The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-1948 Review

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(More customer reviews)There was only one Curly, of course - but the vastly underrated Shemp Howard was surely the next best thing, and a class act all the way. Not many fans know that Shemp took a 50% salary cut from his successful solo career to help out his kid brother, Moe. He'd been earning twice as much for years as a busy freelance character actor, in memorable cameo bits supporting W.C. Fields, Abbott & Costello, Olsen & Johnson - and just about everyone else in Hollywood. (And, frankly, having a much easier go of it. Unfortunately for posterity, the 52 year-old Shemp was already past his prime as a knockabout comic by the time he gamely returned to the team in 1947.)
But game he was, luckily for us. Shemp was blessed with an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime face that was a gift from the comedy gods. Displaying the seasoned comic instincts of a veteran clown, Shemp came equipped with a wonderful natural delivery, perfect ensemble timing, and a hilarious arsenal of quirky sounds, twitches and classic pratfalls. Out of altruism and family loyalty, he made the devil's choice - and three generations of comedy fans can be grateful for a noble and selfless gesture.

More Shemp facts: Shemp had virtually created the Stooges' trademark style of comedy with Ted Healy in vaudeville, before Moe, Larry Fine or Curly ever even joined the act. Simply put (for the benefit of some uninformed reviewers), without the vitally important Shemp there never would have been any Three Stooges in the first place - which makes undermining his legacy all the more pointless and absurd. He was also an uncredited gag writer on some early Curly shorts, such as "Pardon My Scotch," and in 1944 he took over for an ailing Curly during the Stooges' many live performance appearances.
Ah, but was he FUNNY? Well, the proof is in the pudding, (or custard pie, as the case may be.) Even his HAIR was funny - and who else could get his head "ironed" in an industrial pants press in quite the same way? Sixty years later, and the world is still laughing.
"Heeb-eep-eep-eep-eep!" Shemp fever....CATCH IT!

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This fifth collection of The Three Stooges, which features 25 digitally remastered shorts from 1946-1948, marks the end of Curly's career with the Stooges and the return of original Stooge Shemp. Curly suffered a stroke on the final day of filming Half-Wits Holiday and retired at age 43. Moe realized there was only one person who could fill baby brother Curly's shoes: his older brother Shemp (who, ironically, Curly had replaced in 1932). The Three Stooges were born in 1925 when Moe and Shemp met Larry Fine. But the 1930's Shemp left to pursue a film career in Hollywood. By the time Moe called in 1946, he was starring in films with the likes of W.C. Fields, John Wayne, and Abbott and Costello. But he accepted Moe's offer, and the original Three Stooges reunited. Shemp's first short upon his return was Fright Night . And Curly did recover enough to make an appearance in Hold That Lion, but his health continued to deteriorate and he unfortunately passed away in 1952 at age 48. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 5 is bittersweet for the change but filled with more fun than ever and the added bonus of not only Larry, Moe, and Curly, but Shemp too!

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The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 7: 1952-1954 Review

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(More customer reviews)Sony has confirmed that, with the current popularity of 3-D movies, they are going to include 3-D versions of "SPOOKS" and "PARDON MY BACKFIRE" in this set.
This will make up for the fact that 1953 brings about the sad cost-cutting practice of re-releasing an older short with a few minutes of new footage and giving it a new name.
Disc 1
1952
A MISSED FORTUNE - a weak re-working of a weak Curly short Healthy, Wealthy & Dumb. The Stooges live the high life on an inheritance.
LISTEN JUDGE - One of my favorites from this period. Three electricians are hired to find a short in the Judge's house.
CORNY CASANOVAS - The Stooges are all engaged to the same gold-digging girl. Told mostly as three seperate stories.
HE COOKED HIS GOOSE - One of their first off-the-mark solo offerings. Larry is a petshop dealer who's seeing Moe's wife while at the same time trying to steal Shemp's fiancée.
GENTS IN A JAM - Shemp's rich Uncle Phineas comes to visit the Stooges who are broke and about to evicted. It is a little painful to see Emil Sitka get kicked in the face multiple times. It feels like Jules White duirected it, but he didn't.
THREE DARK HORSES - The Stooges get into the political ring as crooked Kenneth MacDonald (later a judge on Perry Mason) hires them to cast the winning votes.
CUCKOO ON A CHOOCHOO - One of their wierdest shorts. Only Larry & Shemp are teamed, living in a stolen train car. Moe is the railroad detective hired to find the train car. Shemp spends most of his time dancing with an imaginary girl canary. Larry does his best Marlon Brando impression.
1953
UP IN DAISEY'S PENTHOUSE - A re-working of the Curly short "Three Dumb Clucks". Shemp impersonates his dad who is about to marry a golddigger planning to bump him off.
BOOTY AND THE BEAST - The Stooges unknowingly help a burglar break into a house. When the boys realize their mistake, they pursue the thief as he makes his escape on a train. The ending uses footage from "Hold That Lion" which includes CURLY's cameo as a sleeping train passenger.
LOOSE LOOT - The Stooges subpoena attorney Icabod Slipp to collect their inheritance from their late Uncle, pursuing him to the Circle Follies Theater. This includes attorney's office scenes from HOLD THAT LION.
TRICKY DICKS - A top notch detective spoof showing that the writers still have the stuff for a good comedy. The Stooges are detectives put on the trail of killer Slug McGurk. Again footage form HOLD THAT LION makes its way into a new short, this time it is the filing cabinet sequence.
Disc 2 (all matted to look widescreen except "Rip Sew & Stitch", "Bubble Trouble")
SPOOKS! in 2-D, then
SPOOKS! *** 3-D *** - As pie salesmen, the Stooges are captured by a mad scientist and his gorilla. Needless to say, the pies come flying directly at us, the audience. (Filmed May 11-14 of 1953 as a widescreen short.)
PARDON MY BACKFIRE in 2-D, then
PARDON MY BACKFIRE *** 3-D *** - Dangerous Bank Robbers go to the Stooges auto shop to repair their get-away car, the Stooges hear a radio broadcast about the hold-up & suspect their new customers. This is pure wire-up-the-nose Stooge slapstick. When Moe aims the grease gun at the us, the audience, we get it in the face (well almost). (Filmed 6/30 to 7/6 of 1953 as a widescreen short.)
RIP, SEW & STITCH - (re-issue of "Sing A Song Of Six Pants" from vol.5. No change to the story, but some new searching scenes in the shop were filmed using a double for Terry Hargen)
BUBBLE TROUBLE - (re-issue of "All Gummed Up" from vol.5 with 4:30 of new footage shot to change the ending. A double was used for Christine McIntyre in the new footage, she quickly runs off-screen never to be seen again for the rest of the short.)
GOOF ON THE ROOF - O.K., maybe I have more than one favorite in this set, this is the ultimate slatstick as the Stooges try to hook up a television antenna wire to their friend's TV set. This one suffers some from the letterboxing, I think it was shot for full frame then released with titles formatted for widescreen. (This was filmed from November 17-20 of 1952, before Columbia matted their camera viewfinders for widescreen, which is why this letterboxed presentation looks wrong. It is wrong.)
1954 (all matted to look widescreen)
INCOME TAX SAPPY - Yes, it is that time of year again, and the Stooges are ready to help veteran comic Benny Rubin get his tax break. (Filmed from 11/30/53 to 12/2/53 as a wide-screen short)
MUSTY MUSKETEERS - (re-issue of "Fiddler's Three" from vol.5 with some new footage at the beginning & end showing the Stooges with their girlfriends.)
PALS AND GALS - (re-issue of "Out West" from vol.5. Slight story change with new footage of the Stooges replacing "The Arizona Kid" rescuing the jailed girls, Larry ending up in jail & an escape using a covered wagon.)
KNUTZY KNIGHTS - (re-issue of "Squareheads Of The Round Table" from vol.5 with some new footage at the beginning)
SHOT IN THE FRONTIER - One of the last good Stooges shorts made. In a spoof of "High Noon" the Stooges have a shoot out with three outlaws who are out to get them. The most memorable gags are the lymricks read out on the tombstones & a strumming singing cowpoke who always hits a bad note.(Filmed from October 25-28 1953 as a widescreen short.)
SCOTCHED IN SCOTLAND - (re-issue of "Hot Scots" from vol.5 with a new opening scene of the Stooges getting their assignment to investigate strange goings on in Scotland. A double was used for McPherson in some new castle footage)
There is enough new material here to make this set worth getting. Add to that the inclusion of the 3-D shorts, and you have a "MUST-HAVE" set here. As a devoted Stooge fan I will be getting all 8 DVD sets, but this will be the last 5-star set.

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These 22 digitally remastered shorts from 1952-1954 were made during a tumultuous time for The Three Stooges. First, in 1952 Curly succumbed to the illness brought on by his stroke six years earlier; he was only forty-eight when he died. Shemp had really hit his stride by this time and he is at the top of his game in the new shorts from this period, but budget cutbacks at Columbia forced director Jules White to recycle some old footage, so although the work in this collection is first-rate, one can't help but wonder what could have been done if they'd had the opportunity to develop more new material. Fortunately, this era did leave us with such classics as the Stooges' first 3-D shorts, "Spooks!" (1953) and "Pardon My Backfire" (1953) ; "Shot In The Frontier" (1954) a parody of the classic film High Noon ; and Larry's hilarious spoof of Brando in "Cuckoo on A Choo Choo" (1952). These shorts are all presented as they were projected in the theaters; some in widescreen for the first time since their original release. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 7 shows how the genius of Moe, Larry, and Shemp rose above all obstacles and enabled them to be the best at their craft.

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The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951 Review

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(More customer reviews)This set contains:
1949
The Ghost Talks
Who Done It?
Hokus Pokus
Fuelin' Around
Malice in the Palace
Vagabond Loafers
Dunked in the Deep
1950
Punchy Cowpunchers
Hugs and Mugs
Do pey Ducks
Love at First Bite
Self-Made Maids
Three Hams on Rye
Studio Stoops
Slaphappy Sleuths
A Snitch in Time
1951
Three Arabian Nuts
Baby Sitters Jitters
Don't Throw That Knife
Scrambled Brains
Merry Mavericks
The Tooth Will Out
Hula La La
Pest Man Wins
These shorts are from the era when the Stooges were comprised of Larry, Moe, and Shemp. These are the probably the last of the great Stooges shorts. With television encroaching upon the motion picture industry, cost cutting measures were soon underway. One such measure taken at Columbia that had already impacted MGM and other studios was the decrease in scope of the short-subject department in 1952. Stooge short veterans producer Hugh McCollum and director Edward Bernds were casualties of this action, and this left only Jules White behind as a person in the short subject department with a feel for what made the Stooges special. Shooting schedules were shortened, old Stooge shorts were cut up and recycled into sparse new material, and fans were not fooled by all of this.
Do be aware that the first six volumes of the Three Stooges will be available in June on The Three Stooges Collection, Volumes 1-6 Bundle. This really is not a great buy, but is pretty much on par with what you pay for all six volumes when they are on sale. This might be the way to go if you don't have any of the volumes yet.

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The Three Stooges return with the next 24 digitally remastered shorts covering the years 1949-1951 in this sixth collection, which continues with Shemp as the third Stooge, who had stepped in two years earlier to fill the shoes left empty when Curly became ill and retired. This collection contains such classics as "Merry Mavericks" (1951), a reworking of "Phony Express" (1943) featuring Red Morgan and his gang of bandits; "Self Made Maids" (1950), in which the Stooges not only play themselves but assume the roles of their fiancées, their fiancées' father (played by Moe) and their three babies; and "Don't Throw that Knife" (1951), which features Larry, Moe and Shemp in brilliant improvisation with nothing but household items while confined to a single room.The Three Stooges Collection Volume 6 showcases Larry, Moe and Shemp at their best -- and things just keep getting better!

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