One of the happiest moviegoing memories of my life did not take place in a cinema, but inside the auditorium of Junior High School 141 in the Bronx, New York, when I was in seventh grade. For reasons that had nothing to do with educational enlightenment, someone in charge decided it would be a good idea to show “The Three Stooges in Orbit” to the kids during their lunch break.
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BOOTLEG FILES 844: “Hiss and Yell” (1946 Oscar-nominated comedy short starring Vera Vague and Emil Sitka).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The rights holder will not make it available.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
In the late 1930s, comic actress Barbara Jo Allen invented the character Vera Vague for a radio show. This character was a chatterbox, featherbrained spinster who was always in pursuit of a man. Audiences quickly embraced the character, and her appeal was so strong that Allen adopted Vera Vague as her professional name.
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