THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962) (original) (raw)

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While rehearsing a new opening bit for their children's television program THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK, Moe, Larry and Curly Joe are evicted by their landlady for cooking in the rooming house. Searching for a new apartment, the Stooges travel to Professor Danforth's (Emil Sitka) house in Lompoc. Professor Danforth is convinced that Martians will soon invade Earth, and persuades the boys to help him guard his new invention... a military craft with the ability to move on the ground like a tank, in the air like a helicopter, in the water like a submarine, and even orbit like a spacecraft. Danforth's butler is a Martian spy in human disguise, and he attempts, successfully, to frighten the Stooges away. Fleeing to their television studio, the Stooges learn that their ratings are falling, and the producer doesn't care for any of their new animation ideas. He gives them 10 days to come up with a ratings gimmick, or he'll cancel the show. Danforth arrives on the scene with a deal: he'll create a new "electronic animation" machine for them to use in their TV show, if they return to his house and help with the helio-tank invention. Meanwhile, the Martians have sent two more spies, Ogg and Zogg, to prepare for the invasion. After Danforth's vehicle is finished and given a test run by the Stooges, the Martians steal it and mount their own "ray gun,", to destroy selected Earth targets. The Stooges sneak onto the craft and attempt to stop the Martians!

Most of the first two reels of the film is stock footage, taken from THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (1960) television pilot. Filmed in color, footage was printed in black & white and reused for ORBIT. However, due to plot, character and casting revisions, virtually every scene with Emil Sitka (Prof. Danforth) is new, not stock footage.

Among the silent film footage shown in a scene with the martians is a clip from the Billy Bevan comedy BE REASONABLE (1921). Portions of the martian attack on Los Angeles is stock footage from EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956 Columbia).

Costars Edson Stroll (McHALE'S NAVY) and Carol Christensen were interviewed in 2003, appearing in The Three Stooges Journal # 108 (Winter 2003).

Avg. Rating: [6.83/10]

No audio files are available for this episode.

There isn't a transcript available for this episode.

• Camera error
  In the scene where Prof. Danforth's daughter is introduced, after she leaves, the camera is about to fade-out too early when there's still a few seconds left in the scene, so the fade-out stops.

• Change in location
  When Galveston says "I just want something different from ordinary cartoons", Prof. Danforth is walking away from behind him, but he's already behind the Stooges suddenly in the next shot.

• Cut off
  After Galveston says "It's gonna be the end of the trail", he opens his mouth and is about to say something else, but it suddenly cuts to the next scene.

• Repeated shot
  When the two MP soldiers about to crash straight into a bookstore, the camera shows a brief shot of the bookstore and the camera begins to rise up for some reason at the end. This is because that shot was reused from a few minutes earlier when the Stooges were about to crash the helicopter-tank-submarine into the same bookstore but flew above it at the last minute.

• Sound effect error
  Each time Moe slaps Larry on the head during the echo scene, the slap sound effects come in too late.

Stooge Mayhem is not available for this episode.

• "What'a'ya usually do when somebody mails you a bomb?!" "I mail it back!"
  (Moe and Curly Joe)

• "You're headin' for the General!" "Look out, you'll knock 'im on his brass!"
  (Curly Joe & Larry)

• "I don't know whether to call it a seagoing-helio-tank, a landgoing-helio-sub, or an airborne-what-in-hell..."
  (Emil Sitka)

• "I think we're being followed." "Maybe we'll get a ticket." "Can you get one for my friend?"
  (Larry & Curly Joe)

• "They're gonna blow up the whole world!" "Ooh, they can't do that... we won't get our Social Security."
  (Larry & Curly Joe)

• I don't think; I KNOW!
  The exchange usually goes like this:STOOGE A: Do you think you can do it?STOOGE B: I don't think; I know!STOOGE A: I don't think you know, either!
  Also used in: RUSTY ROMEOS · JERKS OF ALL TRADES

• I'll do it when I'm ready!
  Moe orders one of the other Stooges to do something, but they bravely yell back "I'll do it when I'm ready!" Moe then asks "Are ya ready?", and then the Stooge meekly says "Yeah, I'm ready..."
  Also used in: MEN IN BLACK · 3 DUMB CLUCKS · WE WANT OUR MUMMY · I CAN HARDLY WAIT · WHO DONE IT? · PLANE NUTS ·

• I'll make a note of it!
  After Moe threatens to murder one of the other two Stooges, they respond "I'll make a note of it!"
  Also used in: CASH AND CARRY · THREE SAPPY PEOPLE · DIZZY DETECTIVES · PARDON MY CLUTCH · THREE HAMS ON RYE ·

• Needle Points Halfway, The
  This Stooge routine involves a Stooge (usually Moe) wondering how much gas they have left in the vehicle tank. Another Stooge then quips, "The needle is pointing halfway. I don't know if it's half-empty or half-full".
  Also used in: FALSE ALARMS · DIZZY PILOTS · SOUP TO NUTS · THE NEW 3 STOOGES · KOOK'S TOUR

• Sharing a bed with a monster
  The third Stooge thinks he's sharing a bed with Larry, but it turns out to be a villian dressed up as a monster. After fighting with the villian over the blankets, the third Stooge realizes that it's not Larry.
  Also used in: THE HOT SCOTS · SCOTCHED IN SCOTLAND ·

• What'd he say?
  When somebody mumbles something hard to understand, Moe asks one of the other Stooges "What'd he say?", and the Stooge responds by imitating the mumble exactly.
  Also used in: HOLD THAT LION! · SCRAMBLED BRAINS · LOOSE LOOT · OUTER SPACE JITTERS · JERKS OF ALL TRADES

• Call sheets indicate that interior scenes were filmed at Producers Studio on North Bronson Avenue in Los Angeles.
  Added by garystooge on 2024-05-03 16:16:33
  Status: Confirmed

Re: THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT, THE
Posted 2011-01-22 23:48:09 by diddymuck

I hope someone other than just me noticed...When the boys are piloting the vessel over a body of water, they look at the video monitor which is positioned above them while they occupy the bottom right corner. Larry says "hey look, water!" Curly Joe: "yeah, BLUE water!" Then all three do a chorus of the Hamm's Beer theme song. "Nya Nya Nya Nyaaaa....sky blue waaAAAAAAH-TERRRRR!" That's right. The Three Stooges were the inspiration for Mystery Science Theater 3000. And that's the truth.

Re: THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT, THE
Posted 2008-10-13 00:14:33 by falsealarms
Edited 2008-10-13 00:20:43 by falsealarms

Sure, this isn't as good as their classic shorts. But it's a fun way to spend an hour and a half. The opening scene in the apartment was very good, as were the scenes in the TV studio, in the garage, and the shower scenes where the craft was chasing after Curly Joe and the woman next door. The pop culture references were interesting too - i.e The Twist, Disneyland, the toothpaste commercial. Moe mentioning the idea of a mail bomb caught my ears. He did it towards the end of the movie. The love angle between the daughter and Captain Andrews didn't add much to the movie and could have been left out.Anyone comparing their 60's movies to their shorts will be letdown, but taken as its own entity, it's not bad at all. The Sci-Fi genre has grown by leaps and bounds since 1962, so it's excusable if certain things in here look a little primitive.A solid 3 stars.

Reviewer's Rating: (8)

Re: THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT
Posted 2001-10-23 01:03:00 by Mike Holme

This is a good effort, but there are better stooge films out there(ex: "Three Stooges Meet Hercules" and "The Outlaws Is Coming!"). Curly-Joe does get a few good one-liners as Shemp D. mentioned, but some parts seem a bit childish like the martian plot and also the cartoon sub-plot helps in the childishness. The boyfriend/girlfriend plot appears at its stupidest in this one because at least the relationships in "Three Stooges Meet Hercules" and "The Outlaws Is Coming!" fit with the plot. I thought the best part of this film were the scenes in which the stooges are in the garage with the machine.3 pokesEdited by - Mike Holme on 1/5/2002 1:45:46 AM

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