Dizzy Pilots

{{short description|1943 film by Jules White}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Dizzy Pilots | image = Dizzypilots43LOBBY.jpg | caption = [[Lobby card]] | director = [[Jules White]] | writer = [[Clyde Bruckman]] | starring = [[Moe Howard]] [[Larry Fine]] [[Curly Howard]] [[Richard Fiske]] [[Harry Semels]] [[Al Thompson]] | cinematography = [[Benjamin H. Kline]] | editing = Charles Hochberg | producer = Jules White | studio = | distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1943|09|24|U.S.}} | runtime = {{duration|m=16|s=53}} | country = United States | language = English }} '''''Dizzy Pilots''''' is a 1943 [[short film|short subject]] directed by [[Jules White]] starring American [[slapstick]] comedy team [[The Three Stooges]] ([[Moe Howard]], [[Larry Fine]] and [[Curly Howard]]). It is the 74th entry in the series released by [[Columbia Pictures]] starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.{{#tag:ref|This is the third and final Stooge short with the word "dizzy" in the title.|group=N}}{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot== The Stooges are aviators ("the Wrong Brothers") in the Republic of Cannabeer, P.U., whose work is interrupted by an army draft notice (signed by one Joe Strubachincoscow). However, they have been deferred because of their plans for the new "Buzzard" aircraft. Their progress is stymied by a succession of mishaps.

Foremost among their problems is Moe being repeatedly immersed in quick-drying melted rubber. Curly and Larry's attempts to correct this involve hydrogen and a shotgun, culminating in Moe's aerial ascent and subsequent descent into a well. Then they try to maneuver the unwieldy aircraft out of its hangar, sending Moe skyward again and back into the liquid rubber.

They demonstrate the Buzzard to representatives of the Sky Aircraft Company, but are foiled by mechanical failures and errors. The Stooges lose control of the plane and fall into a well, drenching both themselves and the officials. This lands the Stooges in the army, where they tangle with a tough drill sergeant and finally flee from military service.

==Cast== * [[Curly Howard]] as Curly Wrong (credited as Curly) * [[Larry Fine]] as Larry Wrong (credited as Larry) * [[Moe Howard]] as Moe Wrong (credited as Moe) * [[Harry Semels]] as Sky Aircraft Co. Representative * [[Al Thompson]] as Sky Aircraft Co. Representative In footage from ''Boobs in Arms'' (1940): * [[Richard Fiske]] as Sergeant * [[Bobby Barber]] as Private * Charles Dorety as Private

==Production notes== ''Dizzy Pilots'' was filmed April 6–9, 1943.<ref name=pauley>Pauley 2012, p. 85.</ref> The boot camp segment is [[stock footage]] from 1940's ''[[Boobs in Arms]]'', with the exception of the ending shot where the Stooges escape from the base itself.<ref name=Solomon>Solomon 2002, pp. 234–235.</ref>

The gag of an aircraft being too large to take out of a hangar was reused in 1972 on ''[[The New Scooby-Doo Movies]]'' episode featuring the Stooges as guest stars ("The Ghost of the Red Baron").<ref name=Solomon/>

''Dizzy Pilots'' marks the final appearance of co-star [[Harry Semels]].<ref name=Solomon/>

==Reception== [[DVD Talk]] critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that ''Dizzy Pilots'' was the "last genuinely excellent Curly short" with "a set-up similar to ''[[Higher Than a Kite]]'' though executed infinitely better."<ref>Galbraith IV, Stuart. [http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54884/three-stooges-the-ultimate-collection-the/ "The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection."] ''DVD Talk'', July 7, 2012. Retrieved: September 5, 2013.</ref>

==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist|group=N}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * Pauley, Jim. [http://www.santamonicapress.com/index.php?page_name=threestooges&page_type=book&show=desc&hide0=excerpt&hide1=author&hide2=reviews&hide5=number5 ''The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations'']. [[Solana Beach, California]]: Santa Monica Press, 2012. {{ISBN} 978-1-59580-070-1}}. * Solomon, Jon. [https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Three-Stooges-Filmography-Companion/dp/0971186804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201570359&sr=1-1 ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'']. Glendale, California: Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002. {{ISBN|0-9711868-0-4}}. {{Refend}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0035814|Dizzy Pilots}} *[http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/74 ''Dizzy Pilots'' at threestooges.net]

[[Category:1943 films]] [[Category:The Three Stooges films]] [[Category:American aviation films]] [[Category:American black-and-white films]] [[Category:Films directed by Jules White]] [[Category:1943 comedy films]] [[Category:Military comedy films]] [[Category:Columbia Pictures short films]] [[Category:American slapstick comedy films]] [[Category:1943 English-language films]] [[Category:1943 American films]]