The Yoke's on Me


The Yoke's on Me is a 1944 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. It is the 79th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who appeared in 190 shorts at the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

The Stooges try to join the army but are labeled 4-F by the draft board due to Curly having water on the knee. After they decide to go on vacation until a job comes along, their father insists they aid the war effort instead by becoming farmers. Inspired, the trio sell their dilapidated car and buy an equally dilapidated farm. The farm contains no livestock except for one ostrich, which eats gunpowder. The boys then spot some pumpkins and decide to carve and sell them.
In the interim, several Japanese-Americans escape a prison camp, and work their way onto the Stooges' farm. Curly is the first to notice some suspicious activity. Eventually, Moe and Larry believe him, and realize that the farm is surrounded by the Japanese-Americans. Moe then throws an ostrich egg at the escapees, killing them.

Cast

Credited

Uncredited

The Yoke's on Me was filmed on November 8–12, 1943. The film's title is a pun on the expression, "the joke's on me."

Controversy

During World War II, the Stooges released several comedies that engaged in propaganda against the then-enemy Japanese, including Spook Louder, No Dough Boys, Booby Dupes and The Yoke's on Me. The Yoke's on Me is especially singled out by contemporary critics. For many years, the film was blacklisted by some television stations, due to its treatment of Japanese American escapees from a relocation center.
Author Jon Solomon has said, "no Stooge film so profoundly disturbs modern viewers as this one." Author Michael Fleming put it more bluntly: "Knowing what we do now about how Japanese-born American citizens were mistreated and stripped of their belongings in relocation centers makes this as funny as a train wreck."

Quotes