A Bird in the Head

A Bird in the Head
Directed by	Edward Bernds
Written by	Edward Bernds
Produced by	Hugh McCollum
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent Robert Williams Frank Lackteen Art Miles
Cinematography	Burnett Guffey
Edited by	Henry Batista
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	February 28, 1946
Running time	16' 54"
Country	United States
Language	English

A Bird in the Head is the 89th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges are mediocre paperhangers, or at least they say they are. Their client Mr. Beedle (Robert Williams) advises the boys to do a good job, but the end result looks like it was quickly cluttered with paper towels. Beedle is fuming, and the boys escape across the hallway into the laboratory of the insane Professor Panzer (Vernon Dent) and his assistant Nikko (Frank Lackteen). Panzer is searching for a human brain puny enough to place in the head of his gorilla Igor (Art Miles). Curly becomes the prime candidate, and Panzer locks the boys in his lab. Then Igor grts loose, but takes an instant liking to Curly, which the feeble-minded Stooge reciprocates. Eventually, the boys with Igor destroy Panzer's lab, and quickly depart — taking Igor with them.

Curly's illness

• Curly Howard suffered a series of minor strokes prior to filming A Bird in the Head. As a result, his performance was marred by slurred speech, and slower timing. This film was the first directing effort for former Columbia sound manEdward Bernds. Bernds was thrilled that he was being given a shot at directing, but was horrifid when he realized that Curly was in such bad shape. "It was an awful tough deal for a novice rookie director to have a Curly who wasn't himself."

Bernds often commented that he and Columbia short subject head Jules White never really got along. As a result, Bernds feared that his directing days would be over as soon as they began if he released A Bird in the Head with a weak Curly as his first entry. The order was reshuffled, and the superior Micro-Phonies was released first, securing Bernds directing position.

Realizing that Curly was no longer able to perform in the same capacity as before, Bernds devised ways to cover his illness. Curly could still be the star, but the action was shifted way from the ailing Stooge. In A Bird in the Head, the action focuses more on the crazy Professor Panzer (Vernon Dent) and Igor the gorilla. Igor, in particular, takes soecial care of his new friend Curly. This allowed Curly to maintain a healthy amount of screen time without being required to contribute much. )

Notes

• The title 'A Bird in the Head' is a pun on the phrase 'a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.'

Further reading

• Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard (Citadel Press, 1977).
• The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
• The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg (Citadel Press, 1994).
• One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).