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A quartet of Three Stooges shorts, with a 3-to-1 balance tilting toward Shemp over Curly. The 1936 "Disorder in the Court" is definitely an honor-roll Stooges entry, with Curly providing testimony in a murder case. Note to prosecutors: Do not bring a vise into the same courtroom as Curly Howard. The other shorts shift to the late 1940s, adding (and highlighting) returning Howard brother Shemp in place of Curly. "Brideless Groom" has Shemp inheriting a half million dollars if he can get married in a few hours. As Moe observes, this should be a snap: "When Shemp pours on the charm, no dame can resist." Ooof.
"Sing a Song of Six Pants" is a lesser outing, with the boys running a tailor shop and getting mixed up with gangsters. It does provide an illustration of that Stooges truism: when a beartrap is located anywhere nearby, the law of probabilities favors an eventual convergence with Moe's backside. "Malice in the Palace" takes place in an Arabian café, where Moe, Larry, and Shemp are waiters. The best sequence has the boys and their diners convinced that Larry has sacrificed a dog and cat for the evening's entree.
This Fox DVD offers colorized versions of the shorts, but like the 2004 Columbia colorized discs, it also features the original black-and-white versions. The fake color looks pretty bad, with the lurid shades of the Arabian nights episode especially glaring. Stick with the improved black-and-white versions of these familiar shorts. Wraparound introductions are provided by Mike Nelson and a couple of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew--they're hit and miss, but their mockery of poor, sputtering Shemp Howard is just a bit cruel. --Robert Horton
On the DVD
ccIncludes all-new color version and restored black-and-white version
Comedy Wraparounds by the Film Crew (Mike Nelson and the cast from Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Vintage trailers
Hilarious film crew Easter egg
