Listen, Judge

Listen, Judge
Directed by	Edward Bernds
Produced by	Hugh McCollum
Written by	Elwood Ullman
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Kitty McHugh Vernon Dent Emil Sitka John Hamilton
Cinematography	Ellis W. Carter
Editing by	Edwin H. Bryant
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	March 6, 1952 (1952-03-06)
Running time	16' 06"
Country	United States
Language	English

Listen, Judge is the 138th 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 repairmen who are on trial for stealing chickens, but are found not guilty. However, Shemp opens his suit jacket, resulting in a live chicken flying out of his grip and into the face of Judge Henderson (Vernon Dent). The boys then flee the courtroom, and pursue some work.

The Stooges are accused of chicken stealing (an idea borrowed from A Plumbing We Will Go.)

The trio comes upon a lady customer (Kitty McHugh) whose doorbell is in need of repair. The Stooges manage to ruin most of the house while working on the wiring, ultimately clobbering the chef (Emil Sitka) who is preparing dinner at the customer's house. The irate chef abruptly quits, resulting in the Stooges being hired to prepare dinner for her husband's birthday party. To their shock and horror, the party in question is for none other than Judge Henderson, and their lady customer is the Judge's wife.

Now frantic, the trio try their best to make the dinner at least partially edible. All hell nearly breaks loose when the birthday cake they prepare is accidentally pierced, deflating in the process. The cake is then "re-inflated" using town gas through the gas stove's connection.

During the party, Judge Henderson blows out the candles, and the gas-filled cake explodes. The judge angrily realizes who the new "help" are, and the Stooges are forced to leave in a hurry.

Story content

The story content of Listen, Judge is a hybrid of plot devices borrowed from several Stooge films featuring Curly Howard:

• The chicken stealing sequence in the courtroom is from A Plumbing We Will Go.
• The doorbell repair sequence is from They Stooge to Conga.
• The food preparation sequences and exploding cake (comprising the second half of the film) are from An Ache in Every Stake.

Notes

• Listen, Judge is the first Three Stooges short released after Curly Howard's death.
• When Moe reprimands his two pals for pulling him through a wall, Larry claims to be a "victim of circumstance", the only other Stooge other than Curly who has uttered the phrase.
• When Moe is knocked to the ground by Larry hitting him with the kitchen door, a platter complete with a coffee pot and cups is knocked from his hands and shatters all over the floor. Later on in the scene, when Moe tells Shemp to bring the punch out to the guests, the shattered cups are mysteriously no longer seen on the floor.

External links

• Listen, Judge at the Internet Movie Database
• Listen, Judge at AllRovi