Horses' Collars

Infobox Film
name = Horses' Collars


caption =
director = Clyde Bruckman
writer = Felix Adler
starring = Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Dorothy Kent
Fred Kohler
producer = Jules White
cinematography = John Boyle
editing = James Sweeney
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = flagicon|USJanuary 10, 1935
runtime = 18' 01"
country = USA
language = English
preceded_by = "Three Little Pigskins"
followed_by = "Restless Knights"
amg_id = 1:233632
imdb_id = 0026494

"Horses' Collars" is the fifth 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

The Stooges are detectives in the Old West. They have been sent out to recover an I.O.U. from Double Deal Decker (Fred Kohler), who plans to take possession of a ranch that is rightfully owned by Nell (Dorothy Kent). After an unsuccessful attempt at a saloon, the Stooges head to Deckers hideout.

Notes

*This is the first of several Stooge shorts set in the Old West.
*Curly has a violent reaction to the sight of a mouse. The only cure is for someone to feed him cheese (leading to the now-famous catchphrase, "Moe! Larry! Cheese!"). This is similar to the device used in "Punch Drunks" and "Grips, Grunts and Groans".
*The Stooges work for Hyden Zeke {I.e. Hide and Seek! pun} Detective Agency.
*Double Deal's Five D Delight is a saloon that boasts Dice, Dames, Dancing, Drinking, and Dunking.
*Double Deal Decker has supposedly killed 117 men.
*Continuity error: After Decker kills two men who didn't pay for their drinks, the bartender changes Decker's "score" (showing the number of people he killed) on the chalkboard from 115 to 117. But after the Stooges arrive, the score again reads 115.
*Nell calls to the Stooges by saying, "Gentlemen!" The Stooges look over their shoulders, wondering who she is addressing. This would be a recurring joke in later shorts.
*Moe stops Curly and a woman as they are dancing and asks the woman if he may cut in. Moe then dances off with Curly, leaving their two dancing partners confused. This would be a recurring joke in later shorts.
*This is the first short where the Stooges sing acapella style: "You'll Never Know What Tears Are."
*When the Stooges mistake the one safe for a radio, the announcer says "You're listening to station WGN..." referring to the AM radio network in Chicago. In reality, stations like that only travelled for hundreds of miles and could not be picked up in California, except at night.
*Curly is confronted by Decker and his hired gun. Decker is taking off his coat as Curly charges him, and Curly becomes tangled in his coat. Curly punches Decker's hired gun, who swings back, missing Curly and punching Decker. This is repeated until both Decker and his hired gun have knocked each other out. This would be a recurring joke in later shorts when one of the Stooges is confronted by two attackers.

Quotes

**Curly: "Moe! Larry! Cheese!"

**Larry: "Every time he sees a mouse, he goes crazy. He's marked that way."
**Boss: "Why?"
**Moe: "Because his father was a rat!"

**Bartender: "What about the money?"
**Larry: "Go on, that's a tin roof."
**Bartender: "What do you mean?"
**Curly: "It's a tin roof...it's on the house."

**Curly: "If you was alone, I'd punch you right in the nose!"
**Moe "(menacingly)": "Well, why don't ya?"
**Curly "(meekly)": "Well...I'm with ya."

**Nell: "Are you good detectives?"
**Curly "(pointing at his shoe)": "See that heel?"
**Nell: "Yes."
**Curly: "I ran "that" down."

**Moe: "Sometimes, you've got brains."
**Curly: "Thank you, thank you."
**Larry: "Don't let 'em go to your head."

**Moe: "You know, you're not a bad dancer."
**Curly: "Oh, I'll bet you tell that to all the boys."

**Curly: "You know, you're not a bad dancer yourself."
**Moe: "Are you insinuatin'..."
**Curly: "No, just dancin'."

Further reading

*"Moe Howard and the Three Stooges"; by Moe Howard (Citadel Press, 1977).
*"The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion"; by Jon Solomon (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
*"The Three Stooges Scrapbook"; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg (Citadel Press, 1994).
*"The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons"; by Michael Fleming (Broadway Publishing, 2002).
*"One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures"; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).