 |
|
 |
 |
I'm a little
late coming to "The Three Stooges" DVD party. I missed
the first two sets, so now I'm catching up on the antics
of Moe, Larry & Curly.
"The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Three
1940-1942" is now available on DVD.
I haven't seen "The Three Stooges" in years. Actually, I
have. I bought my daughter a 75th anniversary collection
a few years ago, but the video and sound quality wasn't
very good. I don't know much about the history of the
Stooges video and copyright issues over the years. My
best guess is that this particular DVD set was done
using old prints, and possibly, the films were in the
public domain. Thankfully, Sony has gone in and made the
Stooges shine more clearly with better prints (or
digital "restored" versions). This set, 1940-1942,
is presented in the original theatrical release order.
Yes kids, before the Stooges went onto syndicated
television many years ago, their films were shown in
theaters.
Never being a Stooges fan, I sat down with my daughter
to watch their "high-larious" antics. The Stooges were
crude and obnoxious. They always seemed to be looking
for work, and once they found it, they screwed things
up. High society was poked at with genuine glee by the
Stooges. In other words, the Stooges were one of us
regular wise guys. My daughter and I laughed at many of
the situations that the Stooges got into in this DVD
volume. My snobby and critical side scoffed at those
boys causing trouble. But I found myself laughing out
loud when Curly tried making a bunk bed ladder out of
tables and chairs.
The Stooge movies from this two year period were crudely made. Wires can be seen hooked up to Curly
in "How High Is Up?" The flying insects are clearly done
on fishing wire. The camerawork is sometimes rough and
doesn't have the smoothness of today's Steadicam. You
know what? So what! These films were made on the quick
and made to make people laugh.
The Stooges were regularly shown on syndicated
television when I was a kid. I know. I refer a lot to my
days of youth on this site, but it's a point of
reference on some of the DVDs reviewed here. If there
was nothing else on television (we didn't have cable),
I'd watch The Three Stooges. I didn't understand why so
many people, especially guys, loved 'em. I still find
their antics to be repetitive. I still find them to be
somewhat obnoxious. I'd take the Marx Bros. over The
Three Stooges if I had to. Yet the Stooges had their
charms.
Curly has always been my favorite Stooge. He's the most
likable with his innocence, his facial expressions, and
his funny sounds. I find myself saying "nyuck-nyuck"
on occasion. Moe is the boss and makes sure to keep Curly
and Larry in line. Moe used to scare me as a kid with
that scowl and his rapid slaps to the face. Larry has
been the straight man in the Stooge line up. I never
found him funny, but I suppose there wouldn't be a Three
Stooges without him. Out of all the Stooges' line ups,
this one is my favorite.
Without the crazy trouble that The Three Stooges got
into on-screen, I don't believe that much of today's
comedy would be the same. After watching Moe, Larry &
Curly create mischief, I began to notice some of their
routines and jokes in some of my favorite comedy movies.
Check out most of the comedies from the 1980s, for
example, you can see the influence of the Stooges.
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Ana Lopez and CSPR
The Three Stooges™ is a trademark of C3 Entertainment,
Inc.
Photos: © Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. All rights reserved.
| DVD Quick Glimpse | |
|
|
 |
