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Pardon My Scotch
Pardon My Scotch
Directed by	Del Lord
Written by	Andrew Bennison
Produced by	Jules White
Starring	Moe Howard; Larry Fine; Curly Howard; Nat Carr; James C. Morton; Billy Gilbert; Gladys Gale; Al Thompson; Symona Boniface
Cinematography	George Meehan
Edited by	James Sweeney
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	August 1, 1935 (U.S.);
Running time	18:39
Country	United States
Language	English

Pardon My Scotch is a 1935 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the ninth entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who appeared in 190 shorts at the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges, long-standing carpenters, find themselves assuming temporary stewardship of a drugstore in the absence of its proprietor who departs to negotiate the acquisition of copious quantities of alcohol consequent to the cessation of Prohibition. An unexpected encounter with a liquor supplier prompts the trio to concoct a libation using an eclectic array of medicines and chemicals, inadvertently resulting in a potent elixir blended with a Wellington boot.

The ensuing chemical reaction, formidable in its potency, manifests as the concoction effortlessly dissolves a wicker chair utilized as an improvised sieve. Despite its unconventional composition, the libation garners favor with the salesman, misconstrued as Scotch, prompting him to entreat the Stooges to masquerade as Scotsmen and attend a soirée at his employer's residence.

Following a sequence featuring a spirited, raucous Highland Fling dance and a tumultuous dinner, the centerpiece of the event unfolds with the presentation of the barrel containing the formidable "scotch" brew. The Stooges' clumsy attempt to tap the barrel precipitates a catastrophic explosion, engulfing the assembled guests in a deluge of foam.

Cast

Credited

Moe Howard as Moe
Larry Fine as Larry
Curly Howard as Curly
Nat Carr as Mr. Martin
James C. Morton as J. T. Walton^[1]

Uncredited

Al Thompson as Mr. Jones
Gladys Gale as Mrs. Walton
Billy Gilbert as Signor Louis Balero Cantino
Barlowe Borland as Scotsman from Loch Lomond
Symona Boniface as Larry's dinner companion
Alec Craig as Short bagpiper
Scotty Dunsmuir as Tall bagpiper^[1]

Production notes

Pardon My Scotch was filmed on April 11–15, 1935,^[1] sixteen months after the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which ended the American experiment with Prohibition. This event is an integral part of the storyline, with the drugstore owner (Al Thompson) frantically attempting to lay in a stock of liquor in anticipation of the imminent end of Prohibition.^[2]

The title Pardon My Scotch parodies the expression "Pardon my French."^[2] The term "Scotch" for "Scottish" is now considered impolite, although "Scotch" as a type of whiskey is still acceptable.

Pardon My Scotch is the first Stooge film to employ "Listen to the Mocking Bird" as the Stooges' official theme song, as arranged by Louis Silvers. It would be used up to and including 1939's Three Little Sew and Sews.^[2]

The gag of tossing fruit into a singer's open mouth was reused in the 1945 film Micro-Phonies.^[2]

When the liquor supplier prepares to consume the Stooges' volatile concoction, they wish him well in a triad pattern saying "Over the river," "Skip the gutter," and concluding with "Ver gerharget," a Yiddish expression meaning "get killed"^[2] or "drop dead."^[3]

The scene where the Stooges perform while the bagpipes played was featured in the film Daddy Day Care (2003).

Moe's injury

During the opening scene where the boys are assembling a door, Moe asks Curly to saw a piece of wood for him. Curly lays the wood on top of a wooden table, which Moe happens to be standing on. Curly then proceeds to buzzsaw both the wood and table in half, with the table splitting in two. However, the table split inward on Moe's half of it, and Moe came crashing down on his left side, breaking three ribs. He was able to pull himself up and deliver a double slap to Larry and Curly before collapsing. Moe was then rushed to the hospital while production ceased briefly.^[4] In his 1977 autobiography Moe Howard and the Three Stooges (later published as I Stooged to Conquer), Moe incorrectly identified the film in which this injury occurred as Beer and Pretzels.^[4]

The opening scene footage was reused in 1943 at the start of Dizzy Detectives.^[2]