A Bird in the Head - Misplaced Pages

1946 American short film by Edward Bernds

A Bird in the Head

Directed by	Edward Bernds
Written by	Edward Bernds
Produced by	Hugh McCollum
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent Robert Williams Frank Lackteen Art Miles
Cinematography	Burnett Guffey
Edited by	Henry Batista
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	February 28, 1946 (1946-02-28) (U.S.)
Running time	17:18
Country	United States
Language	English

A Bird in the Head is a 1946 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 89th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges, employed as paperhangers, fail to meet their boss Mr. Beedle's standards, resulting in a botched job that incites his wrath. In their haste to escape his anger, they inadvertently stumble into the laboratory of the eccentric Professor Panzer and his assistant Nikko. Panzer, obsessed with transplanting a human brain into his gorilla Igor, identifies Curly as the ideal candidate. The trio finds themselves locked in the laboratory as Panzer schemes to extract Curly's brain.

Amidst the chaos, Igor breaks free but forms an unexpected bond with Curly, leading to a reversal of allegiance. In a bid to evade Panzer's clutches, the Stooges dismantle the laboratory, facilitating their escape with Igor in tow.

Cast

Credited

Moe Howard as Moe
Larry Fine as Larry
Curly Howard as Curly
Vernon Dent as Professor Panzer
Frank Lackteen as Nikko
Robert Williams as Mr. Beedle

Uncredited

Art Miles as Igor the Gorilla

Production notes

The title A Bird in the Head is a pun on the phrase "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." A Bird in the Head was filmed over a period of five days (April 9–13, 1945), which was longer than usual. Due to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, filming ended early out of respect for the deceased Commander-in-chief.

Curly's illness

Prior to the filming of A Bird in the Head, 41-year-old Curly Howard had endured a series of minor strokes, which adversely affected his performance, leading to slurred speech and slower timing. This film marked the directorial debut of former Columbia sound technician Edward Bernds. Initially elated at the opportunity to direct, Bernds was dismayed to discover the extent of Curly's deteriorated condition, a fact that Columbia's head of short subjects and director, Jules White, had failed to disclose. In later years, Bernds recounted the challenging experience he faced during the production of A Bird in the Head:

"It was an awful tough deal for a novice rookie director to have a Curly who wasn't himself. I had seen Curly at his greatest and his work in this film was far from great. The wallpaper scene was agony to direct because of the physical movements required to roll up the wallpaper and to react when it curled up in him. It just didn't work. As a fledgling director, my plans were based on doing everything in one nice neat shot. But when I saw the scenes were not playing, I had to improvise and use other angles to make it play. It was the wallpaper scene that we shot first, and during the first two hours of filming, I became aware that we had a problem with Curly."

Recognizing Curly's diminished ability to perform at his previous capacity, Edward Bernds implemented strategies to accommodate his condition. Curly retained his starring role, but the focus of the action was redirected to other characters, such as the eccentric Professor Panzer and Igor. In A Bird in the Head, this shift allowed Curly to maintain a significant presence on screen without necessitating extensive participation.

Bernds frequently remarked on his strained relationship with Jules White. Bernds was concerned that his directorial career might be prematurely curtailed if A Bird in the Head, featuring a weakened Curly, was his debut release. To mitigate this risk, producer Hugh McCollum rearranged the release schedule, allowing the more successful Micro-Phonies to premiere first, thereby solidifying Bernds's position as a director.

The television print distributed by Screen Gems in the late 1950s omitted a scene in which Curly and the gorilla consume alcohol in the laboratory and subsequently experience humorous aftereffects.

References

^ Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 272, 273. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
^ Maurer, Joan Howard; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Citadel Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8065-0946-5.
^ Fleming, Michael (1999). The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons. Broadway Publishing. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-7679-0556-3.

External links

A Bird in the Head at IMDb
A Bird in the Head at AllMovie
A Bird in the Head at threestooges.net

v t e The Three Stooges
Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Shemp Howard Joe Besser Curly Joe DeRita
Works	The Three Stooges filmography The Three Stooges Collection Jerks of All Trades The New 3 Stooges The Three Stooges Scrapbook Kook's Tour Moe Howard and the Three Stooges
Related topics	List of supporting actors in Three Stooges films Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No The Robonic Stooges Stoogemania "Swingin' the Alphabet" "The Curly Shuffle" 1984 arcade game 1987 video game 2000 TV biopic 2012 feature film C3 Entertainment
Associated people	Felix Adler Edward Bernds Tiny Brauer Clyde Bruckman Charley Chase Paul Garner Ted Healy Rich Koz Del Lord Norman Maurer Hugh McCollum Christine McIntyre Frank Mitchell Joe Palma/Fake Shemp Fred Sanborn Emil Sitka Greta Thyssen Elwood Ullman Jack White Jules White
Category

v t e The Three Stooges filmography (1934–1946)
1934	Woman Haters Punch Drunks Men in Black Three Little Pigskins
1935	Horses' Collars Restless Knights Pop Goes the Easel Uncivil Warriors Pardon My Scotch Hoi Polloi Three Little Beers
1936	Ants in the Pantry Movie Maniacs Half Shot Shooters Disorder in the Court A Pain in the Pullman False Alarms Whoops, I'm an Indian! Slippery Silks
1937	Grips, Grunts and Groans Dizzy Doctors 3 Dumb Clucks Back to the Woods Goofs and Saddles Cash and Carry Playing the Ponies The Sitter Downers
1938	Termites of 1938 Wee Wee Monsieur Tassels in the Air Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb Violent Is the Word for Curly Three Missing Links Mutts to You Flat Foot Stooges
1939	Three Little Sew and Sews We Want Our Mummy A Ducking They Did Go Yes, We Have No Bonanza Saved by the Belle Calling All Curs Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise Three Sappy People
1940	You Nazty Spy! Rockin' thru the Rockies A Plumbing We Will Go Nutty but Nice How High Is Up? From Nurse to Worse No Census, No Feeling Cookoo Cavaliers Boobs in Arms
1941	So Long, Mr. Chumps Dutiful But Dumb All the World's a Stooge I'll Never Heil Again An Ache in Every Stake In the Sweet Pie and Pie Some More of Samoa
1942	Loco Boy Makes Good Cactus Makes Perfect What's the Matador? Matri-Phony Three Smart Saps Even as IOU Sock-a-Bye Baby
1943	They Stooge to Conga Dizzy Detectives Spook Louder Back From the Front Three Little Twirps Higher Than a Kite I Can Hardly Wait Dizzy Pilots Phony Express A Gem of a Jam
1944	Crash Goes the Hash Busy Buddies The Yoke's on Me Idle Roomers Gents Without Cents No Dough Boys
1945	Three Pests in a Mess Booby Dupes Idiots Deluxe If a Body Meets a Body Micro-Phonies
1946	Beer Barrel Polecats A Bird in the Head Uncivil War Birds The Three Troubledoers Monkey Businessmen Three Loan Wolves G.I. Wanna Home Rhythm and Weep Three Little Pirates
1947	Half-Wits Holiday
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