Jail Birds of Paradise (lost short film; 1934)

Poster for the film.

Status: Lost

Jail Birds of Paradise, also known under working titles as Stars and Stripes, Reformers, and Reformania, is a 1934 short film written and directed by Al Boasberg. It featured the Howard Brothers, Moe and Curly of Three Stooges fame, without Larry Fine.

Plot

The plot involved the warden's daughter, Miss Deering (Dorothy Appleby), turning Paradise Prison into a "paradise" during his three-month absence, making it a luxury hotel with all the amenities and the guards doing all the work. As Miss Deering and her secretary tour the prison, there are a series of sight gags involving various prisoners. Among them, registering at Paradise's front desk, is Joe Pantz (Moe Howard), an ax murderer who has transferred from Leavenworth.

That night, there is a show in the Prison Auditorium with dinner and music. Moe enters with Jerry "Curly" Howard, who is wearing a toupee, and the two work a hair tonic scheme among the other prisoners; this scene would later be reworked for Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita in Snow White and the Three Stooges. The evening ends with gunshots and a vase-throwing melee among the prisoners.

Availability

The film has been lost, with no known prints or negatives left and, therefore, no home media releases. Only two stills of the film have survived.

Gallery

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