RUMPUS IN THE HAREM (1956) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released June 21, 1956
Featuring Moe, Larry and Shemp

Columbia
16 min. (Short Subject)

The Stooges discover that their girls will be sold into slavery if they don't come up with money within a few days. Working at their restaurant, trying to figure a way to save their sweethearts, opportunity knocks at the door. They discover there's a big reward for recovering the recently stolen Rootin-Tootin Diamond. The thief: The Emir of Shmow. So they disguise as Santa Clauses and invade the Emir of Shmow's palace to recover the diamond.

A remake of MALICE IN THE PALACE (1949), with stock footage. Joe Palma doubles for Shemp in new footage.

The girlfriends are named 'Reba,' 'Sheba' and 'Heba,' but which actress plays which character is not specified.

Avg. Rating:

[2.79/10]

Cast List

Shemp Howard
Shemp

Moe Howard
Moe

Larry Fine
Larry

Joe Palma
'Fake Shemp'

Ruth Godfrey
Girlfriend

Diana Darrin
Girlfriend

Helen Jay
Girlfriend

Vernon Dent
Hassen Ben Sober

George J. Lewis
Ghinna Rumma

Frank Lackteen
Haffa Dalla

Johnny Kascier
Emir of Schmow

Suzanne Ridgeway
Harem girl

Harriette Tarler
Harem girl

Everett Brown
Nubian guard

Unidentified RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Nubian guards

Production Crew

Jules White
Producer

Jules White
Director

Felix Adler
Story

Jack White
Screenplay

Felix Adler
Screenplay, stock footage

Ray Cory
Director of Photography

Vincent Farrar
Photography, stock footage

Harold White
Film Editor

Edwin Bryant
Film Editor, stock footage

Ross Bellah
Art Director

Charles Clague
Art Director, stock footage

Willard Sheldon
Assistant Director

Mischa K. Bakaleinikoff
Music

Eddie DeLange
Music

Marlin Skiles
Music

Saul Chaplin
Music

Stooge Businesses (0)

Stooge Goofs (3)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 8.75)

Stooge Quotes (2)

Stooge Routines (8)

Breakfast
When the Stooges are asleep, somebody says "Breakfast!" and the Stooges instantly wake up.
Also used in: UP IN DAISY'S PENTHOUSE ·
Chef chasing dog past customer
In a cafe, a chef runs out of the kitchen chasing a dog past a customer sitting at a table, who is waiting for hot dogs. The customer gets the wrong idea and thinks that the cafe's hot dogs are made out of real dogs.
Also used in: PLAYING THE PONIES · MALICE IN THE PALACE ·
Clothes under pajamas
After the Stooges wake up in the morning, they take off their pajamas and reveal that they already have their clothes on under it.
Also used in: DIZZY DOCTORS · ROCKIN' THRU THE ROCKIES · CACTUS MAKES PERFECT · MONKEY BUSINESSMEN · UP IN DAISY'S PENTHOUSE · GOOF ON THE ROOF · HAVE ROCKET -- WILL TRAVEL
Disguising as a tall man
The Stooges disguise as one tall man by standing on each other's shoulders inside of a big jacket, with one Stooge on top with his head sticking out of top the jacket.
Also used in: HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND DUMB · DUTIFUL BUT DUMB · MALICE IN THE PALACE ·
Flip a Piece of Fruit in Their Mouth
An opera tenor is stopped from singing by the Stooges flipping grapes/cherries/etc ... OR ... the Stooges flip a bowl of fruit at a palace guard, who gets splatted with the fruit and also gets a banana in the mouth.
Also used in: PARDON MY SCOTCH · MICRO-PHONIES · MALICE IN THE PALACE · MUSTY MUSKETEERS ·
Mistaking a shadow of blinds on the wall for a window
A Stooge sees a shadow of blinds on a wall and, thinking it's an actual window, tries to jump out of it and bangs his head on the wall.
Also used in: SCRAMBLED BRAINS ·
Terrific headache, A
When the Stooges are trying to come up with an idea, either Larry or the third Stooge exclaims "I got it! I got it!" Moe excitedly asks "What?!", and the Stooge responds "A terrific headache!"
Also used in: IN THE SWEET PIE AND PIE · BEER BARREL POLECATS · FIDDLERS THREE · TRICKY DICKS · MUSTY MUSKETEERS ·
Who came in?
Somebody refers to the Stooges as gentlemen, and the Stooges respond by asking "Who came in?" and looking behind them.
Also used in: WE WANT OUR MUMMY · YOU NAZTY SPY! · MONKEY BUSINESSMEN · MALICE IN THE PALACE · SPOOKS! · SPACE SHIP SAPPY

Stooge Trivia (1)

Fan Reviews (9)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2008-11-09 00:03:04 by The 4th Stooge

Well, Moe and Larry were certainly better people than I could've been. Contract or no, let a fella get some damn grieving time! The worst parts of these "Fake Shemps", was, as others have mentioned, the overuse of Shemp's name. Okay, the audience saw that Shemp is in the credits, so give them a little credit and stop repeating his name so many times.I don't know where I read it, but I think I remember Jules White mentioning that Columbia didn't pay all that much attention to the shorts department, which meant that White could put out shorts like this in a matter of hours, and Columbia would sell (rent?) them to the theatres. Nice work if you can get it. Even worse than Palma/Shemp is the new guard. The guy was much younger, much smaller, and didn't even act as hysterically angry as the first one. This is a definite one-poker.

Reviewer's Rating:

(2)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2001-08-16 04:29:00 by Stooge
Edited 2008-06-16 09:14:12 by Stooge

This is the first remake after Shemp's death, so they had Joe Palma replace Shemp in the new footage. This was horrible. The new scenes are extremely lame, and the whole idea of the Palma/double thing was doomed from the very start. I hate how they had to come up with lame excuses for Shemp's absence in scenes, and it was just plain silly to see some guy shown from the back, hunched over and dressed up as Shemp, but never saying anything. The ultimate low-point of this short was at the end where Palma jumps out the window, he yells in his regular voice and that really ruined it because he doesn't sound a thing like Shemp!

Reviewer's Rating:

(1)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2007-07-08 10:09:31 by FourthThird
Edited 2007-07-21 14:41:55 by FourthThird

Ah, yes, the Shempless Shemp shorts... as if the previous shorts that heavily recycled old footage weren't bad enough. Of course, back when people only saw these in the theater and couldn't re-watch and scrutinize them like we can now, the whole Palma stand-in thing probably succeeded in fooling a lot of viewers. I think it says something about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of Palma's "Shemping", though, that its use sharply and consistently decreased over the course of the 4 shorts. Overall, I don't feel Palma deserves much credit OR blame for the whole thing.

What's really sad, though, is that said "Shemping" isn't even the worst thing about these shorts. The worst thing is the overuse of Shemp's name in the new footage, making the whole pretense all the more obvious and unconvincing. Moe had to say stuff like "Where's that chowderhead Shemp?", when in the past he would have just said, "Where's that other chowderhead?" That had to have been excruciating for him.

And, as has been pointed out, the excuse for Shemp not being in the first scene (the note saying he went down to the restaurant early) is really lame. Anybody have any ideas as to how they could have handled that better?

-- Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum (aka Teddy Hoosevelt)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2006-03-27 14:00:30 by shemps#1
Edited 2006-03-27 14:01:22 by shemps#1

The first of four shorts "featuring" Shemp as the third Stooge that were produced after his death(hence the label Shemp A.D.), Rumpus In The Harem is comprised of mostly reused footage from Malice In The Palice. Character actor Joe Palma stands in for Shemp in a couple of new scenes, usually in a crouched position and always with his back to the camera. As for the new footage, it comes off completely flat with nary a laugh to be had. Moe and Larry look absolutely spent and appear as though they are just going through the paces. If Harry Cohn and the other suits at Columbia actually had hearts and were not so money hungry I doubt these four shorts would have been made. I consider these four shorts to be Columbia's ultimate "middle finger" to The Three Stooges, and have no business being considered full entries in the Shemp Era. This, by the way, is quite possibly the weakest of the Shemp A.D. shorts (if there can be such a thing).My Rating: Bomb

Reviewer's Rating:

(0)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2002-06-20 17:16:00 by jaronson

Just plain bad. Having those Harem girls beating up Moe and Larry for no reason was plain dumb. At least the chase scene was okay. The only short worse than this is COMMOTION ON THE OCEAN.Grade: D-

Reviewer's Rating:

(2)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2002-01-28 21:06:00 by Shemp_Diesel

All of the Palma episodes sucked, but this is extremely crappy. And to think after screening this Columbia would have Moe and Larry make 3 more. The boys certainly deserved better.1 poke to Moe & Larry for enduring this mess.

Reviewer's Rating:

(1)

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2001-10-13 03:25:00 by curleyQ

Ok. First I have this video with another A D shemp remake(Scheming Schemers). Scheming wasn't as bad, this one has Joe Palma using his own voice to jump out the window, which is silly. They could of used a shemp voice track, like they did in other shots. Then in the original when they captured the diamond from the earl of schmo he stood in the fountain. What did he do in the remake.....nothing. Then you had the different gaurds also in the remake, and they used some of the audio footage at the end "I'll Kill You!!!" was the track voice. What happened to the original gaurd? Guess they were still under contract to finish the shorts. Great website any other stooge fans I want to hear from you. Only 1 1/2 pokes.

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2001-06-14 04:42:00 by 1985

This is the first short where they have to use Joe Palma to stand in for Shemp.He died Tuesday night November 22,1955 from a heart attack and Moe and Larry still needed him so they hire Joe to stand in for him until they could replace him.On the first part of the Short when Shemp left Moe and Larry a note saying he was at the resterant is telling you Shemp isn't in the short and why the Hell did Joe yell out his real voice when they jumped out of the window?That didn't sound a damn thing like Shemp That sounded like a man screaming like a girl!!!!

Re: RUMPUS IN THE HAREM
Posted 2001-06-02 00:37:00 by Mike Holme

I thought this one was bad too, the new scenes were extremely weak and cheaply done, the new ending was ruined because Joe Palma had to speak his normal voice. The only plus is the chase scene which was just okay, and that the new footage is consistant, but that doesn't save this one from being a 1 poker!1 pokeMike HolmeEdited by - Mike Holme on 8/22/01 11:27:35 PMEdited by - Mike Holme on 10/21/2001 12:02:24 PM

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Working Title(s):	DIAMOND DAFFY
Prod. No.:	4244
Shooting Days:	1 days From: 1956-01-10 To: 1956-01-10

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