History Recap / TheThreeStoogesPunchDrunks

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheThreeStooges https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stoogesboxing.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Curly as K.O. Stradivarius and Moe as his manager.]]

''Punch Drunks'' is a 1934 short subject starring ''Film/TheThreeStooges''. It is their second short.

Struggling boxing manager Moe is having lunch with several associates when he notices that their shy waiter (Curly) goes insane whenever he hears the song "Pop Goes the Weasel". Moe also takes notice of a fiddler (Larry) who happens to be playing the potent tune at the restaurant. Seeing dollar signs in the uncontrollable waiter, Moe quickly recruits the two unsuspecting cohorts and preps them for the boxing world. Curly's boxing handle becomes "K.O. Stradivarius", and with Larry in tow—playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" at every boxing match, Curly becomes the number one contender for the heavyweight championship. But, of course, things begin to go awry after Larry breaks his violin.

This short has the distinction of being the only Three Stooges short thus far selected for preservation in the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.

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!!Tropes:

* AgonyOfTheFeet: As Curly picks up a car stuck in the mud due to his newfound super strength, Larry stops playing and he drops it on Moe's foot.
* BerserkButton: Whenever Curly hears "Pop Goes the Weasel", he loses all control of himself.
* TheBoxingEpisode: As the plot summary explains, the short showcases Curly's meteoric rise in the boxing rankings thanks to his berserk fury.
* CarMeetsHouse: Larry crashes a bandwagon playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" through the wall of the arena to help Curly win.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Curly is... [[FatIdiot Curly]], but whenever he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel" he becomes an incredibly strong berserker.
* DopeSlap: It's not a stooge short without it of course. But Curly is also slapped by his boss at the beginning, and Moe's friends.
* EveryoneMeetsEveryone: One of the only shorts where the stooges haven't met each other before at the beginning.
* NoSell: Curly's opponent in the championship match doesn't flinch when Curly punches him without his BerserkButton activated.
* TheRemake: About a year before rejoining the Stooges, Shemp Howard would star in a remake of this short (''A Hit With a Miss''). Shemp played the Curly role, while Robert Williams and Charles Rogers respectively assumed the Moe and Larry roles. As with most remakes produced by Columbia's shorts department, this one used tons of [[StockFootage stock footage]] from its source.
** The Stooges themselves later reworked the premise into their 1963 feature ''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze''.
* SpinningNewspaper: During a montage showing Curly's success in the boxing ring.
* StockFootage: Larry running down the street is shown more than once.

[[caption-width-right:350: Curly as [[RedBaron K.O. Stradivarius]] and Moe as his manager.]]

* TheBoxingEpisode

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Curly

* StockFootage: Larry running down the street is shown more than once.
* WrittenByCastMember: Credit for the story went to "Howard, Fine, and Howard" (Moe, Larry, and Curly).

This short has the distinction of being the only Three Stooges short thus far selected for preservation in the NationalFilmRegistry.

* StockFootage: Larry running down the street is shown more than once.

''Punch Drunks'' is a 1934 short subject starring ''TheThreeStooges''. It is their second short.

* StockFootage: Larry running down the street is shown more than once.

* DopeSlap: It's not a stooge short without it of course. But Curly is also slapped by his boss at the beginning, and Moe's friends.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Curly

This short has the distinction of being the only Three Stooges short thus far selected for preservation in TheNationalFilmRegistry.