The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962)

Three goofy druggists travel back to Ancient Greece on a milquetoast inventor's time machine.

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writers:

Norman Maurer (story), Elwood Ullman

Stars:

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Moe Howard	...	Moe
Larry Fine	...	Larry
Joe DeRita	...	Curly Joe
Vicki Trickett	...	Diane Quigley
Quinn K. Redeker	...	Schuyler Davis
George N. Neise	...	Ralph Dimsal / King Odius
Samson Burke	...	Hercules
Marlin McKeever	...	Ajax and Argo, The Siamese Cyclops (as The McKeever Twins)
Mike McKeever	...	Ajax and Argo, The Siamese Cyclops (as The McKeever Twins)
Emil Sitka	...	Shepherd / Refreshment Man
Hal Smith	...	King Theseus Of Rhodes
John Cliff	...	Ulysses
Lewis Charles	...	Achilles The Heel
Barbara Hines	...	Anita
Terry Huntingdon	...	Hecuba

Storyline

Three druggists travel with a Milquetoast inventor, Schuyler, and his girlfriend, Diane, to ancient Greece on a newly invented time machine. There, the evil tyrant, Odius, takes a shine to the woman and has the guys enslaved as galley rowers using the excuse of the three druggists helping a rebel leader, Ulysses, escape. The rigors of the rowing pump Schuyler up into a muscleman with strength comparable to Hercules himself, who is in the employ of Odius. The threesome get the idea of raising money by promoting Schuyler as Hercules for a series of physical contests. Using a combination of his great strength and, a judicious use of a large supply of potent tranquilizers Curly-Joe brought with him, Schuyler is a success. However, this leads to trouble when the real McCoy learns about the imposter.

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Plot Keywords:

hercules | time machine | galley | the three stooges | ancient greece | 

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Taglines:

Full-Length Muscle-Headed Feature Film!

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Haut den Herkules

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Normandy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry Fine and Joe DeRita fell out of a moving chariot in one scene, with 250-pound Joe falling on top of Larry. Larry was knocked out cold and rushed to the hospital. Though he did not sustain any injuries, a doctor's report revealed that he had diabetes.

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Goofs

The amount of pie on King Odius's face changes drastically as the chase progresses.

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Quotes

Larry: Hey, Moe's got pretty good rhythm, eh?

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Crazy Credits

Filmed in glorious black and white

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Connections

Spoofs Ben-Hur (1959)

User Reviews

Truly funny

I came to this film NOT a big fan of the stooges. Having said that I laughed myself silly at it. Unlike a typical Stooges short, it has a plot, actual jokes, and some interesting casting. Though they are long in the tooth in this film, they perform admirably. Keeping their fine physical humor (which doesn't usually send me, but it is well used here) and adding some fun word play and situational humor.

The supporting cast is quite able and the production qualities are higher than I normally associate with the stooges work.

I ran across this while waiting at my doctor's office for some paperwork and stayed around to see how it all worked out. I laughed out loud in public several times. I will seek it out, as I own, nor have been interested in owning anything by the Stooges. This may be among their best work. This is one I'll buy.

Good stuff.