Make 'Em Laugh (The Funny Business of America)
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Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly Joe
87 min. (Feature Film)
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).
Joe DeRita
Curly Joe
Moe Howard
Moe
Larry Fine
Larry
Don Lamond
Narrator / Radio announcer
Marjorie Eaton
Mrs. McGinnis
Emil Sitka
Prof. Danforth
Norman Leavitt
Williams
Carol Christensen
Carol Danforth
Edson Stroll
Capt. Tom Andrews
Rayford Barnes
Zogg
Nestor Paiva
Martian Chairman
Guy Way
Martian Council Member
Hubie Kerns
Martian Council Member
Maurice Manson
Mr. Lansing
Thomas Glynn
George Galveston
Mel Blanc
Feathers, voice
Roy Engel
Agent Welby
Jane Wald
Bathing girl
Cheerio Meredith
Woman in TV commercial
Peter Dawson
General Bixby
Don Lamond
Colonel Smithers
Bill Dyer
Colonel Lane
Paul Bradley
Air Force officer
Duane Ament
Air Force messenger
Rusty Wescoatt
Mess cook
Guy Way
Air Force jeep driver
Hubie Kerns
Air Force jeep passenger
Peter Brocco
Doctor Appleby
Harold Miller
Naval officer at AEC test
George DeNormand
Army officer at AEC test
Cosmo Sardo
AEC official
Paul Power
AEC official
Murray Pollack
Man at AEC test
George N. Neise
Airline pilot
Rayford Barnes
Airline co-pilot
Jean Charney
WAF Sergeant
Mickey Martin
Moe's stand-in
Charles Cross
Larry's stand-in
Bill Chaney
Curly Joe's stand-in
Bill Dyer
utility stand-in
Unidentified THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT 2
Air Force officers
Unidentified THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT 3
AEC officials
Norman Maurer
Producer
Edward Bernds
Director
Sidney Miller
Director, stock footage
Norman Maurer
Story
Elwood Ullman
Story and Screenplay
William E. Whitley
Director of Photography
Hal A. McAlpin
Photography, stock footage
Emil Oster
Camera Operator
Nelson Cording
Camera Operator, stock footage
Albert Bettcher
Assistant Cameraman
Owen Marsh
Asst. Cameraman, stock footage
Albert Scheving
Asst. Cameraman, stock footage
Edwin Bryant
Film Editor
Chuck Gladden
Film Editor, stock footage
James M. Falkinburg
Supervising Sound Editor
Charles J. Rice
Sound Supervisor
William Bernds
Sound
Harry Foy
Sound Recording
George H. Anderson
Sound Recording
Leon Leon
Sound Recording, stock footage
Doug Grant
Assistant Sound Recording
Larry Golding
Asst. Sound Recording, stock footage
Don Ament
Art Director
Richard Mansfield
Set Decorator
Frank Lombardo
Set Decorator, stock footage
Paul Dunlap
Original Music
Stanley Styne
Lyrics
George Duning
Music, stock footage
Jack Angel
Costumes, stock footage
Frank McCoy
Makeup
Ted Coodley
Makeup, stock footage
Peggy MacDonald
Hair Stylist
Eddie Saeta
Assistant Director
Harry Slott
Asst. Director, stock footage
Burt Astor
2nd Assistant Director
Dave Marks
2nd Asst. Director, stock footage
Eylla Jacobs
Script Supervisor
Joe Franklin
Script Supervisor, stock footage
Clarence Peet
Props
Ed Goldstein
Props
Chick Chichetti
Property Master, stock footage
Mel Sternlight
Asst. Propman, stock footage
Les Gaunt
Key Grip
Tex Hayes
Grip, stock footage
Fred Pastoue
2nd Grip, stock footage
James R. Field
Gaffer
Robert Petzoldt
Electrical, stock footage
Jim Burnett
Boom, stock footage
Bobby Sharp
Crab Operator, stock footage
Bill Kane
Best Boy, stock footage
Sascha Brastoff
Special Effects, stock footage
Homer Van Pelt
Still Photographer
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