An Ache in Every Stake 1941

The three Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard are hapless icemen whose routine work spirals into a sequence of classic slapstick misadventures. One morning they awaken inside their delivery wagon after their horse gets the team riled, Moe and Larry scrambling to exit while Curly, using a block of ice as an improvised pillow, lies snugly in a chilly cradle. Once freed, the trio resumes their ordinary ice-block deliveries, including a daunting uphill assignment to a residence perched high on a steep staircase.

The climb grows tougher as the melting cargo becomes a heavier, more unwieldy burden. Despite persistent effort and a string of comic setbacks, they press on and cross paths with Vernon Dent, the actor who plays Mr. Lawrence, whose confectionery ambitions are inadvertently tripped up by the Stooges’ well-meaning, but chaotic, interference.

Complications mount when the Stooges drift into servant-like roles, tasked with putting together a birthday dinner for the homeowner’s husband. The husband, Mr. Lawrence, adds a layer of tension to their improvised kitchen duties. In the bustling dining room, the scene expands with the presence of the Bud Jamison and Gino Corrado as The Baker and The Cook, respectively, who move through the space as the Stooges tackle culinary tasks. The trio’s misguided attempts—ice shaving, turkey stuffing, and the introduction of odd objects into the meal—set off a cascade of amusing scrapes that leave the guests both bemused and bewildered, while the Stooges’ identities hover just beneath the surface.

The climax arrives with a bold misstep: a birthday cake inflated with town gas that triggers a spectacular, chaotic finale. The ruse is up, and the room witnesses the Stooges’ true nature in a crescendo of laughter and disbelief as their misadventures come to light.

In a flurry of indignation and uproar, the trio is expelled from the premises, slipping down the staircase in a comically wobbly descent that caps the night with a signature moment of farce.