Prison Movies

Three Smart Saps (1942, USA)

A trap for young players: Synopses of this movie invariably have The Three Stooges ‘going undercover’ in a jail to prove the innocence of their three fiancées’ father, Warden Stevens, who has been framed and finds himself a guest of his own establishment. Well, yes, they do go undercover, but as  nightclub patrons and not, as one might reasonably expect, as prisoners or even guards. Oh, well…

And that’s about the whole story. Don’t ask why three attractive and apparently normal sisters would be betrothed to The Three Stooges; it doesn’t help. But their Warden father is in jail and the wedding can’t proceed because of it, so Larry, Curly and Moe try to get themselves locked up to help him. They fail miserably. But they encounter no resistance whatsoever in getting into the jail via its front door, from where they proceed directly to meet with Mr Stevens in his cell. The deposed Warden passes them a camera (security having slackened awfully since his recent removal) with which they are to take photos of the nightclub, into which part of the jail has been turned.

They encounter slightly more resistance getting into the nightclub (because they’re not wearing dinner suits), but soon fix that and get the photographic evidence needed to free their prospective father-in-law, who is promptly reinstated as Warden. They can then get married.

The film features some wonderful dancing by Curly in the nightclub scene, some very fickle governance arrangements, and pretty much nothing to do with prisons.

Posted on December 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pm. Updated on December 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pm.