A Bird in the Head

A Bird in the Head (1946)

The stooges are working as paperhangers in the home of Professor Panzer, a mad scientist looking for a brain to use in his experiments. The professor wants to put a human brain into a gorilla but has trouble finding a brain small enough, which leads him to select Curly as the perfect donor.

Date of release
1946-02-28
TMDB
6.7 / 10 (6)
Runtime
17m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Edward Bernds

Casting

Interesting facts

A Bird in the Head is a 1946 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 89th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Production notes

The title A Bird in the Head is a pun on the phrase "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." A Bird in the Head was filmed over a period of five days (April 9–13, 1945), which was longer than usual. Due to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, filming ended early out of respect for the deceased Commander-in-chief.

Prior to the filming of A Bird in the Head, 41-year-old Curly Howard had endured a series of minor strokes, which adversely affected his performance, leading to slurred speech and slower timing. This film marked the directorial debut of former Columbia sound technician Edward Bernds.

"It was an awful tough deal for a novice rookie director to have a Curly who wasn't himself. I had seen Curly at his greatest and his work in this film was far from great. The wallpaper scene was agony to direct because of the physical movements required to roll up the wallpaper and to react when it curled up in him. It just didn't work. As a fledgling director, my plans were based on doing everything in one nice neat shot.

Recognizing Curly's diminished ability to perform at his previous capacity, Edward Bernds implemented strategies to accommodate his condition. Curly retained his starring role, but the focus of the action was redirected to other characters, such as the eccentric Professor Panzer and Igor. In A Bird in the Head, this shift allowed Curly to maintain a significant presence on screen without necessitating extensive participation.

Bernds frequently remarked on his strained relationship with Jules White. Bernds was concerned that his directorial career might be prematurely curtailed if A Bird in the Head, featuring a weakened Curly, was his debut release. To mitigate this risk, producer Hugh McCollum rearranged the release schedule, allowing the more successful Micro-Phonies to premiere first, thereby solidifying Bernds's position as a director.

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