Helen Dickson as Mrs. Gotrocks Al Thompson as Mr. Toms Johnny Kascier as Councilman Victor Travers as Sleeping party guest Judy Malcolm as Party guest Production notes Half-Wits Holiday is a reworking of 1935's Hoi Polloi, without the aid of any stock footage. Half-Wits Holiday would itself later be reworked as 1958's Pies and Guys. The untimely absence of Curly from the pie fight would prove somewhat helpful when pie-fight footage was later needed. The footage was recycled in Pest Man Wins, Scheming Schemers and Pies and Guys, as well as the compilation feature film Stop! Look! and Laugh. Curly's departure Half-Wits Holiday was filmed May 2–6, 1946; it marked the final appearance of outgoing Stooge Curly Howard as an official member of the team. During the final day of filming (May 6), Curly suffered a debilitating stroke on the set and was rushed to a nearby hospital, effectively ending his career. Curly was to be featured prominently in the pie-fight scene, but after Moe found him with his head slumped on his shoulder and with tears rolling down his eyes, it was apparent that Curly could not perform. Moe alerted director Jules White of Curly's unfortunate situation, leading White to quickly rework the scene to be divided between Moe and Larry. Reaction shots from the supporting cast were spliced in more frequently to hide Curly's absence. Supporting actor Emil Sitka, who made his debut with the Stooges in this film as the first footman Sappington, remembered: Aftermath Even before the day when Curly suffered his debilitating stroke, he had been having problems taking direction from White during filming. Many of the lines intended for Curly were either given to Larry or eliminated altogether. In the scene where the Stooges have their reflexes checked at the beginning of the short, an ailing Curly noticeably looks to someone off camera,who apparently tells him when to lift his leg or when to stay still, as well as his next line. This is one of many things that Curly needed assistance with. To help with his struggles, Curly was often placed next to his brother, Moe, to help guide him through scenes. One scene, in particular, took much longer than it should have been filmed due to Curly's health issues, but it did eventually get out albeit somewhat stilted. The Stooges are supposed to behave like proper, dignified gentlemen and communicate fluently when