Why do they keep being friends with Moe when he hits them all the time?
Also why doesn’t Larry just take Moe aside and say “Look Moe, your physical abuse is wrong.” “I can stand correction of my mistakes and I’d better learn if you explain to me instead of hitting me.”
It’s a rough trade thing.
Why you, I oughta’…
Because if they disagree with Moe, he’ll put their heads in an iron press, or hit them with a pipe wrench, or pull their nose, or kick them in the shin or…
'cause they’re Stooges?
And Curly Joe de Rita, too – if you include the abysmal Joe Besser, why leave HIM out?
The real question is why they put up with Ted Healy as long as they did…
As an aside…
Several years ago, I saw an interview with Mrs. Fine. She said Larry had such a callous on his face that he could not feel Moe’s smacks.
Moe, Curly, and Shemp were brothers IRL.
I don’t know if their viewers realized that and figured it was a family thing, Moe keeping them in line, or not.
And Larry…I got nothing.
Moe slaps them for the same reason that they stick with him–they’re stupid.
Right, Besser refused to let Moe hit him. Which is why he got dumped.
Anyway, as Homer explained, “Moe is their leader.”
The REAL Three Stooges are all about shorts. The movie shorts that is. DeRita was an attempt to extend an act into feature length films. But the Stooges were only properly performed in the time limitation of a movie short
That aside, Why did Larry, Joe, Curly and Shemp put up with it? Why didn’t they Larry and whoever just say
"OK look Moe the next time you hit me, us two (or is it we two?) will gang up on you and beat the hell out of you to see what it’s like.
If you cease your violent intent to us, this aformentioned solution will not occur but if you refuse our poliet request, the result will be of your own making."
And while on occassion Larry or Curly or Joe or Shemp will hit moe, it’s pretty much accidental but Moe returns the hit with an eye poke. How does accidently hitting somone of the butt. (in this case Larry hitting Moe) equate with Moe trying to blind Larry with an eye poke?
The technical term is “knucklehead.”
I think for several years they were just billed by first name and/or collectively “The Three Stooges,” but some time in the '40s they started being credited as Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard, which would have been a clue. Their last names were used in dialogue in at least one short.* As a kid, it still took me a while to figure out that Curly and Moe were brothers, although I connected Moe and Shemp right away (like that was hard).
Oh, a wiseguy, eh?
Stockholm syndrome.
'Cause if any of the Stooges got out of line, Wallace Beery and Albert Broccoli would be sent around to do a “Ted Healy” on them.
Because Moe was the brains of the outfit.
That’s not saying much.
S & M officianados.