![]() ![]() The dogs were able to pull the machine gun carriages that also carried some of the gun’s ammunition, weighing up to 200lbs, for long distances. At the time it was not uncommon for dogs to be used as pack animals in Belgium as they offered an efficient and economical alternative to expensive horses. The dogs used to pull the machine guns were Belgian Mastiffs, this strong breed were more than capable of drawing the 60lbs weight of a Maxim gun. The machine guns seen in the photographs above are Maxim guns, but the Belgian Army also had a number of French Hotchkiss guns. They were pulled on small gun carriages by specially trained dog teams. However, many of these guns were transported by a very unusual method. This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog.At the beginning of the First World War the Belgian Army could field only 102 machine guns. Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard !Īll aboard our The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project! Join the TMCGTT Timeblazers! So, the forced inventiveness of accommodating a Stooge’s medical condition in 1946 led to a popular GIF of a gorilla firing a machine gun in 2018!ĭo you have other pop culture (especially) geeky questions you’d like answered? Feel free to ask…and check my series of The Professor is looking for a human brain small enough to transplant into Igor…and Curly’s would fit (there is also a bit of animation in this short, unusual for the Stooges, showing an animated cuckoo clock inside Curly’s head instead of a brain). He decided (he was also the screenwriter) to expand the roles of the mad doctor Professor Panzer, and his gorilla, Igor (played by Art Miles). However, the director, Edward Bernds (this was his first film as director) realized that Curly wasn’t at full capacity. If you watch the short, he appears to be okay, even doing some physical comedy. On the set of A Bird in the Head, Curly’s performance was impacted. Prior to that stroke in May, Curly already was being impacted by medical issues…what has been described as a series of “mini-strokes”. Shemp rejoined the act after Curly had a major stroke in 1946…reportedly reluctantly, but realizing that Moe and Larry would be in trouble without a third stooge. Shemp was off as a successful solo act (including appearing with Abbott and Costello), supposedly with the promotional line, “The Ugliest Man in Hollywood” (and this is while Rondo Hatton was working…Hatton had a medical condition which gave him unusual looks which led to him being cast in horror movies). With the Moe/Larry/Curly team, the Stooges made a number of now legendary comic shorts (after parting ways with Healy and changing studios). Moe (who was the leader in real life, as he was in the eventual shorts), took him out, shaved his head, told Healy he was a different brother, and Healy fell for it. ![]() Shemp left the act, and the third brother, Curly (then nicknamed “Babe”) joined it…the version I like the best is that Curly (then with long curly hair and a mustache) auditioned, and Healy (who reportedly had alcohol issues) didn’t like him. Healy was the front man, the lead comedian, and the Stooges (originally Moe, then his brother Shemp joined, and later friend Larry Fine) would interrupt him, leading to slapstick abuse. The Stooges were part of an act, and they didn’t get top billing…it was Ted Healy and His Stooges. While many people think of Curly as the original third stooge, who was replaced by his brother Shemp, that’s not exactly how it happened. ![]() In this case, the “third stooge” is Curly…and that’s important, and surprisingly, may have a good deal to do with why this video exists. Posted by “Retro Horror” ( was some curiosity as to what the origin of the clip was…and I was happy to answer! ![]() I got it recently in one of my Twitter feeds, the one for It can be used to express different things, but I think I’ve seen it most as unbridled joy and enthusiasm…for example, because it’s Friday. There is a popular GIF (in this usage, a short, repeating movie) of a gorilla maniacally firing a machine gun. The strange Stooge story behind the gorilla with a gun GIF ![]()
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