Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades.
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00:00So many years and is is as outstanding in so many ways as is Moe Howard
00:05Who was the leader and the orchestrator and the big brother of the Three Stooges?
00:10It's pleasure to have you with us. That was a very wonderful word Bob coming from you. I believe
00:16appreciate that I
00:18Think most people want to know other than the you know
00:21The basic questions who were the brothers and how many Curleys and we will get to them
00:24But most people want to know how the Three Stooges
00:29Stick the the peculiar
00:33Bits of you know, twirling somebody's nose and hitting him in the eye how that all started
00:39It started with me alone and the boys used to say I think this guy stays awake half the night figuring out ways to punish us
00:48and
00:50It just happened. I mean if they say something I didn't like or did something I didn't like I'd vary the things
00:56I mean I grabbed him by the nose or I hit him in the stomach or I poke him alongside of the eyes
01:00This is a slap offstage or oh, no. Oh, this is right there
01:06Right there. I mean I never
01:08They never knew which one I was going to use when I used it, you know, but I films I'm sorry
01:14I probably phrased the question wrong though. How did you come on to this? You know unique approach to comedy?
01:22Where did it start? I mean nobody sat down and wrote for you
01:26Well, Mo will hit Curly and so and so when did you discover it? Was it in a card game?
01:33Well, the poking in the eye was discovered in the card game playing contract bridge
01:38Larry claimed he had four honors when he only had three
01:41Jim proved to him that he had and Larry still insisted that he had four
01:45So Jim threw his fingers and like this
01:52Here I am here, I want more money for this
01:56Shampoo can they hide his fingers went about Oh about a half-inch deep right into Larry's eyeballs
02:02And I must have been thrilled. Oh sure. He was there with tears falling out of his eyes for a week and
02:09I struck me so funny. I leaned back within the chair and went right through a glass window the door, right?
02:17and the next
02:18the next matinee at the Paramount Theatre
02:22In Los Angeles, we were working there doing a kind of regular bought a bit less personal appearances, right?
02:29he called it and
02:30there was one line in the in the act where I said now who was the manager of this act and
02:36They both came from two different sides and both said simultaneously. I am
02:42as he said that I reached both hands like that see like this even but and
02:47And the audience left real loud and long and I said boy that stays in
02:55As many other things now if they said something
02:58That was didn't
03:00Sound right to me. I just let one fly. I don't know whether there's a smack or a crack on a fart like this
03:06You know one of those things
03:10Or another show
03:13So I say that wasn't that it wasn't planned like sitting down say look when you say this
03:18I'm gonna hit you with this or so
03:19No, no, I just did it when I felt like doing it and when I felt that they deserved it. They got it Shemp you and
03:27Larry Larry were the original theory
03:30and Shemp in
03:321932 got the opportunity to play the character knobby in the Joe Palooka pictures on the coast and and Shemp is was your brother my
03:39older brother
03:41He was two years older than I
03:44so he
03:45Was concerned about who we were going to use for a third party. So I said don't worry Shemp. This is your opportunity
03:50You go ahead. We'll get the kid brother Curly and Curly was my younger brother by five and a half years
03:57So we did we called for Curly who had been working with someone else and he came in and joined and the funny part of
04:02it was
04:03That you know Shemp had a part of the middle long on the side
04:06He always used to push it back like that. Larry had wild hair
04:11so when Curly came in I
04:14Tried to figure out how could Curly wear his hair. That would be funny
04:17He said don't worry about it. I'll be back in a half hour
04:21And he did oh and he went had a wax mustache originally you see and beautiful brown wavy hair
04:27Half hour later. He comes back with a cap and the mustache takes his hat off. He was as bald as a cue ball
04:34And I said that's wonderful. You hit him one. No, not that
04:38He was hit bad enough with that haircut, you said he was a bad study when we were talking
04:43Oh, yeah, harsh hard not as a harsh time. Yes. He
04:47This is Curly. We're talking. Yes Curly. So that whenever we were doing a scene and
04:53He forgot any of the lines
04:56instead of quitting
04:58He would go into some kind of an action on occasion
05:00He'd fall to the floor and spin around like a top until he remembered what he had to say or he do a backward
05:05kickstep sure this
05:07Some sometimes they had to cut the film because he did that so long. He could you could add a feature film
05:14He never could remember
05:16That's a hard study. That's a hard study. And how about when he would go?
05:23I did things that I felt were right to do smack poke thing
05:27But what his element he could probably break me in half with his strength, you know
05:31but the extent of his
05:33thing was
05:35or like that or
05:37Bounces for hand up and down in front of my head and I would go like that
05:40Maybe a boom like that and for that he got a bang being bang all around see that hit the hand on top of that
05:46Once he did it with a cigar
05:50See that
05:52Go around hit him on the head this box
05:56I
05:57Laughed yeah, I'm sure you left you were always hitting them and the funny part
06:01It was when people used to talk talk to us. They used to ask the other boys
06:08Ah
06:09No, they used to ask me. How does it feel? Does it hurt when they get hit Larry said?
06:15Who are you asking?
06:18You never did get it they never got you in the films I really got beat up
06:23one picture of fixing an electric wipes in the in the kitchen of this place and
06:28They were on there in another room pulling a wire, which I had the bell in my hand. They
06:34Pulled my hand through right then this went up and back from one room to the other finally
06:37I tied it around my hand like that
06:39I do remember that yeah, and they gave a pull and I went headfirst right through the wall
06:42And they had a big beam up there. It was a balsa beam
06:46You know eight by eight right came right down the back of my head see they didn't know about that
06:51It was loose up there then
06:54Well, by the way, where the hits the things the bangs were they real I mean where you oh, yes
06:59Every one of them real good and hard
07:02And we
07:03How did you get along offstage? Did you like very well, you were never letting your aggressions out or anything never?
07:09Well, don't only time I got real mad was when my partner Larry missed the show
07:14They forgot to give him a call at the hotel
07:17Wake him up. Okay, where the hits stronger next show
07:20It was in that case. It wasn't a hit in the belly with a smack across the kisser. And what was his reaction?
07:25He came into the theater backstage and he didn't realize so with the stage and the electrician that's on the board says hey
07:31Larry you're wrong
07:32He says how am I doing? He was clowning there, right?
07:35Then he saw us out there see and he came out. He says, you know, what happened to me? He said to me
07:41I said no, but I know what's gonna happen to you right now and I gave him a well
07:47You know in about a half hour later. You can still see a little five red fingers on his face
07:52He made up a lot of your stuff as you went along in the pictures
07:55Which was unheard of in the late days of films when you guys were still very popular in the early days with silence and all
08:02They did make them up as they went along. But I mean when you guys were
08:06Still big stars. You were still ad-libbing as you went along. Well, there's a cue word. You couldn't do that, you know
08:13Consistently, there was a cue word if one of the boy would say now, wait a minute
08:17That was a cue that he had thought of something funny right there rather than talk over anyone
08:22And if it wasn't funny, you got a double poke a little crack on the skull besides
08:29So that if he didn't get the laugh the action would so it didn't it never stopped, right? How many pictures did you make at all?
08:36well short pictures we made five at MGM and
08:43200 at Columbia pictures where we had a 24 year straight contract and
08:49Then we did five features at MGM and we did about ten features at Columbia
08:54Now you were an actor a single actor dramatic and comedy before the act got together. What year did you make your first picture?
09:02Well, the first film I was in was in nineteen hundred and eight
09:05Nineteen hundred and eight the Vitagraph studio in Brooklyn with Maurice Costello and names that nobody can remember now
09:10But they were star John Bunny and Flora Finch
09:12Florence Tyner Lillian Walker or Williams. Well, you're right about that. Well, yeah, I remember but they were stars of their day and
09:21Then we made I made
09:23Flores Finch maybe but it's for Finch and John Bunny repair. She was all right skinny one and he was a big fat fella
09:29anyhow
09:31Made six to real sports comedies with all onus Wagner the Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop
09:37I mean the amazing part of this is as we were sitting here before we went on
09:41We had gone through already two or three stooges
09:44On the air two or three of the the shorties and Mo in the middle of conversations. Everybody's asking him questions
09:52Would hear a cue line from Curly or somebody and you turn around and do his line
09:56He'd say well, I either take that. Yeah, then he come back and talk to you
10:00Yeah, well, you remember all of those lines. I have to tell you a cute thing
10:05You know, my wife wrote one of the one of the very excellent stories that we did called hoi polloi
10:11That was the tail end of that pictures when my kid brother Curly had a stroke
10:16But she used to come like two o'clock in the morning. She would nudge me and say honey
10:21I think this would be very funny for one of your scenes. I
10:26Said well, why are we whispering? She says I don't want to wake you up
10:30It's kind of thing, you know, and this doesn't just only happen once
10:35This is a kind of a consistent routine. This is Howard is in the studio with us by the way
10:39I told you are normal. I
10:42Don't have to answer you may know I will I will gladly on June the 19th of this year. I will be 76
10:50Well, you're the spirit of 76. You are the spirit of 76. How do you stay so young and vivacious?
10:56I mean, I know you're making this has a bad connotation. Now. You have to watch that. My wife doesn't like those kind of words
11:03No, I I
11:06Don't know. I don't know. I gave up smoking a long time ago, which I wish everybody else would do
11:12with deep apologies to the tobacco companies and
11:16I
11:18Keep an action all the time. You've never really retired. Oh, no, that's a real dirty word retired
11:24Who were some of the big stars who started their careers or who appeared as bit players in three Stooges films
11:32Lucille Ball started with us. She was in one of our comedies called three little pigskins
11:38She was a gun model in the picture and then there was Walter Brennan
11:44Who was in two films with us started with us?
11:48One was called restless nights
11:50The other one was called the first comedy we made at Columbia. It was a musical short and rhymed
11:55Called woman haters a musical short in rhyme. Yes
11:59I'm very difficult, but we did it the whole the whole picture was in line. Yes
12:04It was written by a very fine
12:07Songwriter called Archie Gottler who has since passed away and he directed the picture very well done, right?
12:13and
12:15Then there was this fella. I can't ever think of his name
12:19He was in Sahara picture called Sahara with Jay Carroll Nash
12:24He young fella. He was an Olympic man. I can never think of his name either. Honey. Do you remember it honey?
12:31mrs. Howard
12:34I'm having trouble remembering my name
12:37Yeah, we both had the same kind of a thing there. No, they keep calling me. Mr. Howard
12:42After time, I don't know who that to we're getting time cue. So I want to be sure I mean, we're not
12:48No
12:50We're doing real well
12:52But I want to be sure and tell everybody that you will be appearing live at the John Budd
12:58Walt Whitman Theatre, which is in Pensacola, New Jersey
13:02The Saturday and Sunday two shows in the afternoon both days 12 noon and 2 p.m
13:07And of course, there'll be cartoons and three stooges films and so forth for the kids and one evening show each night
13:13What time's the evening show? Do you know?
13:16715 one evening show
13:19What's the name of that handsome fella out there with a little mustache
13:23Handsome fella out there Paul Cotty Paul Cotty. I did want to say
13:29Hello to Paul jr. And Jeffrey
13:32Because they're buddies of mine and quite some nice fans and I appreciate it very much. Okay, Paul, okay
13:38I don't think you know how many fans you have by the way
13:41I mean our mail on the stooges is just unbelievable
13:45I'm sure it's
13:47It's five times anything else on the station and it's not
13:51strictly
13:53Youngsters, it's nice. You know, it's there's a big college following you do college concerts, don't you?
13:58Yes, is that what you call them concerts? Well, I don't I call them appearances. I I just tell them I
14:05I'm used to working with a fellow on each side of me and it says anybody would like to offer their services
14:10They can come up here
14:11Don't go
14:14Well, suppose I had offered to come up, all right, I gave you two lines to say
14:21For instance I do a gag with you with three wristwatches
14:25And you would say what's the idea of wearing three wristwatches say it what's the idea of wearing three wristwatches?
14:32Well, that's how I tell the time you say, how do you tell it? How do you tell the time?
14:35It's very simple
14:36You see the one on this end runs 10 minutes slow every four hours
14:40The one on this end runs 20 minutes fast every six hours. The one in the middle is broken to stop the two o'clock
14:46Will you say how did you how do you tell the time? Well, then how do you tell the time?
14:50Well, I take the 10 minutes on this end and divide it by the 20 minutes on this end
14:55No, I'm sorry
14:56I take the 10 minutes on this end and subtract it from the 20 minutes on this end and
15:00Divide by the two in the middle and you say what time is it now? What time is it now?
15:05I
15:09Miss that last cue do we have to go?
15:12We have another minute. What's your favorite three stooges film?
15:16All time, but what's what's the best that you and the other fellas consider?
15:20I can only I can only give my consideration of which is and there are three one where I played Hitler in you nasty spy
15:26the other one called slippery silks and
15:29The other one was called micro phonies
15:31Well, we're having a three stooges festival on May the 27th at 830 in the evening
15:37That's a Sunday night, right? Sunday night, May 27th. We started 830. We're gonna try and include those if we can
15:43More I want to thank you very very much
15:45It's been a pleasure visiting with us today
15:47I know it's been a great thrill for everybody out there and it has for me. I really have because you are a kind. I don't
15:53There's patronizing or anything. You are a legend and
15:56Patronizing or anything? You are a legend and in your own way a comedic genius and and it's a very fine
16:03And I didn't want to say if I had forgotten to say it before
16:07Philadelphia has been exceptionally kind to the three stooges over the many years
16:12Pleasure to be here. Thank you. Got a hell of a nice crew, too