A Pain in the Pullman (1936) User Reviews

Strange Strangers On A Train

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 22 August 2008]

Poor Bud Jamison. As "Johnson," he keeps banging his head on the upper berth in his Pullman train every time his obnoxious and loud boss screams his name. He's a go-fer for spoiled "celebrity" "Paul Pain" (James C. Morton), who is victimized by the Three Stooges throughout this story. Mainly, the gag involves a little monkey stealing Pain's hairpiece.

Most of the gags - at least the good ones - involve the same shtick worked over numerous times, such as Johnson banging his head, the hairpiece stolen, the boys trying to get into an upper Pullman berth and then always falling out, the boys not having a clue how to eat a delicacy - in this case crab meat (which they call "a turtle!," etc. My favorite part was Curly thinking he got lucky with this beautiful sleeping babe in one berth.

The mayhem on the train is only in the last eight minutes of this 20-minute short feature. The first part sets up the train and shows the down-and-out Stooges living in poverty and then preparing to go to the train station en route to a "gig" someone got for them. The early jokes are not that much except for Curly cooking a "filet a sole and heel," meaning cooking his boot in the oven.

First Stooges Film Set On A Train

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 6 August 2023]

N the days of riding the rails, comedy was built in and around train cars to tremendous effect, largely because the close confinement of the inside berths offered a number of hilarious situations. The Three Stooges' June 1936 "A Pain in the Pullman" took advantage of that fact, making their 16th short one of their more popular films.

Jack White (Preston Black) both directed and wrote the script where our three heroes, after skipping rent, head to their next acting engagement by way of the rails. Compounding the mayhem on board is their pet monkey, Joe, who serves as a spark for many of the movie's knee-slapping laughs. White may have been inspired by ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd's 1932 'Show Business,' posing as out-of-work vaudevillians, who, like the Stooges, possessed a pet monkey that delivered belly-aching guffaws.

One scene that caused fits for Moe was when he and his two associates come across a table full of crabs, which the Stooges say in the film they had never seen before. Curly eats the shell and all, while Moe, in real life, hated all forms of shellfish. He said he couldn't even put a real cooked crab claw in his mouth, never mind simply lick it. Black, the director, ordered the prop crew to concoct a lookalike claw with sugar and food coloring. Moe in his autobiography said he was still uncomfortable with that fake, noting, "I was afraid they had coated the real shell with sugar and that that awful claw was underneath. I chewed that claw during the scene, but if you'll notice, I did it very gingerly."

"A Pain in the Pullman" is the longest film two-reeler the Stooges ever produced, running at 19 minutes and 46 seconds. And rare for the trio, several people in the film actually call them by their act, The Three Stooges.

Stooges on a train

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 15 November 2019]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are living in Mrs. Hammond Eggerley's Theatrical Apartments with their monkey. They get a show and take a train to the job. They are barred from the train but they manage to sneak onboard. It's Stooges silliness. I love them eating that crab. It is simply ridiculous. The only thing missing is rolling of a train which could add some fun. It's not a real train ride without it. It end with the cut scene of them landing on the bulls and riding them into the sunset. The boys are doing good work.

Good Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 11 August 2005]

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

This is one of My favorite Three Stooges shorts with Curly! All Appearing in this short are Bud Jamison, James C. Morton, and Eddie Laughton! This one is so hilarious! Curly has a great performance here and in My opinion its one of his best. I strongly recommend this Three Stooges short!

Yes indeed, the Stooges are a pain!

[slymusic · 7 August 2006]

"A Pain in the Pullman," directed by Preston Black, is a very funny Three Stooges short! It was reportedly one of the Stooges' personal favorites, and the reason why is not hard to understand. In this short, Moe, Larry, & Curly are travelling vaudevillians who receive an offer to appear in a show titled "The Panics of 1936," and since they are desperately in need of money, they jump at the chance. Trouble is, they never actually get to appear in the show because they cause endless noisy commotion on board the night train carrying their fellow vaudevillians who are trying to sleep.

The main highlights from "A Pain in the Pullman" are indeed the interior train scenes as the Stooges and their pet monkey Joe cause all sorts of hijinks. Joe creates embarrassment for the star of the show Mr. Paul Pain (James C. Morton) by pulling off his toupee. The boys unknowingly invade Mr. Pain's drawing room and consume his fresh crab & champagne. (Actually, Moe and Larry seem a bit wary as they eat their portions of the crab, and Moe later admitted in his autobiography that he hated shellfish.) After Mr. Pain angrily kicks the Stooges out of his drawing room, the boys constantly struggle to jump into their upper berth, with hilarious results! The portly Bud Jamison, one of my favorite supporting actors in the Stooge films, plays the irascible Mr. Johnson, the manager of the show whose sleep is constantly interrupted by the troublemaking Stooges; Mr. Johnson repeatedly bangs his head on the low ceiling whenever he suddenly awakens, and this is probably the most hilarious running gag in the film. By the end, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Pain have had enough of the Stooges and literally throw them off the train; Moe, Larry, & Curly wind up riding on the backs of three bulls!

Again, "A Pain in the Pullman" is a delightful Three Stooges short full of madcap zaniness! Do yourself a favor and be sure to check it out!

Pretty much what you'd expect from the Stooges.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 5 October 2021]

"A Pain in the Pullman" is a not especially distinguished short from the Three. It's not bad...but there really aren't the usual laughs you'd expect from the team.

When the story begins, the Stooges are out of work, hungry and owe rent. Fortunately, their agent calls because they have an acting job....and interestingly through the film they are referred to as The Three Stooges!

Once they arrive at the train for the acting company, the the make such nuisances of themselves that soon everyone on board hates them and the manager is threatening to toss them and their pet monkey off the train.

That's really all there is to the plot. As far as laughs go, as I mentioned there aren't a lot and most of the jokes rely on the team acting like clods on the train. Passable entertainment...not much more.

Classic

[amtrack88 · 27 May 2004]

I have the film on the original 16mm film reel, roughly 200 ft in length. I ran it through the old projector. And I have to say it's a great Stooges film. Although I had a hard time paying attention to the film, since the film kept getting jammed in the projector (a 1926 Bell & Howell, ancient!)

It starts off when the three receive a phone call telling them they just got a job offer in acting. They have to catch a train to get to the location. On the train, with their monkey, they reek havoc on the passengers. Everyone on the train finally gets fed up and throw them off the train in a funny manner.

I did love the scene where they're all struggling to answer the phone. I loved it!

Stooges on a Train

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 11 April 2017]

"A Pain in the Pullman" is an American live action short film from 1936, so this one had its 80th anniversary last year. It was written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Jack White and he worked with the Three Stooges on many other occasions apart from this one here. This is still from the Curly days and also a pretty unpolitical short film despite the rise of Nazi German during that time. I think the Stooges did not get too political until the start of World War II (with the Hitler parodies), but I may be wrong here. Anyway, after a brief introduction our trio ends up on a train and they cause a lot of mayhem there, also to a famous actress who happens to board the train at the very same time. All in all, not one of the worst and also not one of the best Stooges short films. I personally am not the greatest fan of these three as their comedy routine gets a bit repetitive at times and in terms of drama and stories their films are usually completely forgettable. So yeah, thumbs down from me. Don't watch.

So-So

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Pain the the Pullman, A (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three stooges board a train heading for a new job but their pet monkey causes all sorts of trouble. Once again, this short is pretty good but there are still plenty of misses in the joke department. The best moment is when the boys are trying to get into their bed but it's up to high so they have a little trouble. The monkey also gets a few nice laughs.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which features over 20 shorts, all digitally remastered and looking better than ever.