Three Stooges Collection, the - 1946-1948

 

 

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The Three Stooges Collection#5 gives us their shorts ranging in dates from Jan.10/46 to Dec.9/48.As we all know this is the set that we bid a fond farewell to arguably the most beloved of all Stooges,Jerry "Curly" Howard,younger brother to Moe and Shemp.He obviously wasn't in the greatest of shape during this the nadir of his career,as his movements and especially his delivery is much slower.When Shemp took Curly's place it was made clear that he was only subbing temporarily for his brother whom he expected to eventually return;but it was unfortunately never to be.
Curly's swan song as a full time Stooge was in Half Wits Holiday,a remake of their earlier short Hoi Polloi and footage from this film would be used several times in future shorts.We see Curly one last time in Shemp's third outing Hold That Lion.Curly is sleeping in a seat and when they lift up his hat he goes into a typical Curly sleeping routine c/w the funny snoring and barking like a dog.
Introduced into the Stooges world as supporting players during this period is prolific character actor Phil Van Zandt,Emil Sitka,Kenneth McDonald and Dee Green.Dee would be seen in many funny shorts,usually as the tall ugly girl foisted on one of the Stooges.It didn't take long for Shemp to hit his stride and in his fourth outing in Brideless Groom he is seen as a voice teacher with Dee Green as his towering,overly eager and smitten pupil.Shemp's takems as Dee tries to hit those high notes are priceless.From a strictly acting point of view it is also interesting to note Moe's reaction in Shemp's first short with the gang in Fright Night.Moe almost over reacts to Shemp's shenanigans at times but he is obviously trying to build Shemp up as the newest member and maybe get comfortable with his own brother back into the fold after many years apart.Shemp by now had been in umpteen movies as a supporting player working for various studios.He was never out of work for long and his great acting chops and comic sensibilities are right on the money throughout.Once a Stooge,always a Stooge?
One will see amongst these shorts Moe trying out Curly's clam in the soup routine(that in turn being from an old Billy Bevan short),sad to say that Moe's version doesn't measure up to Curly's.And as I said in my review of Vol#4 that Moe once thought that Abbott and Costello stole some of their material.Well Moe gets them back by using Bud and Lou's money counting routine.In it Lou,expecting a fair split,ended up either with just a dollar or owing Bud money!I will let you decide how Moe makes out.
However the gag men in Shemps first three outings seemed not to have had many original ideas as they used the same routine in all three.The routine is the use of crates as a focal point with the boys being chased around and through them.In the first two the editors decided it would be funny in both to speed up the action and the sound.They looked Keystone-ish and sounded like chipmunks in the process.In the third the crates were there again but at least the action was left at normal speed.
As far as the borrowing of gags go I saw a couple of Keaton inspired shorts in the Stooges Uncivil Warbirds(Keaton's own Columbia short of Aug/39 Mooching Through Georgia) and in Brideless Groom(Keaton's feature of 1925 Seven Chances).I also saw a little of the Laurel and Hardy Aug/29 short the Perfect Day seeping into the Stooges Pardon My Clutch.Also Fright Night would be used almost intact and remade in Jan/55 as Fling in the Ring,Monkey Businessmen was inspired by the Smith and Dale early 30s Paramount Short Mutiny on the Body,footage from Hold That Lion would be reused in the March/53 short Booty and the Beast,Squareheads of the Roundtable footage would be reused in Sept/54 as Knutzy Knights,Heavenly Daze footage would be reused in Apr/55 as Bedlam in Paradise,Hot Scots footage would be reused and remade in Nov/54 as Scotched in Scotland and I'm a Monkey's Uncle footage would be reused and remade in June/55 as Stone Age Romeos.As I have said before this is the biggest fault I have with these comedies;Columbia's decisions to constantly reuse gags,plots and sets over and over again ad nauseum.The farther in this series we go the more it is noticeable.The Stooges could have done so much with better gag men.Even though people like Bruckman,Chase,Adler et al were some of the most imaginative gag men,their best days unfortunately were well behind them.And with Columbia's penchant for turning out quick and cheaper product,this sacrificed the one thing many of them needed the most;quality.t is really a miracle and one must say a testimony to the Three Stooges talent,that they had such a long lived life in the field of comedy shorts as they did.The new up and coming medium of television would give them such a boost that it virtually reignited their careers which was just a few short years away from this sets time period.
This set is another fitting and decidedly must have set of the Three Stooges shorts from /46-/48.Like the previous editions this set has been remastered onto high def prints and the shorts have never looked nor sounded better than they have today.Highly recommended for all knuckleheads everywhere!

In the past Sony Studios has been famous for releasing products with inferior quality and sometimes canceling future installments for no reason leaving fans with incomplete collections. So far this has not been the case and Stooge Fans will be pleased that these newly remastered shorts are being presented complete and uncut, politically incorrect and in all they're Black & White glory for fans new & old to enjoy over and over again. Hip Hip Hooray!

"Three Stooges" fans can breathe easier because Sony Pictures has released the fifth "Three Stooges Collection" volume five from 1946-1948 with the same amazing video and sound quality as found in the first four volumes. Once again fans will be happy to find that the 25 shorts in this outstanding two-disc set are in chronological order as they mark the end of Curly and the return of Shemp. In my opinion there isn't a bad short in this collection and whether you like him or not "Shemp" was hilarious in his own way. With the untimely departure of Curly because of his failing health the "Three Stooges" had to reinvent themselves to keep their brand of comedy slapstick going and this set is proof that they were up to the challenge and Shemp Howard was a great fit. The quality of these shorts is a testament that bigger and better things were still to come from the "Three Stooges" and further proof that the boys wouldn't let their fans down.

Once again Sony Pictures has done an incredible job with the video and sound remastering and they should be commended for their ongoing efforts. The digitally remastered video transfers are simply amazing; no longer do these shorts look like they were made over 60 years ago and the completely restored soundtrack is the best I've ever heard these shorts sound. Missing from these newly remastered shorts is the debris, grain, dirt and sound hissing that used to plague these wonderful shorts when they aired on television. The set contains 25 shorts on two single sided discs packaged in slim cases. Once again the disc artwork and disc packaging is fantastic to say the least, making this set even more attractive and highly collectible for fans to own.

So far the only thing not included in these newly remastered "Three Stooges" DVD sets is bonus material of any kind. As a "Three Stooges" fan I really hope that bonus material or some form of extras will be included in the final installments. Fortunately fans won't have to wait long for the next installment because Volume 6 from 1949-1951 is scheduled for release on June 16/2009.

DVD Shorts Include:

Disc #1
Beer Barrel Polecats
A Bird in the Head
Uncivil Warbirds
The Three Troubledoers
Monkey Buisnessmen
Three Loan Wolves
G.I. Wanna Home
Rhythm and Weep
Three Little Pirates
Half-Wits Holiday
Fright Night
Out West
Hold That Lion

Disc #2
Brideless Groom
Sing a Song of Six Pants
All Gummed Up
Shivering Sherlocks
Pardon My Clutch
Squareheads of the Round Table
Fiddlers Three
Hot Scots
Heavenly Daze
I'm a Monkey's Uncle
Mummy's Dummies
Crime on Their Hands

A must have for every Stooges fan. What more can you ask for than to have every Stooges short in chronological order? I'm already looking forward to Volume 6 and beyond.

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