After escaping from the railroad police after stowing away on a train, the Stooges befriend a champion wrestler named Ivan Bustoff (Harrison Greene). His trainers, who are part of the mob, have a large bet placed on Bustoff to win the big match. But Bustoff likes to go out drinking, and after a wild night out with the boys ending in Bustoff downing "a little bit of tequila, vodka and cognac" and passing out drunk, the mobsters hire/force the Stooges to become Bustoff's managers and get him to the ring sober. In the locker room at the arena, the boys are trying to wake Bustoff up, but end up knocking him out with dumb bells and causing the locker to fall on him.
File:Gripsgrunts.jpgThe trio drag a drunk Bustoff (Harrison Greene) out of the restaurant in Grips, Grunts and Groans.
In fear, the Stooges substitute Curly, who possesses a tendency to get violent in reaction to the smell of Wild Hyacinth perfume. This can be used to their advantage. But the subsequent wrestling match is not a good time for Curly as he performs poorly. Moe then spots a bottle of Wild Hyacinth from a woman spectator and gets it from her. (By this time, the mobsters got wind of Bustoff's non-participation and are threatening the Stooges with harm if Curly does not win as planned). The Wild Hyacinth is then applied to Curly, and soon the challenger is knocked out cold along with nearly everyone else in attendance as Curly goes on a rampage using the match bell as a cudgel. The bell then slips out of Curly's hands and lands on his head, knocking him out as well.
Production notes
Grips, Grunts and Groans was filmed in November 1935. Its title parodies the expression "gripes, grunts and groans."[1]
