Tassels in the Air

Tassels in the Air is a 1938 short subject directed by Charley Chase starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 30th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Tassels in the Air
Directed by	Charley Chase
Written by	Al Giebler Elwood Ullman
Produced by	Charley Chase Hugh McCollum
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Vernon Dent Symona Boniface Bess Flowers Bud Jamison Victor Travers Jean De Briac Gertrude Astor
Cinematography	Allen G. Siegler
Edited by	Art Seid
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	April 1, 1938 (1938-04-01) (U.S.)
Running time	17:04
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

The burgeoning aspirations of Nouveau riche housewife Mrs. Smirch converge with the professional endeavors of the esteemed interior decorator, Omay. Eager to ascend the echelons of the local elite, Mrs. Smirch endeavors to enlist Omay's services to overhaul her residence, thereby ingratiating herself within esteemed social circles. Omay, in turn, accedes to her proposition.

Concurrently, the Stooges are engaged as painters tasked with refurbishing the edifice housing Omay's office. Assigned the responsibility of affixing temporary identifiers to office doors, their ineptitude precipitates a series of mishaps. Notably, Curly's idiosyncratic aversion to tassels serves as a catalyst for calamity, with his propensity for frenzied outbursts quelled solely by gentle chin tickling. Amidst this chaos, Mrs. Smirch encounters Moe, mistaking him for Omay due to a linguistic quirk, unwittingly instigates a chain of events that culminate in a case of mistaken identity. The genuine Omay is beyond incensed by the mislabeling of his office, relinquishes his tenancy, thus compounding the ensuing confusion. In a cascade of misfortune, the Stooges find themselves embroiled in a precarious situation, masquerading as Omay and his associates, with the intent of fulfilling the obligations initially ascribed to the esteemed decorator.

Subsequently, the Stooges, assuming their ersatz roles, commence work at the Smirch residence, their efforts coinciding with Mrs. Smirch's hosting of a soirée for her affluent acquaintances. However, the arrival of the genuine Omay precipitates a revelation of the trio's subterfuge, resulting in a public exposé of Mrs. Smirch's deception, thereby underscoring the folly of her misguided aspirations.

Production notes

Tassels in the Air was filmed on November 26–30, 1937.^[1] The film's title is a play on the old expression, "Building castles in the air," i.e. dreaming of achieving the impossible.^[2]

Curly exhibits an uncontrollable reaction whenever he encounters tassels, a condition remedied by tickling him under the chin with a paintbrush. This comedic device parallels similar motifs employed in earlier shorts Punch Drunks (1934), Horses' Collars (1935), and Grips, Grunts and Groans (1937).^[3]

Several comedic elements featured in the table painting sequence were originally employed by director Charley Chase in his short Luncheon at Twelve (1933). These gags were later repurposed by Moe, Larry, and Shemp in their unaired television pilot Jerks of All Trades (1949), which notably also included actress Symona Boniface. The same material would be reused once more in A Snitch in Time (1950).^[2]