Ants in the Pantry

Ants in the Pantry is a 1936 short subject directed by Preston Black starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 12th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot
The Stooges are employed as pest exterminators, providing an unconventional service wherein they both introduce the infestation and subsequently address it, thereby offering a unique approach to pest control. Driven by a distinct lack of clientele, they target an affluent mansion hosting a high society dinner party, whereupon they orchestrate a calculated release of various vermin, including mice, moths, and ants, with deliberate malice. Their machinations, laced with gleeful amorality, result in their inevitable hiring to rectify the very chaos they have orchestrated, all while discreetly masquerading as guests so as not to disrupt the soirée.

Things go according to plan until a sequence of events precipitated by Larry and Curly's ill-conceived scheme to conceal mice-seeking cats within an upright piano unravels the facade of order during a recital of Johann Strauss II's "Blue Danube Waltz." The ensuing chaos, exacerbated by the intrusion of a mouse into the piano, incites a cacophony of feline agitation, culminating in the destruction of the instrument and the revelation of the Stooges' ruse. However, in a surprising turn of events, the social decorum of the gathering is preserved as the hostess and her guests interpret the Stooges' antics as entertainment, thereby averting potential embarrassment.

Invited to partake in a fox hunt as further amusement, the Stooges introduce an element of chaos when Curly, mistaking the sound of his own nasal exhalation for a bugle call, unwittingly brandishes a live skunk, triggering a cascade of mishaps culminating in Moe, Larry, and a horse succumbing to the skunk's malodorous emissions.

Production notes
Ants in the Pantry was filmed on December 11–14, 1935; the film title is a pun on the phrase "ants in the pants." Moe Howard later recalled that a nest of ants actually worked their way into his pants: "There was a scene where we were having trouble selling our services, so we complain to our boss, who tells us, 'If they don't have ants, give them some. You dumbkopf!' We got the idea and went from house to house throwing moths in with minks, mice on the floor, and ants in the pantry. During the shooting, I hadn't noticed that a small container of red ants had broken apart in my pocket and the little devils were crawling down my back, in my hair, and into my pants. It was insane. All through the scene I was scratching and squirming and slapping myself on the neck and face and on the seat of my pants. Elated, director Preston Black shouted, 'Great Moe. Keep up that squirming!' It was very funny&mdash;to everyone but me."

Veteran voice actor Clarence Nash, most famous for doing Donald Duck, did the sounds of the cats in the piano.

Vesey O'Davoren appeared as Gawkins.

Ants in the Pantry was remade with Shemp Howard in 1951 as Pest Man Wins.