board due to Curly having water on the knee. After they decide to go on vacation until a job comes along, their father (Robert McKenzie) insists they aid the war effort instead by becoming farmers. Inspired, the trio sell their dilapidated car and buy an equally dilapidated farm. The farm contains no livestock except for one ostrich, which eats gunpowder. The boys then spot some pumpkins and decide to carve and sell them.

In the interim, several Japanese-Americans escape a prison camp (known during World War II as relocation centers), and work their way onto the Stooges' farm. Curly is the first to notice some suspicious activity (one of the escapees places a carved pumpkin on his head, spooking Curly). Eventually, Moe and Larry believe him, and realize that the farm is surrounded by the Japanese-Americans (whom they mistake for Japanese invaders). Moe then throws an ostrich egg (laden with digested gunpowder) at the escapees, killing them.

Cast

Credited

Uncredited

Production notes

The Yoke's on Me was filmed on November 8–12, 1943.[2] The film's title is a pun on the expression, "the joke's on me."[3]

Controversy

During World War II, the Stooges released several comedies that engaged in propaganda against the then-enemy Japanese, including Spook Louder, No Dough Boys, Booby Dupes and The Yoke's on Me. The Yoke's on Me is especially singled out by contemporary critics. For many years, the film was blacklisted by some television stations, due to its humorous treatment of Japanese American escapees from a relocation center (the Japanese characters in question are not POWs).[4]

Author Jon Solomon has said, "no Stooge film so profoundly disturbs modern viewers as this one."[3] Author Michael Fleming put it more bluntly: "Knowing what we do now about how Japanese-born American citizens were mistreated and stripped of their belongings in relocation centers makes this as funny as a train wreck."[5]

Quotes
  • Curly: "Look, look! A pelican!"
  • Moe: "That's no pelican, it's a gander."
  • Curly: "Mahatma gander?"
  • Moe: "No, a gander, a gander! A goose's husband."
  • Larry: "Yeah, a papa goose."
  • Curly: "Do they have papa gooseses and mama gooseses?"
  • Larry: "Oh sure. And little baby gooseses, too."
  • Curly: "Oh, I read about them. They come from Germany...the goosetapo!"

References
  1. The Yoke's On Me at threestooges.net
  2. Pauley, Jim (2012). The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations. Solana Beach, California: Santa Monica Press, LLC. p. 321. ISBN 9781595800701.
  3. Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Glendale, California: Comedy III Productions, Inc. p. 246. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
  4. "The Yoke's On Me". Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  5. Fleming, Michael (1999). The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Heroes. New York, New York: Broadway Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 0-7679-0556-3.
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