HIGHER THAN A KITE (1943) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released July 30, 1943
Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly

Columbia
17.5 min. (Short Subject)

The Stooges join the RAF hoping to fly, but wind up as motor pool mechanics instead. After they destroy a Colonel's car, they hide in a "sewer pipe" which is actually a blockbuster bomb being loaded onto a plane. After the bomb is dropped behind enemy lines, Moe and Curly disguise themselves as German soldiers, while Larry dresses as a seductive (?) senorita. Marshal Boring falls for Larry in drag, as the Stooges plot to steal the Germans' war plans.

Avg. Rating:

[9.08/10]

Cast List

Moe Howard
Moe

Larry Fine
Larry

Jerry Howard
Curly

Duke York
Kelly

Dick Curtis
General Bommel

Vernon Dent
Marshall Boring

George Gray
Nazi soldier

Johnny Kascier
Nazi soldier

Joe Garcio
Nazi soldier

Unidentified HIGHER THAN A KITE 1
Flight ground crew

Unidentified HIGHER THAN A KITE 2
Nazi soldiers

Production Crew

Del Lord
Producer

Hugh McCollum
Producer

Del Lord
Director

Monte Collins
Story and Screenplay

Elwood Ullman
Story and Screenplay

Benjamin Kline
Director of Photography

Paul Borofsky
Film Editor

Victor Greene
Art Director

Stooge Businesses (0)

Stooge Goofs (14)

Car Window
When Kelly walks up to the car, the window on the passenger's door is closed, but when Kelly gets in the car, the window is suddenly open.

Changing Order
As the Stooges are climbing out of the hole in the ground, Larry crushes Moe's face while leaning on him to get out of the hole, and Moe grunts "I'll moider you when I get out of this! Then the camera cuts to the next shot, and Moe is suddenly out of the hole before Larry.

Crowbar Change
After Curly uses the forked end of the crowbar to get Moe out of the pipe and fails, Curly begins using the other straight end of the crowbar. The camera shows Moe yelling inside the pipe as the straight end of the crowbar keeps hitting him on the face, then it shows Curly and Larry yanking the crowbar, and when it shows Moe in the pipe again, the forked end of the crowbar is pressing up against his face! Weren't they just using the straight end of the crowbar?

Disappearing Hat
When Moe looks in the exhaust pipe, his hat is on. Then the camera shows a quick shot of Curly stepping on the gas in the car, and when it cuts back to Moe, his hat is suddenly gone.

Early Soot Stain
Right before the engine blows soot in Moe's eyes, you can see the area around Moe's eyes isalready blackened.

Jump in Picture
A noticeable jump cut in the film when Kelly's car runs the Stooges over.

Magically Disappearing Pin
As Curly is trying to bite open the hand grenade with the pin in it, the camera cuts to the next shot and suddenly, the pin has already pulled out of the grenade.

Moe's Hands
When Larry and Curly try to heat off the pipe on Moe's head, Moe has his hands on the pipe, but in the next shot his hands aren't on the pipe, then in the next shot, his hands are back on the pipe again.

Mouthing the Same Line
When Larry says "Maybe they're droppin' the pipe in the ditch, Curly mouths that line at the same time.

Right or Left?
When Curly and Larry twist Moe out of the pipe, they are turning him towards the right, but when the camera shows a close-up of Moe's head in the pipe, he's suddenly being turned to the left.

The Bending Crowbar
Curly has trouble opening the hood on the car. He picks up a crow-bar and tries to pry open the hood. The crow-bar bends back and forth in his hands. It must be made of rubber because he gets hit with it a few moments later.

Unintentional Hit
When Marshall Boring (Vernon Dent) comes riding into town on his scooter, as he stops on the curb, Dent accidentally elbows Dick Curtis...well...below his belly!

Visible Wire
When Larry lifts the car hood off of Curly's arms, you can see the wire pulling it up.

Wrong Sound Effect
When Moe pokes Curly in the eyes, we hear a honking sound effect instead of the usual "plunk sound effect. Either the sound effects men mistakenly thought that Moe hit Curly's nose instead of poked him the eye, or maybe since this is one of the first Stooge shorts to use a sound effect for the eyepokes, they were still working on different variations for the sound effects before settling on the plunk.

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 5.25)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2007-12-06 18:04:23 by benjilbum
Edited 2013-08-27 20:46:38 by benjilbum

Hey Slipp, I consider this one and Dizzy Pilots sort of companion films. They are both military in nature, and both involve Curly and Larry getting Moe out of a horrible situation, and continuously making things worse in the process. And after all, isn't that what they do best? Larry has an expanded part here which I like a lot. What are "sawdust frankfurters"?

Reviewer's Rating:

(10)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2010-05-12 01:27:06 by Shemp_Diesel

What does a navigator do; a navigator crawls in a swamp until it becomes a suitcase.

3 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(7)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2010-02-26 20:03:34 by [Deleted Member]

It's easy to give "Higher Than A Kite" four eye pokes. Excellent from beginning to end, but my favorite is the garage scene. Moe's troubles are hilarious, but Curly takes the brass ring here when he battles with the hood of the car.

Reviewer's Rating:

(10)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-08-23 00:08:00 by Stooge
Edited 2003-07-01 03:17:00 by Stooge

A good short, especially the first half with the garage scenes. Moe with his head stuck in the pipe and Larry and Curly's endless and painful attempts to get him are are hilarious. I also like Larry as "Moronica".[b]Poionts of Interest:[/b]- The only Stooge film where Duke York shows up minus the monster make-up.- Several behind the scenes pictures from this short have the Stooges dressed up as soldiers with Hitler moustaches, but that was never actually in the film itself. Must've been a scene that wounded up on the cutting room floor.

Reviewer's Rating:

(9)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-10-27 01:40:00 by Mike Holme

Forget the technicalities unless they are huge. Like for example, the movie "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" takes place in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge is shown. The Golden Gate bridge wasn't built until 1937 but "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" is still one of the best movies of all time. Now for this short. This was a classic short with tons of hilarious gags. 4 pokes

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-10-04 10:39:00 by Genius In the Lamp

Overall, a very funny short. The whole garage bit was hilarious, as was the boys' escapades with the Nazis. There were some minor flaws. Dick Curtis fails badly in his attempts at a German accent, and the Foley men were a bit sloppy. And how did that U.S. Marine bulldog get behind enemy lines? These are minor quibbles; this is still an entertaining short.

Reviewer's Rating:

(9)

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-08-17 05:06:00 by [Deleted Member]

What "Moe" can a fella say that hasn't already been said? I think Larry probably had the best line- "What lap?"I tend to get the garage scenes in this short mixed up with the garage scene in "Dizzy Pilots." Probably because in both of these scenes, Larry and Curly get Moe out of a tough jam. Does anyone else have this trouble?ISLIPP- you SLAPP. ©2001

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-05-20 13:30:00 by sickdrjoe

One of those two-part shorts. Part 1 (Stooges in the motor pool) is a priceless clinic in big time, fun-for-the-whole-family PAIN. Moe is at his funniest and most hostile; the punishment he inflicts is almost as hilarious as the hate-faces he makes while inflicting it. Then he gets HIS, as Larry & Curly attempt to free his trapped head from a tunnel-pipe - "Oh no not that!!" It's scenes like this that are the whole reason I watch the Stooges. (That said, the one type of effect they never did convincingly is extreme violence to the mouth area; any time a gag calls for crowbars in the mouth, or even hard mop-handle shots to the teeth, the movement is too slow to convince and the sound fx poorly synched. Mind you, I'm not suggesting these guys should have busted their bridgework for their Art, but maybe if the film was slightly speeded up, the bit would sell easier.) Part 2 is Stooges vs Nazis behind enemy lines; funny stuff, but it can't compete with Moe twisting Larry's nose into ruined cartilege with a spanner!

Re: HIGHER THAN A KITE
Posted 2001-03-31 13:22:00 by NicktoBarada

I really love this short. Best part is "Moronica," the fetching lady with the tutti-frutti hat (Larry). I used this clip for a project at school about the art of comedy (what better place to look than the stooges?) My whole class loved it.

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Prod. No.:	568
Shooting Days:	5 days From: 1943-02-20 To: 1943-02-25

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