Brideless Groom (1947)
Voice teacher Shemp learns he will inherit a fortune from a late uncle, but only if he marries within hours. He and his partners scramble to find any willing bride, and once word of the money gets out, a mob of eager women turns the wedding scramble into a brawl.
A Three Stooges two-reeler for Columbia, best remembered for Christine McIntyre’s scene of slapping Shemp senseless before switching to violent affection once she learns he is the heir. Brideless Groom fell into the public domain through a renewal lapse and became one of the most heavily aired Stooge shorts on television.
Background
Brideless Groom is a Three Stooges two-reel short produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by Edward Bernds, who wrote and directed many of the troupe’s shorts in the 1940s. Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard appear as the team, with Christine McIntyre in the cast. The short came out during the period when the Stooges were among Columbia’s most popular comedy properties, with two-reelers produced at a steady pace. Its copyright was not renewed, which is why it is now in the public domain.
What to watch for
The premise is a classic Stooges setup: Shemp, a voice teacher, must marry within hours to claim an inheritance, and the trio’s scramble for a bride becomes the engine of the comedy. Watch the scenes in which the women turn the search into a mob, which produces the short’s most physical gags. McIntyre’s moment of slapping Shemp before switching to affection, once she learns he is the heir, is one of its broadest beats. The pacing is quick and the slapstick rests on the team’s familiar routines, timed in the way that defined Columbia’s two-reel comedies.
