Dizzy Pilots
Encyclopedia
Dizzy Pilots is the 74th 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.
), a trio of aviators who are drafted into the army, but end up getting a 30-day deferment of duty on account of their claims that the plane they are inventing, the “Buzzard”, will revolutionize flying. The boys get to work, but a series of mishaps cause them to get sidetracked; Moe twice gets knocked into a tub of rubber cement
. The first time it happens, Larry and Curly try to get the rubber off Moe by expanding the rubber with hydrogen
. Unfortunately, Moe floats to the top of the airplane hangar and into the sky, and Larry and Curly take aim with a shotgun
and blast him to safety, resulting in Moe falling down a nearby well.
Later, just as the boys are ready to test the Buzzard, they realize the plane is too wide to move out of the hangar. This problem is solved when the Stooges saw a larger opening in the airplane's hangar. Eventually, they begin a test flight for the plane for a pair of army higher-ups, but things begin to go awry and the flight ends badly, resulting in the boys falling right back into the well and into the army.
During basic training, the Stooges run afoul with their drill sergeant (Richard Fiske
), disrupting marching and weapons handling drills.
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
starring American slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
comedy team the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
between 1934 and 1959.
Plot
The Stooges are the Wrong brothers (a parody of the Wright brothersWright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
), a trio of aviators who are drafted into the army, but end up getting a 30-day deferment of duty on account of their claims that the plane they are inventing, the “Buzzard”, will revolutionize flying. The boys get to work, but a series of mishaps cause them to get sidetracked; Moe twice gets knocked into a tub of rubber cement
Rubber cement
Rubber cement is an adhesive made from elastic polymers mixed in a solvent such as acetone, hexane, heptane or toluene to keep them fluid enough to be used. Water-based formulas, often stabilised by ammonia, are also available...
. The first time it happens, Larry and Curly try to get the rubber off Moe by expanding the rubber with hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
. Unfortunately, Moe floats to the top of the airplane hangar and into the sky, and Larry and Curly take aim with a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
and blast him to safety, resulting in Moe falling down a nearby well.
Later, just as the boys are ready to test the Buzzard, they realize the plane is too wide to move out of the hangar. This problem is solved when the Stooges saw a larger opening in the airplane's hangar. Eventually, they begin a test flight for the plane for a pair of army higher-ups, but things begin to go awry and the flight ends badly, resulting in the boys falling right back into the well and into the army.
During basic training, the Stooges run afoul with their drill sergeant (Richard Fiske
Richard Fiske
Richard Fiske was an American film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1938 and 1942.-Career:Born Thomas Richard Potts, Fiske was born to Frank and Bernice Potts...
), disrupting marching and weapons handling drills.
Production
- The army segment is stock footageStock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
from 1940's Boobs in ArmsBoobs in ArmsBoobs in Arms is the 52nd 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 gag of a plane being too large to take out of a hangar was reused in 1972 on The New Scooby-Doo MoviesThe New Scooby-Doo MoviesThe New Scooby-Doo Movies is the second incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS as the only hour-long Scooby-Doo series...
episode featuring the Stooges as guest stars ("The Ghost of the Red Baron").