The Stooges are secret agents working undercover at the home of Professor Sneed and his daughter. Sneed is developing a rocket fuel in secret for the government. Captain Rork of the "State of Anemia" watches the professor through his front window, with hopes of kidnapping him. Of course, Rork and his henchmen capture the Stooges instead, mistaking Larry for the professor. Trouble brews when the Stooges are required to whip up some of the fuel, and then write down the formula. It does not take long for the kidnappers to capture the real Professor Sneed, along with his daughter, and throw them all in jail until the formula is disclosed. As Rork serves the Stooges their last meal, they steal the jail keys from him and use their fake fuel to break themselves, Professor Sneed, and his daughter out of the jail and make a quick exit.
Production notes
The short is a remake of 1949's Fuelin' Around, using ample stock footage. Hot Stuff was one of four shorts filmed in the wake of Shemp Howard's death using earlier footage and a stand-in.
"Fake Shemp"
As Shemp Howard had already died, for his last four films, Columbia utilized supporting actorJoe Palma to be Shemp's double. Even though the last four shorts were remakes of earlier Shemp efforts, Palma's services were needed to link what few new scenes were filmed to the older stock footage. For Hot Stuff, Palma is seen twice. The first time occurs when the Stooges, disguised in beards, are trolling through office hallways. Moe instructs Shemp to pursue a suspicious looking girl, to which Palma grunts "Right!" He then walks off-camera, allowing Moe and Larry to finish the scene by themselves. This is the only time Palma allowed his face to be seen on-camera. As he was purposely wearing a beard, his face is successfully concealed. Later, Palma is seen from the back while the boys are locked in the laboratory. Palma attempts to imitate Shemp's famed cry of "Heep, heep, heep!". Again, Moe directs Shemp, this time to guard the door. Palma obliges, mutters a few additional "Heep, heep, heeps!," and conveniently hides behind the door. This was one of the few times during his tenure as Shemp's double that Palma was required to speak without the aid of dubbing.
