Gents Without Cents is the 81st short by The Three Stooges.
This short depicts the Stooges as small-time performers who are having trouble rehearsing due to loud tapping above their apartment floor. When they (angrily) go up to see what the rumpus was all about, they are met by three beautiful ladies: Flo, Mary, and Shirley, who were working on their tap dance routine. The six become friends and go to talent agent Manny Weeks to show off what they could do. He is at first unimpressed with the Stooges' act, but hires them anyway to perform at the Noazark Shipbuilding Company to entertain defense workers.
The Stooges perform their routine as "Two Souls and a Heel", playing their iconic "Niagara Falls" skit. But after learning that the headliners, the "Castor and Earl Review" have to bail, they and the girls offer to take their place. Weeks is so enthralled that he offers to send the trio to Broadway.
The ending has the Stooges get married to their ladies and have a honeymoon in... Niagara Falls. Hilarity Ensues when Curly gets chased off after mentioning the location, with Moe and Larry reprising their roles in their skit.
Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch... Here are Tropes!
- Berserk Button: In-universe, Moe and Larry's characters in "Two Souls and a Heel" go berserk whenever "Niagara Falls" is mentioned.
- Butt-Monkey: Curly in the routine, getting beat up by Moe and then Larry in the "Niagara Falls" skit. And in the end, when he mentioned that they were in Niagara Falls, he gets chased off by their car.
- Clothing Damage: The result of Curly after Moe's temper tantrum, with a good suit destroyed. Note that he wore multiple shirts and all of them got ruined after several rounds of the routine.
- Ending Fatigue: In-universe example. Curly adds several ad-libbed endings to their introductory number to their new agent, forcing them to do the last line repeatedly. Moe and Larry, exasperated, have to silence him by covering his mouth.
- Line-of-Sight Name: During the honeymoon, Curly mistakes the warning sign "Go Slow" as "Goslow".
- Punny Name: Plenty. One notable one is "Noazarknote Shipbuilding Company", where, well, ships are built.
- Show Within a Show: The "Niagara Falls" routine. The girls are also phenomenal dancers and get lots of time to shine on stage!
- Throw the Dog a Bone: One of the few shorts where everything goes right for Moe, Larry, and Curly.
