Three Stooges Collection, the - 1949-1951

Thanks to Sony Studios "Three Stooges" Fans have 24 more reasons to celebrate with the recently released Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951. The 24 newly restored & remastered shorts from Sony Pictures are once again presented in chronological order completely uncut, politically incorrect and presented in Beautiful Black & White. Hip Hip Hooray!

Once again Sony Pictures have done an incredible job with the video & sound remastering and restoration with Volume six and fans should be very pleased with what they see & hear. In my opinion Stooge fans are in for a real treat with both the number of shorts included in volume six and the overall quality of the shorts themselves. Shemp Howard is absolutely hilarious! It should be noted that 15 of the shorts found in this set have never been released on DVD and after viewing this set I can honestly say I don't remember seeing some of them. Sony Pictures should definitely be commended for their ongoing efforts and for finally giving "Three Stooges" fans the best possible quality shorts ever released.

The 24 digitally remastered & restored video transfers found in Volume six are simply amazing; no longer do these shorts look like they were made over 60 years ago and the newly restored soundtrack is the best I've ever heard these shorts sound. Poor Video & Sound quality from low budget DVD companies releasing "Three Stooges" material in the public domain was always a major concern for me and I wasn't sure what to expect from Sony when they set out to remaster all 190 stooge shorts and put them in chronological order. I can honestly say that the poor picture & sound quality is a thing of the past and no longer a concern. The newly remastered soundtrack has breathed new life into these amazing shorts. I have heard words and sound effects in these shorts that I just don't remember hearing when I watched them on television.

From what I can tell there are only two things missing from these 24 newly remastered shorts. One is the debris, grain, dirt and sound hissing that used to plague these wonderful shorts when they aired on television and the second is bonus material. This wonderful set contains all 24 shorts from 1949-1951 on two single sided discs packaged in slim cases. The disc artwork and packaging is fantastic to say the least, making this set even more attractive and highly collectible for any Knucklehead to own.

Sony Pictures has failed to include bonus material of any kind in these newly remastered sets so far and that's a big disappointment for me. I can only hope that loads of Bonus material will be included in the final installment after all 190 "Three Stooges" shorts have been completely restored & remastered.

Volume Six Shorts Include:

(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
Dopey Dicks
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

Columbia pictures chief harry cohn was delivered some sad news FDR was dead and soon thereafter one of the chief
infringements on Columbia's ability to market films in the U>S> was removed. These Stooges films were big hits and drew in big crowds, and allowed the studio to show its lesser films in movie houses. However they owned no picturehouses across the country, they actually had to showcase their movies in other cinemas so they needed popular films and films distributors were willing to show, and were always at a disadvantage having no mvie houses. All that changed around the time of FDR's death as studios were no longer allowed to own cinemas..and actually during the changing 50's in the way movies were being made from spectacles, big name stars losing long contracts, musicals being phased out, and many famous stars having to show their talents in TV..which was not really much money. However at a time when many studios werent making that much money and were having a hard time finding where to fit in in the 50's and adapting to international markets, Columbia was doing quite well. The change in laws regarding the ownership of movie houses may have been a factor but also the studio continued to turn out good and popular drama and had a good reputation even though the other studios disliked this studio for reasons not totally clear.

All these changed had no effect on this act. The act changed, since Curly was not coming back after his stroke, and not having a good comic actor to showcase and there was a long search, they settled on Moe's brother Shemp, who was an original but bowed out but decided to come back. Now directing was ernest bernds and jules white the two reelers executive. White's abilities were lacklustre at best and his inabilty to direct are apparent and I dont see why he was choosen. Budgetary constraints is one reason, especially since he rushed productions and it shows in his lack of care in setting up scene and many comic set ups are muffed and he is often derivative, timing is off and some of the gags are unfunny. Bernds is much better, he doesnt have the old skills of Del LOrd or charley chase, but he brings a unique blend of contemporary film noir type scenes, killings, and his comic timing is better, he directs with much care, he bothers to write some of the shorts, and he tries to be fresh and so I suppose he took more shooting days and rehearsal than White. THis is merely supposition but I believe I am on firm ground, also he wanted to impress and stay in motion pictures. The Stooges continued to score box office success and though the act changed, they are now three stooges and no one is in the spotlight, and with curly gone the romance scenes never come off so the comedy is centered on non romantic gimmicks since we never really believe a woman can fall in love with these clowns..especially not the attractive and appealing and sexually enticing actresses the studio finds and they seem prosaic which adds to their allure.

They attempt to remake a curly masterpiece in Vagabond LOafers and shemp seems out of place, and he has no talent in this respect compared to curly and Shemp often tries to copy curly's gestures, but it comes off unfunny, perhaps prodded by directors trying to showcase his talents which would have improved this act, but he's better when original,doing his own stuff and he's not a bad comic. Late in his career before his death Moe Howard on the Mike Douglas show stated we owe it to our fans for making us one of the top show business acts around the world who wouldnt quit on the act, and they were faithful, and the dividends payed off in later years, and they played for their fans all these years, although given all the money that moe accrued the money couldnt have been that bad. In the final discs I will state why I think they remaine dwith Columbia all these years,,but we never really know?

I love vol 1-5 but had to get 6. Shemp ain't no Curly, but still amusing. By the time they got to Curly-Joe it was just lame. Vol 6 is the best of the worst.