THE THREE STOOGES / "A Ducking They Did Go" - 1939

It could never be XMAS around here if we din't include the funniest guys around, you know, The Three Stooges!! In today's hilarious story, the boys are tricked by con men into selling memberships to a phony duck hunting club. To the amazement of the con men, they sell all the memberships to the mayor, police chief and some cops!! When the bad guys skip town, the Stooges are stuck at a duck-less lake with a lodge full of cops. At the lake, Moe and Larry stall the shooters with duck decoys while Curly searches for some real ducks!..

It also stars Lynton Brent, Chuck Callahan, Lane Chandler, Vernon Dent, Jack Gardner, William Irving and Bud Jamison. Oh, and Happy Friday the 13th, and the last full Moon of this decade...

It starts with the boys walking around and as usual, hungry! Suddenly, they see something.

Watermelons, man!!.. Moe runs over to the truck and grabs a big juicy one and tosses it to Larry. When a cop arrives, Larry tries to toss the melon back but it hits the cop and gets stuck on his head. After that, the policeman fires a warning shot as the boys book it outta there, but, the bullet causes a street light to fall and it busts on his head!! Freakin' Stooges!

In a panic, the guys run into a building and notice that the Canvas Back Duck Club is looking for salesmen. Moe grabs the 'help wanted' sign and they go inside. It doesn't take long for Blackie and Doyle to realize that they have the stooges they're looking for, and, they're fine with a measly 10% commission! Membership to the club is $50, so, with $100 in sales, each Stooge would get $3.33 each!

Here, we get to enjoy this classic Stooge gag. Check out the toy duck Curly's holding.

The very first place the boys go to sell memberships is... The damn police station! They bust into the office of the chief of police, who's waiting for the mayor. The boys have their talking points and it isn't long before they have the chief hooked! Then the mayor shows up and he joins the club too! They finish off the rest of the memberships with some policemen...

The boys blow Blackie's mind when they tell him the story! He tells them to go to the club and they'll pay them in the morning, which our little morons do! Then, Blackie and Doyle disappear from the face of the Earth with all the money!

So, the boys, the mayor, the chief and others are at the club, drinking and singing away! This is the best thing that could ever happen to a bunch of guys!

It isn't long before things start going south. A local pops in to see what all the hubbub is and tells them that there hasn't been any wild ducks around here for twenty years, then laughs his head off as he leaves!

The next day, the men go out to shoot themselves some ducks. Curly is sent out to find some real ducks while Moe and Larry use a catapult to hurl the decoys out for the men to shoot at, and they're running out of decoys! It's funny as Hell when a decoy is shot, they just explode, unlike a real duck.

Curly is using his duck call like a pied piper, and leads the ducks into the lake where the men start shooting at them.

The boys want to get in on the action! But first, Larry can't get his rifle to fire...

Moe gets a backside of pellets when this duck lands on his back and the brush hides him!

Curly thinks he can shoot this duck that landed on his head!

Then it happens, the owner of the 'prize' ducks tells the men that they were stolen from his property, and, they owe him $5 for each of them! Larry, Moe and Curly head for the hills!..

I'm sure they used this ending more than once and when you see some close ups, you can easily tell it's not the Stooges, all of them have hair... So, we're back tomorrow with even more XMAS junk, just for you!