Dizzy Pilots


Dizzy Pilots is a 1943 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 74th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges are aviators in the Republic of Cannabeer, P.U., whose work is interrupted by an army draft notice. However, they have been deferred because of their plans for the new "Buzzard" aircraft. Their progress is stymied by a succession of mishaps.
Foremost among their problems is Moe being repeatedly immersed in quick-drying melted rubber. Curly and Larry's attempts to correct this involve hydrogen and a shotgun, culminating in Moe's aerial ascent and subsequent descent into a well. Then they try to maneuver the unwieldy aircraft out of its hangar, sending Moe skyward again and back into the liquid rubber.
They demonstrate the Buzzard to representatives of the Sky Aircraft Company, but are foiled by mechanical failures and errors. The Stooges lose control of the plane and fall into a well, drenching both themselves and the officials. This lands the Stooges in the army, where they tangle with a tough drill sergeant and finally flee from military service.

Cast

In footage from Boobs in Arms :
Dizzy Pilots was filmed April 6–9, 1943. The boot camp segment is stock footage from 1940's Boobs in Arms, with the exception of the ending shot where the Stooges escape from the base itself.
The gag of an aircraft being too large to take out of a hangar was reused in 1972 on The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode featuring the Stooges as guest stars.
Dizzy Pilots marks the final appearance of co-star Harry Semels.

Reception

critic Stuart Galbraith IV noted that Dizzy Pilots was the "last genuinely excellent Curly short" with "a set-up similar to Higher Than a Kite though executed infinitely better."