Stooges Three on DVD

When it comes to the knockabout comedy team the Three Stooges, movie fans are in two groups: those who love ‘em, and think they’re hysterical (“Stoogeophiles”) and those who think they’re dumb, repetitive, and painfully unfunny (“women”).

Brothers Moe Howard (1897-1975) and Shemp Howard (1895-1955) and pal Larry Fine (1902-1975) carved a minor niche for themselves in vaudeville as patsies for straightman Ted Healy; Shemp flew solo in the early 1930s and was replaced by younger brother Jerome “Curly” Howard (1903-1952). Moe, Larry, and Curly signed with Columbia Pictures to release 2-reel short subjects as the Three Stooges beginning in 1934. The series ran for more than 2 decades, with Shemp returning in 1947 when Curly retired following a severe stroke. Shemp died in 1955 and was replaced by Joe Besser (1907-1988) and then by “Curly Joe” DeRita (1909-1993). The Stooges were unceremoniously fired by Columbia Pictures in the late 1950s and their shorts sold to television, where they became a sensation. They then starred in a series of feature films through the 1960s, mainly for Columbia.

In early 1999, Columbia Tristar Home Video began releasing Stooges shorts and features in the new DVD format on a semi-regular schedule. Unfortunately, the shorts included on the discs constituted a mixed bag, and the overall package was barely satisfactory. The overall picture/sound quality of the shorts ranged from okay to excellent, with an occasional splice popping up.

The Stooges starred in a total of 190 two-reelers for Columbia from 1934 to 1959 (97 with Curly, 77 with Shemp, and 16 with Joe Besser). Some of the best of these shorts are showcased on the DVD volumes, if you look hard enough. Unfortunately, several of their weaker shorts are included as well.

The first collection is called Curly Classics and includes six shorts, led by Micro-Phonies (1945), the funniest of the later Curly films. This is the one in which the rotund stooge impersonates ‘Mme. Cucaracha' and sings opera. Moving down the list, we find Punch Drunks, wherein hearing the tune ‘Pop Goes the Weasel' transforms Curly into a vicious pugilist; A-Plumbing We Will Go, the title of which explains the plot, and Woman Haters, the Stooges' first Columbia short, spoken entirely in rhyme. The collection is rounded out with Men in Black, a not-too-funny short that surprisingly received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject, and Three Little Pigskins, which at least has Lucille Ball in it. Overall, Curly Classics rates ** out of 4.

The second collection is entitled All the World's a Stooge, and contains seven shorts, including one of their best, Violent is the Word for Curly (1938), directed by Charley Chase. The Stooges impersonate college professors and sing ‘Swingin' the Alphabet'. None of the other shorts on this disc come near the entertainment value of that one; Grips, Grunts and Groans has Curly subbing for a wrestler, 3 Dumb Clucks features the titular characters trying to prevent their father's marriage (dear old dad is portrayed by Curly with sideburns!), Three Little Pirates features the classic ‘Rajah' routine that the Stooges would utilize often in the future, and Back to the Woods showcases the boys as frontiersmen fighting off Indians. At the bottom of this collection's barrel are All the World's a Stooge, which concerns the Stooges masquerading as children and doesn't live up to its clever title, and Uncivil War Birds, one of the later Curly shorts that are almost painful to watch (incidentally, don't confuse this short with the much earlier – and much funnier – Uncivil Warriors). **½* for this one.

Next up is Spook Louder, a gem of a set. Sadly, we're back to only six shorts, but five of ‘em are terrific, and all five feature Shemp: Fright Night, Hokus Pokus, The Ghost Talks, Shivering Sherlocks, and Mummy's Dummies. All are from the period in which Shemp had just returned to the team following Curly's retirement, and all are loaded with laughs. The sixth short, Spook Louder, is the only one on the disc to feature Curly, and is good, too. The collection rates an overall ***½*.

The fourth collection is Nutty But Nice, and it is a step down. The only really good short included is Hoi Polloi, in which one nutty professor wages another that he can turn the Stooges into gentlemen. The remake, Half-Wits Holiday, is also included for some reason; it is a much lesser short, notable only as Curly's swan song as a Stooge (he suffered a stroke during filming, and disappears before the climactic pie fight). A-Ducking They Did Go, Higher Than a Kite, Nutty But Nice and False Alarms are typical Stoogefests, with the boys, respectively, as shady hunting license salesmen, auto mechanics, singing waiters and firemen. ** for this one.

The fifth collection is entitled Merry Mavericks and features six shorts, most with a Western theme. Best of all is Punchy Cowpunchers (1950), with Moe, Larry, and Shemp cavalry members sent to corral the infamous Dillon Gang, with the not-too-able assistance of Jock Mahoney as a clumsy cowpoke ("Shucks! I fell off my horse again!"). Mahoney is side-splitting and this is one of the funniest shorts the Stooges ever did, despite the fact that they're practically supporting players.

The disc also contains Out West, Vagabond Loafers, Dopey Dicks, Merry Mavericks (all with Shemp) and Cactus Makes Perfect (with Curly). All are okay for Stooge fans, with only Dopey Dicks a real standout. *** for this collection.

Collection #6 is Dizzy Doctors. There are two Curlys in this collection; Dizzy Doctors (1937) has the boys selling a miracle medicine called Brighto, which they think is furniture polish. Or something. Lotsa gags, though, and the Stooges are at their most energetic. Termites of 1938 has the Stooges as exterminators, crashing a fancy black-tie party. Both are pretty good, although not exactly top of the Stooge heap.

The other four shorts are a mixed bag, as Shemp finds himself with too many fiancées in the classic Brideless Groom (1947; "Hold hands, you lover birds!"); the Stooges wrecking yet another fancy-dress dinner party in Listen, Judge (1952); inventing a fountain of youth that turns Emil Sitka into a gorilla in Bubble Trouble (1953; an inferior remake of All Gummed Up); and as dentists in the Old West in The Tooth Will Out (1951). A nice, solid collection, especially for Shemp fans. **3/4*.

The seventh collection is called Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb, and is very entertaining. Included are Whoops, I'm an Indian (1936) with Bud Jamison ridiculously unbelievable as a "French trapper" who's menacing the boys; Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (1938), a classic episode in which Curly wins $50,000 in a radio contest and the boys check into a swank hotel, where they're hit on by three golddiggers; Rockin' Through the Rockies (1939), in which they're hired to ride shotgun for a troupe full of female entertainers heading for San Francisco; Phony Express (1943), featuring the Stooges as vagrants who are put forth as three new marshals, come to the town of Peaceful Gulch to clean up the outlaws; Gents Without Cents (1944), a delightful gem with the boys as vaudeville entertainers putting on a show for defense workers (they perform the classic "Niagara Falls" routine). In If a Body Meets a Body (1945), Curly Q. Link ("the missing Link") inherits a fortune from his murdered uncle, but has to spend the night (with Larry and Moe, of course) in a house full of the folks who are suspected of the crime.
A good collection, without a real clinker in the bunch. Gents Without Cents and Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb are the gems of this set, which rates a solid *** for Stooge fans.

The 8th collection from Columbia is called Three Smart Saps, and it's disappointing for two reasons. First, they used an edited version of Three Little Beers, missing some very funny footage of Curly. Second, unlike the previous collections, this one has only five shorts (down from the previous six and high of seven). Columbia shows very high disdain for Stooge fans.
In Beers, the Stooges are delivery men who practice golf to enter the brewery's tournament. A classic of its kind, and a great performance by Curly, who also shines in Three Smart Saps, as the boys go undercover to rescue their fiancées’ father, a former prison warden who is trapped inside his own jail. Nonsense, but fun. Unfortunately, Three Loan Wolves has Curly in declining health, and so Larry handles much of the slapstick. The Stooges are pawnbrokers who have a baby left on their counter. It's sad to see how Curly declined in his latter shorts.

Two Shemp laughfests fill out the disc, Three Dark Horses, with the Stooges acting as delegates in a crooked political convention (voting for Hammond Egger), and Three Arabian Nuts, in which they use a magic "genius of the lamp" to avoid some cutthroat Arabs.

A couple of top-notch Curly shorts and the deletion of Three Loan Wolves (plus the missing footage from Three Little Beers) would've made this one of the very best Stooges discs, but I can't give it more than **1/2*.

With the ninth Three Stooges disc, Cops and Robbers, Columbia is back to giving us six uncut short subjects. Titles are Disorder in the Court (my favorite Stooge short), Flat Foot Stooges, Calling All Curs, and Dizzy Detectives, all with Curly, and Crime on Their Hands and Who Done It? with Shemp. First off, I wonder why they called this Cops and Robbers; there’s no short by this name. Why not call it Dizzy Detectives or Flat Foot Stooges? More importantly, this is the first official Columbia Stooges DVD collection that features really poorly transferred shorts; my old RCA CED Stooges disc used to look much better than this.

Okay, enough bitching. On with the show, in descending order:

Disorder in the Court (1936) is one of the few Stooge films in the public domain, so it’s all over the place. Who killed Kirk Robin? Well, let's shake our tootsies first, and then find out. Flat Foot Stooges (1938) was a real find; the Stooges at their best as inept firemen. Directed by Charley Chase, with some nifty camera tricks and not-the-same-old-slapstick. A gem. Crime on Their Hands (1948) has Shemp swallowing a stolen diamond. Luckily, the villainous Dapper Dan happens to have a sharp knife. But what's that gorilla doing in the closet? One of the Stooges' best of the Shemp era. Who Done It? (1949) is another good Shemp short, as Old Man Goodrich (who must be and is Emil Sitka) hires the Stooges, "ace private detectives", as bodyguards. Calling All Curs (1939) is an overly familiar short with the Stooges working in a pet hospital. Similar (but superior) to Men in Black. The dogs steal the show. Finally, Dizzy Detectives (1943) features Moe, Larry, and Curly in the titular leads. A gorilla is behind a series of robberies. Silly stuff that would be better done with Shemp a few years later.

A thumbnail-in-the-eye sketch of the tenth Stooge collection from Columbia, G.I. Stooge; all shorts feature Curly as the third Stooge.

Boobs in Arms (1940): After a brief routine stolen from Laurel & Hardy's Unaccustomed as we Are, the Stooges are in the Army, doin' the drill bit with a mean sergeant. Curly is hilarious; still, Abbott & Costello did it better a year later in Buck Privates. Back from the Front (1943): Merchant Marine Stooges get their ship sunk, so they stow away aboard a Nazi freighter. G.I. Wanna Home (1946): Unable to find housing after the war, the Stooges set up their furniture in a vacant lot. (The box and disc menu mis-title this short as G.I. Wanna Go Home. Go figure.) Wee Wee Monsieur (1938): Three unsuccessful artists in Paris find themselves in the Foreign Legion, another nod to Stan & Ollie. No Dough Boys (1944): Made up as Japanese soldiers for a magazine pictorial, the Stooges blunder into a house full of Nazi spies. The best short in this collection, if you don't mind the ugliness of it all. Dizzy Pilots (1943): The Wrong Brothers' test flight of a new experimental plane goes awry, so they end up drafted -- courtesy of much of the 'drill bit' footage from Boobs in Arms (what WAS Columbia thinking, including both shorts on the same disc?!?!?!?).

A not-bad collection, all in all, with no real stinkers in the set. One or two of the transfers are weak, as with other recent discs in the set, and there's no excuse for that (or for Columbia's blunder with the title of one short). ** 1/2 * for this batch.

For the next release, Columbia decided to finally release a Stooges feature, selecting The Outlaws is Coming (1964). It's got Adam West, Emil Sitka, and a guest appearance by "Officer Joe" Bolton, who hosted a Stooges TV show. As these things go, the film is not bad, and the disc is anamorphic widescreen. The short Goofs and Saddles (1937) is included as a bonus; it features the Stooges as spies for the U.S. Cavalry. The conclusion, with the boys inventing a Gatling gun with a meat grinder, is a classic.

Next up is another feature, the guilty pleasure Stop! Look! And Laugh! (1960), a compilation of vintage Moe, Larry, and Curly Stooge bits edited into new material with Paul Winchell and his dummies and the Marquis chimps (with another cameo by "Officer Joe"). Moe sued Columbia over this film, but they all settled and Columbia went on releasing actual new Stooges films. It’s strange to see familiar Stooges routines with new music, but Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff hold their own, and the chimps’ take on Cinderella is precious. The disc includes a fine short, A Bird in the Head (1946), as a mad scientist aims to put Curly’s brain in a gorilla’s body.

Another feature from the Curly Joe era followed, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963). The film is well presented in anamorphic widescreen, but is one of the team’s weakest features.

Columbia’s 11th compilation of Stooge shorts is Three Stooges in History, and it’s a good compilation of historical-themed shorts, but only five are presented. Squareheads of the Round Table (1948), Restless Knights (1935), and Fiddlers Three (1948) put the Stooges in medieval times, while Matri-Phony (1942) sends them back to Roman times and I’m a Monkey’s Uncle (1948) goes back to the prehistoric era. Restless Knights and Matri-Phony have Curly, the others have Shemp.

One of the Stooges’ better features followed, The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962). Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe help an inventor with his land-sea-air warship, while a group of Martians try to steal it. Their most affable feature, and the widescreen anamorphic disc is exemplary.

The next shorts compilation was Stooges at Work, and once again it contained only five films, this time all with Curly. Three Missing Links (1938) is bright fun as the Stooges become movie stuntmen and head to Africa, where Curly runs into an amorous gorilla. How High is Up? has the boys landing a job as riveters on a skyscraper construction site; Dutiful But Dumb (1941) pictures them as photographers in a mythical European country that has outlawed cameras; Crash Goes the Hash (1944) has them as reporters running afoul of gangsters; and Booby Dupes (a partial remake of Laurel & Hardy’s Towed in Hole) has three fish salesmen deciding to catch the fish for themselves. An undistinguished lot.

The next Stooges release was Stooges and the Law, which again contained only five shorts, all with Curly, and they’re some of his best. In Pop Goes the Easel (1935) the Stooges hide out from the cops at an art academy; Yes, We Have No Bonanza (1939) places them as gold prospectors; In the Sweet Pie and Pie (1941, and don’t you just LOVE some of these titles?) has the Stooges sprung from Death Row – after they’ve wed three dames who needed husbands but didn’t want to be married very long (it’s a remake of Charley Chase’s Long Fliv the King); Idiot’s Deluxe (1945) is a strange tale as Moe testifies in court of some of abuse he’s taken from Larry Curly; and The Three Trouble Doers (1946) is another wild west spoof. A good set, but alas – released in March of 2004, it’s been the last set of Three Stooges shorts Columbia has released, except for two “colorized” horrors that died on the shelves.

It’s been well over two years since those have been released, and in the interim, all we’ve gotten is one uncolorized and much appreciated feature, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1961), the best of all their starring features. Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe travel back to Ancient Greece, where they battle King Odius and his hired goon, the mighty Hercules. Anamorphic widescreen, and it looks great. Columbia put this one out in March of 2005, and no Stooges films – colorized or otherwise – have been released by the studio since then. A couple of other companies have released the few Stooges films in the public domain on colorized DVDs, and they look like crap (naturally).

Fox has released two Stooges features that are well worth having for Stooges fans, sort of. Soup to Nuts (1930) is a nutty musical-comedy written by Rube Goldberg; the Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Shemp) made their film debut, backing up Ted Healy. Flash-forward thirty years and you’ll find the Stooges in the color film debut, Snow White and the Three Stooges (1960), starring Olympic skating champion Carol Heiss. It’s dreadful, their worst feature ever.

By a quick count, that’s a total of 77 uncolorized Columbia Stooges shorts on DVD (out of 190), so there are plenty of eye-pokes and belly-bops still in the vaults. As mentioned, in mid-2004 Columbia released a pair of colorized atrocities that featured the shorts in both B&W and colorized, but smart fans avoided them and sales were poor. Stooge fans have clamored for updated sets, perhaps in year-by-year order, of all 190 shorts, remastered and restored in beautiful B&W, but so far, Sony (which has the Columbia catalog) is keeping mum.

May 2006 update: Rumors are flying that in late 2007, Sony will begin releasing the Stooges shorts in restored B&W in chronological order. Stay tuned for more details!

The various Stooges discs described above are all available (SRP for most of ’em is about $20 each, but they're frequently on sale). For more Stooge bang for your buck, you can also purchase a boxed set of the first 12 Columbia discs for only SRP $130.