The Three Stooges Collections (Sony/Columbia, $24.96 each)
“Remember kids, you can laugh with ‘em, you can laugh at ‘em, but don’t do what the Stooges do!” – Captain Penny, Stooges TV host on WEWS-TV Cleveland, late 1960s.
It’s safe to say that over the past 70+ years, Columbia Pictures has made more money off the 190 Three Stooges shorts than any studio ever made from any other comedians. Since the catalog of shorts was sold to TV in the late 1950s (after the Stooges were unceremoniously fired following a quarter-century of faithful slapstick service), they’ve been playing continuously. The home video revolution brought with it countless tapes of Stooges shorts, and approximately 2 dozen DVDs or DVD collections from Sony/Columbia have already been released. (And in case you are wondering, no, the Stooges’ heirs don’t get residuals.)
Surprisingly, then, the Stooges have earned no respect with prior DVD releases. The shorts varied wildly in quantity (from 4 to 7 per disc) and quality (old and disappointing video masters were often used, and at least one short, Three Little Beers, was missing footage). Most ignoble of all, the last few short subject compilations were – horrors! – colorized, and as if that wasn’t insulting enough, we were told they were FUNNIER in “color”.
Fans squawked, complained, cajoled, and boycotted, and finally, Sony/Columbia jettisoned the fake color, digitally restored and remastered the shorts, and has begun a project that will (hopefully) encompass all 190 of the Stooges’ shorts, plus their later feature films, in a series of chronological boxed sets. The first two 2-disc sets are gems, and if future releases live up to this high standard, fans will be happy indeed.
Note that these sets do NOT cover ALL early Stooge films; as Stoogemaniacs know, they leapt from a successful career in vaudeville, serving as “stooges” (foils) for Ted Healy, into a Fox film called Soup to Nuts (1930). At that time, the Stooges (unbilled as such) were Shemp Howard, his brother Moe, and friend Larry Fine. Shemp left the team a short time later, but youngest sibling Jerry “Curly” Howard was waiting to step in. By the time the team had split from Healy and began their Columbia short subjects career, they had appeared in several MGM shorts and features. The lineup of Moe, Larry, and Curly lasted through 1946, when ill health forced Curly’s retirement. Shemp returned, and gave the series a much-needed boost (Curly’s last few years, he was often obviously sick and painfully unfunny) and the shorts continued better than ever until rising costs began to take their toll in the early 1950s. By the time of Shemp’s death in 1955, the team’s films contained more stock than new footage, so much so that producer/director Jules White completed the remainder of that season’s scheduled shorts by simply recycling old Shemp footage with an occasional obvious double. Joe Besser came aboard, and once Columbia let them go and Joe moved on, the last (and least) of the third Stooges was “Curly Joe” DeRita, that unfunny fat guy that you remember from such 1960s feature epics as The Three Stooges meet Hercules.
The remastered shorts look and sound terrific. We watched nearly all of them, including all of the ones that are making their DVD debut, and found no real problems beyond an occasional flaw that can be accounted for by the age of the materials used (for example, there’s a bit of softness to a couple of shots in Horses’ Collars). The darn things look so good, though, that we’re not going to be nit-picky about the fact that there are no subtitles or dubbed versions included (too bad; watching previous Stooge DVDs, we had fun putting on the Portuguese soundtrack, and no, we’re not kidding) or bonus shorts. Sony has recently begun opening its vaults and releasing a few of the hundreds of non-Stooges comedy shorts on DVD, including a wonderful boxed set of Buster Keaton 2-reelers, a Collins & Kennedy short on the recent Sam Katzman collection, a Shemp solo short on Golden Boy, and an Andy Clyde on the Icons of Adventure set. Supposedly, Sony is also considering boxed sets of Charley Chase and Harry Langdon shorts, and perhaps some Columbia serials. This is to be applauded enthusiastically, and here In The Balcony we'll promote those releases as hard as we can.
We feel it necessary to address the age-old question, "Are the Three Stooges funny?" I think so, as a general rule, particularly in the 1935-38 Curly era (much of it covered here) and the 1947-49 Shemp era. When I was a kid, TV would usually slash the Stooges' films all to hell to jam them into the commercial-laden time slot; often, after the opening credits the film would simply jump to a point about five minutes in (not that we needed the films to make a great deal of sense to enjoy them, of course). Seeing the films looking beautifully restored, then, is a joy and this is probably the nicest set of vintage comedy short subjects you can buy -- at least in this country, it is. Overseas, they've got these beautifully restored treasuries of Laurel & Hardy films, but that's a story for another day. Although of course the Stooge shorts don't match what Hal Roach released, keep in mind that save for the Our Gang series, which he kept going on a special deal with MGM, Roach got out of the short subject business not long after Columbia got in (the last new L&H short, for example, Thicker Than Water, was released only 7 months after the Stooges' official series began with Men in Black). The Three Stooges did not keep working steadily for a half-century in vaudeville, movies, TV, and on the stage by being not funny!
It's nice to have the Stooge shorts in chronological order (although, frankly, I'm rather impatient to get to the Shemp era), even though the DVD sets are sorely lacking any bonus material or liner notes beyond a brief plot description. Each set includes two single-sided discs; Vol. 1 puts eleven 2-reelers (about 18 min. each) on the first disc and eight on the second, while Vol. 2 divides the 24 shorts into a 13/11 split. There is no bonus material.
In The Balcony is proud to present the “lost liner notes” that should’ve accompanied the package. Enjoy!
The Three Stooges Collection, Vols. 1-2
During the heyday of the motion picture short subject, which lasted from the early silent era through the mid-1950s, a new season of shorts generally ran from the fall through the following summer. Like many series, the Three Stooges usually produced eight 2-reelers per season. The new Columbia collections of chronological Stooge shorts represents the first several seasons of releases, although Sony does not present them grouped by season but by year of release. We decided, for the sake of historical accuracy, to group them by seasons.
Pre-Season (pilot films for the eventual Three Stooges series)
Woman Haters (Filmed March 1934, released May 5)
Directed by Archie Gottler
Punch Drunks (Filmed May 1934, released July 13)
Directed by Lou Breslow
Columbia Pictures, which had distributed short subjects produced by independent companies, decided to create their own product in-house beginning with the 1933-1934 season. The studio’s first attempt, Musical Novelties, was not a success, and Jules White was hired by Harry Cohn to supervise the new short subject department. White brought in new faces and looked around for successful series he could build; the 1933-34 season included, in addition to the ten planned Novelties, ten additional shorts, six with the team of George Sidney & Charlie Murray and four with Walter Catlett. At least, that was the schedule. Two of the Novelties became Three Stooges shorts, and two of the Catlett films ended up starring other comics (in one case, Charlie Murray; in the other, Leon Errol).
Woman Haters was officially the sixth of the Novelties series, and spoken entirely in rhyme. Although certainly an atypical Stooges short, somebody at Columbia must’ve liked it, because by time it was released, Moe, Larry and Curly were already working on a follow up, A Symphony of Punches. By the time that one was released, though, the title was changed to Punch Drunks and it was no longer part of the Novelties series, which was allowed to die after nine releases. Punch Drunks is the first classic Three Stooges short, and one of the most fondly remembered. A new contract for eight shorts for the 1934-1935 season was signed, and the legendary film career of Moe, Larry, and Curly had officially begun.
Note that the original opening credits to Woman Haters have never been released on VHS or DVD; the current credits (which mimic the later Three Stooges openings) were created when the film was reissued. It’s unknown whether (but probable that) Punch Drunks had a similarly altered title. In any case, the first official Three Stooges comedy kicked off the 1934-1935 season. (A * denotes that the film is making its uncolorized DVD debut.)
SEASON ONE (1934-1935)
Men in Black (Filmed Aug.-Sept., 1934, released Sept. 28)
Directed by Raymond McCarey
Three Little Pigskins (Filmed Oct. 1934, released Dec. 8)
Directed by Raymond McCarey
* Horses’ Collars (Filmed Nov. 1934, released Jan. 10, 1935)
Directed by Clyde Bruckman
Restless Knights (Filmed Dec. 1934, released Feb. 20, 1935)
Directed by Charles Lamont
Pop Goes the Easel (Filmed Feb. 1935, released March 29)
Directed by Del Lord
* Uncivil Warriors (Filmed March 1935, released April 26)
Directed by Del Lord
* Pardon my Scotch (Filmed April 1935, released Aug. 1)
Directed by Del Lord
Hoi Polloi (Filmed May 1935, released Aug. 29)
Directed by Del Lord
The first season of Three Stooges shorts includes three of their most fondly remembered classics, Men in Black (Oscar nominee for Best Short Subject, 1934), Pop Goes the Easel (the debut of arguably the Stooges’ best director, Del Lord), and Hoi Polloi, in which Moe, Larry, and Curly are the subject of a behavioral science experiment. Other noteworthy efforts this season include the Stooges’ first western, Horses’ Collars, and first medieval comedy, Restless Knights. Both genres would serve them in good stead in the years ahead.
It’s hard to calculate why Men in Black, certainly not one of their better comedies, was the only one to garner an Oscar nomination. Our guess is that because it kicked off a new and important series for Columbia, special efforts were made to promote it.
In addition to the Stooges films released in the 1934-35 season, Columbia began series starring Andy Clyde, Harry Langdon, the team of Tom Kennedy & Monte Collins, Leon Errol, and the Radio Rogues. (One of the intended Errols ended up starring Franklin Pangborn.)
SEASON TWO (1935-1936)
Three Little Beers (Filmed Oct. 1935, released Nov. 28)
Directed by Del Lord
* Ants in the Pantry (Filmed Dec. 1935, released Feb. 6, 1936)
Directed by Preston Black
* Movie Maniacs (Filmed Oct. 1935, released Feb. 20, 1936)
Directed by Del Lord
* Half-Shot Shooters (Filmed March 1936, released Apr. 30, 1936)
Directed by Preston Black
Disorder in the Court (Filmed April 1936, released May 30, 1936)
Directed by Preston Black
* A Pain in the Pullman (Filmed April-May 1936, released June 27)
Directed by Preston Black
False Alarms (Filmed May 1936, released Aug. 16, 1936)
Directed by Del Lord
Whoops, I’m an Indian! (Filmed June 1936, released Sept. 11)
Directed by Del Lord
During the five-month production hiatus between seasons, things were happening behind the cameras. Jules White hired his older brother, Jack, as a director, and to avoid charges of nepotism christened him “Preston Black”. He also moved Black’s debut, Ants in the Pantry, ahead of an already-filmed Del Lord short in the rotation. No reflection on Mr. Black, but this season rarely hits the high points of the best films from the previous season, although the Stooges’ personalities are fleshed out nicely as they hone their characters. Black and Lord would continue to share directorial assignments on this series for one more season, after which Preston was out and Charley Chase was in.
Highlights of Season Two include the Stooges as exterminators who bring their own vermin in Ants in the Pantry and the trio taking over a film studio (“Carnation Pictures – From Contented Actors”) in Movie Maniacs. One of our all-time favorite shorts from any comics, Disorder in the Court, can also be found here… as one of four Columbia Stooges shorts that has fallen into the public domain (due to a copyrighting error), it’s a ubiquitous part of Stooge releases from many companies, and we’re pleased to report that it’s never looked better than it is does here.
In addition to the eight Three Stooges shorts released this season, Columbia scheduled series with Andy Clyde, Harry Langdon, and Collins & Kennedy. The studio ended up filling out the schedule with a solo Monte Collins short and single entries starring Guinn “Big Boy” Williams and Leon Errol.
Note that the Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1 includes Slippery Silks, released in December 1937 but actually the first short of the Stooges’ third season.
SEASON THREE (1936-1937)
* Slippery Silks (Filmed June 1936, released Dec. 27)
Directed by Preston Black
Grips, Grunts and Groans (Filmed November 1936, released January 15, 1937)
Directed by Preston Black
Dizzy Doctors (Filmed December 1936, released March 19, 1937)
Directed by Del Lord
3 Dumb Clucks (Filmed February 1937, released April 17, 1937)
Directed by Del Lord
Back to the Woods (Filmed March 1937, released May 14, 1937)
Directed by Preston Black
Goofs and Saddles (Filmed April 1937, released July 2, 1937)
Directed by Del Lord
* Cash and Carry (Filmed May 1937, released September 3, 1937)
Directed by Del Lord
* Playing the Ponies (Filmed May 1937, released October 15, 1937)
Directed by Charles Lamont
The Stooges hit their stride during this period, and settled on the Moe (bossy, violent guy), Larry (good-natured middleman) and Curly (manic butt of Moe's temper) characters we love. The Stooges are of course associated with the throwing of gooey objects, from pies to mud to artists' clay, and in Slippery Silks you'll find one of their grandest, a cream puff melee. From time to time, we see that various outside influences drive Curly wild, and it's the scent of Wild Hyacinth perfume that does him in in Grips, Grunts, and Groans. The Stooges sell Brighto, a do-all product that dissolves whatever it touches, in Dizzy Doctors. Another highlight of this season is Goofs and Saddles, with Moe as Wild Bill, Curly as Buffalo Bill, and Larry as Just Plain Bill.
In addition to the Stooges series, the current season of Columbia comedy offerings included series starring Andy Clyde, Collins & Kennedy, and El Brendel.
SEASON FOUR (1937-1938)
* The Sitter-Downers (Filmed May-June 1937, released November 26, 1937)
Directed by Del Lord
Termites of 1938 (Filmed October 1937, released January 7, 1938)
Directed by Del Lord
Wee Wee Monsieur (Filmed November 1937, released February 18, 1938)
Directed by Del Lord
* Tassels in the Air (Filmed November 1937, released April 1, 1938)
Directed by Charley Chase
Flat Foot Stooges (Filmed October 1937, released May 13, 1938)
Directed by Charley Chase
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (Filmed December 1937, released May 20, 1938)
Directed by Del Lord
Violent is the Word for Curly (Filmed March 1938, released July 7, 1938)
Directed by Charley Chase
Three Missing Links (Filmed April 1938, released July 29, 1938)
Directed by Jules White
Charley Chase arrives! From 1924-1936, Chase was a popular star of 2-reelers for Hal Roach, but when Roach got out of the short subject business, Chase was at liberty. Jules White brought him over to Columbia, and Charley gave the department a grand boost: Chase was a writer, director, and comic, and a very good singer, too. His touch enlivened many shorts he directed for other comics on the Columbia lot, including Andy Clyde, Tom Kennedy, Smith & Dale, and others. He also starred in 20 Columbia shorts himself, and his death in mid-1940 was a tremendous blow to fans of classic comedy and to the other Columbia comics.
Chase directed only five Stooges shorts, but they're a notch above anything else the Stooges were doing at the time; for Tassels in the Air, Chase reused some of his old gags from his Roach short Luncheon at Twelve (1933), and he brought the unforgettable song "Swingin' the Alphabet" into the short Violent is the Word for Curly (the title of which is a spoof of a popular melodrama of the day, Valient is the Word for Carrie). You'll find more inventiveness and energy in Flat Foot Stooges than you'll find in just about any other short they ever made.
As for the rest of the year, The Sitter-Downers is "inspired" by the brilliant Buster Keaton comedy One Week, Termites of 1938 is one of those grand shorts in which the Stooges show up at a society party to perform a menial task and end up wrecking th' jernt, and Healthy, Wealthy, and Dumb depicts what would happen if Curly won a fortune on a radio contest and it ain't pretty.
SEASON FIVE (1938-1939)
* Mutts to You (Filmed March-April 1938, released October 14, 1938)
Directed by Charley Chase
* Three Little Sew and Sews (Filmed March 1938, released January 8, 1939)
Directed by Del Lord
* We Want Our Mummy (Filmed November 1938, released February 24, 1939)
Directed by Del Lord
A-Ducking They Did Go (Filmed in November 1938, released April 7, 1939)
Directed by Del Lord
Yes, We Have No Bonanza (Filmed November-December 1938, released May 19, 1939)
Directed by Del Lord
* Saved by the Belle (Filmed December 1938, released June 30, 1939)
Directed by Charley Chase
A short season for the Stooges, with only six shorts released. To hasten things up, Jules White would take over as main director of the series with the following season, with occasional help from Del Lord and others.
As usual, the Stooges find themselves in varied careers throughout the year, including launderers, detectives, salesmen, and even singing waiters. They go in search of King Rutentooten in We Want Our Mummy; that's a name that pops up all the time in Stooge shorts.
Other Columbia comedy series of the season starred Andy Clyde, Charley Chase, and Harry Langdon.
Three of the Season Six shorts (1939-1940) are included in the Vol. 2 set and will be discussed when Vol. 3 is released, Calling All Curs, Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise, and Three Sappy People.
Recommended readings: The Columbia Comedy Shorts by Ted Okuda with Edward Waltz, The Great Movie Shorts by Leonard Maltin, and The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, and Greg Lenburg. We also recommend www.threestooges.net.