Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (1938) User Reviews

Come on...they are the three stooges!

[gue_gg_ila · 9/10 · 8 March 2005]

Short film of The Three Stooges, back ago with Curly and the other two funny guys Moe and Larry. Curly wins a prize in the radio so they go and celebrate in a hotel, and as usual they destroy everything...

Three women(of course the exact number for each stooge)are pretending to be rich widowers in order to marry the three stooges(no explanation for why they knew that they were exactly 3 men accompanying Curly Howard), at the end they found out that because of taxes the prize Curly won was only of 4 dollars, so no wedding, no girls and no money!

Overall entertaining, especially because it is 15 minutes long...and it just makes you laugh.

stops short

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 30 June 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are short on money as always. Curly mixes up glue with maple syrup leading to a series of hilarity. Curly wins a $50k radio contest. The Stooges rent an expensive hotel suite and promptly destroy it. They are pursued by the three gold-diggers who are pretending to be rich widows. Then they find out that most of their prize has been eaten up by taxes leaving them with $4.85. This ends a little short. I want more downfall for the Stooges. They could do the classic running around in the hotel being chased by the girls and the hotel security.

Golddiggers Hound the Rich Stooges--Before Taxes

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 7 January 2024]

In The Three Stooges' earlier 31st entry, May 1938 "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb," Curly won $50,000 in a radio contest. They decide to splurge in a fancy hotel stay, only to be unsuccessfully fleeced by three pretty gold diggers residing in the next room. The title was a parody on Ben Franklin's advice, "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Actress Lucille Lund, 25, plays one of the ladies cozying up to the Stooges. She's best known for her role as the wife of the Boris Karloff character in 1934's horror classic "The Black Cat."

One interesting aspect of "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb" is screenwriter Searle Kramer 'borrowed' Charley Chase's skit seen in the Stooges earlier April 1938's "Tassels in the Air." Here, instead of a pint of paint, Moe accidentally mixes up a can of glue Curly is using on the table thinking it's pancake syrup. His fork becomes glued inside his mouth until Larry comes up with the brilliant idea of using boiling water to melt the glue. Another first in a Stooges film is to show Curly and Moe intentionally drinking alcohol without any qualms. The two are living it up in the swanky hotel by ordering a case of champaign while Larry is taking a bath-buoyed up by balloons. Curly swigs down bottle after bottle of champaign, hearing the liquid swirling around his stomach, as well as swigging the last bottle, causing the champaign to spray out of both his ears.

A collapsed bed, a broken vase, a monkey, three gold diggers, and plenty of taxes!

[slymusic · 24 January 2008]

Directed by the great Del Lord, "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb" is an excellent Three Stooges comedy. Curly wins $50,000 via a radio contest, so he and his two partners decide to rent an elegant suite at a posh hotel. Major mistake!

Highlights: Curly's "bunk bed" collapses on Moe. Moe and Curly mistake glue for pancake syrup. Curly drinks champagne until it gushes out of his ears. The Stooges plan to douse the hotel manager (James C. Morton) and the house detective (Bud Jamison) with champagne, but they accidentally splash three beautiful gold diggers who live down the hall.

"Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb" was later remade as "A Missed Fortune" (1952), with Shemp stepping into Curly's role.

Great Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 28 September 2004]

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is a hilarious Three Stooges short in My opinion. The Stooges are so funny. Jean Carmen, Lucille Lund, and Earlene Heath all perform well and they look excellent! Bud Jamison and James C. Morton were good. Also appearing is Bobby Burns! There is another Three Stooges short with Shemp very similar like this one called A Missed Fortune. I strongly recommend both!

Lucky in love, lucky at cards?

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 16 May 2016]

"Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb" is a Three Stooges short film that will have its 80th anniversary in 2 years from now, so it was made briefly before the outbreak of World War II and they are still unpolitical in this one. Curly wins the great prize and the trio meets three young and beautiful woman. But it wouldn't be the Stooges if things really were that golden and shiny. This one is in black-and-white as usual and runs for 16.5 minutes, also as usual with these Stooges short films. I have seen many of their works and many I did not like because sometimes their humour and slapstick comedy (especially Curly's) is just over the top and not really funny, but this one here has a couple good moments, for example Moe destroying the vase was pretty hilarious. Always nice to see him deliver funny stuff too that goes beyond punching the other too. Like I already said, Curly is in here, so this is one of their earlier works. And also one of their better, I believe. Thumbs up.