Termites of 1938 1938

Muriel, a high-society woman, longs to attend an esteemed dinner hosted by a well-connected acquaintance. Her husband, Arthur, opts for a fishing trip, leaving her to navigate the evening solo. To secure suitable companionship, she instructs her maid to hire escorts through the Acme Escort Service, presenting them as educated, collegiate guests. A simple miscommunication, however, results in the order being redirected to the Acme Exterminator Co., staffed by the Stooges.

The Stooges, Larry Fine and Moe Howard (with Curly in the mix), arrive at the opulent residence in formal dress, believing they have come to exterminate vermin rather than entertain a dinner party. They step into a room filled with glittering chandeliers and a carefully choreographed social ritual, and their presence instantly unsettles the guests who expect grace, not slapstick. Muriel’s plan to present herself with a touch of scholarly charm to the gathering begins to unravel as the trio misunderstands every cue and treats the evening as a public stage for their routines.

Mandy, the maid, Etta McDaniel, oversees the orchestrations of the evening and finds herself swept along by a chain of comic misunderstandings. The Stooges, unaware of their misassignment, assume their role is to keep the party free of pests while also participating in the revelry. They wander through the rooms, sampling hors d’oeuvres, and in the process, disrupt the formalities that the guests hold sacred. The guests watch in growing disbelief as the trio’s antics clash with etiquette, turning a refined affair into a comedy of errors.

After the meal, when the band plays a lively number, the Stooges seize the opportunity to perform, thinking they are just adding a little entertainment to the occasion. Instead, their improvised show goes awry, and a dangerous moment involving a saw unfolds. The tool triggers chaos, releasing rodents and sending the house into a frenzy. The guests recoil as the intruding vermin scatter, and the once-polished room becomes a playground of chaos under their unintended supervision.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the Stooges struggle to “do their job” and quiet the commotion, but their efforts lead to further calamities. Furniture shudders, walls creak, and Muriel is injured in the commotion that spirals out of control. The dinner party, which began as a display of upper-crust civility, devolves into a slapstick siege of mishaps, lack of restraint, and reckless improvisation, all while Muriel contemplates the social price of such chaos.

Just as the scene reaches a peak, Arthur returns wielding a gopher bomb, drawn back by the riotous ruckus. The Stooges scramble to escape in their car, misjudging the moment to depart. In a final twist of misfortune, the gopher bomb ends up in the vehicle just as they step inside, triggering a chaotic and disorderly dispersal that caps the evening in explosive, disordered fashion.

In the end, what begins as a calculated attempt to secure a dignified evening for Muriel morphs into a farce where miscommunication, unintentional mischief, and a cascade of comic disasters collide. The gathering that should have celebrated elegance instead becomes a showcase for the Stooges’ hijinks, the guests’ astonishment, and a lasting reminder that good intentions can veer spectacularly off course in the hands of improvisation and error.