Product Description
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When the Three Stooges first signed with Columbia Pictures,
their deal was for one short. 1934's Woman Hater, done entirely
in rhyme, wasn't a huge success, but the Stooges hit their stride
with their second short, Punch Drunks, and began to settle into
their definitive roles - Moe as boss, Larry the middleman and
Curly as their foil. Witness the rise of these comedy icons in
this high-spirited collection containing the first 10 Columbia
shorts, all of which have been remastered for the best quality
picture and sound. You'll experience the eye-pokes, face slaps,
hollow head knocks and knuckle cracks like you've never heard or
seen them before. So go ahead, nyuck yourself out!
.com
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Finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the
Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real
slap in the face and a poke in the eye to fans. The Stooges have
been anthologized, colorized, and public domained. Their shorts
have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality.
In the immortal words of Curly, they have truly been victims of
circumstance. This two-DVD set, then, is for what Stooge-philes
have long been waiting. Spanning the years 1934-36, it presents
the first 19 Stooges short subjects chronologically. These shorts
hail from the Curly era, which makes them essential. The first,
"Women Haters," comes billed as a "musical novelty" and is
performed entirely in rhyme. More interesting is that Moe, Larry,
and Curly appear as Tom, Jim, and Jack. In the second short,
"Punch Drunks," they are again not quite a team, but teaming up
to make a boxer out of put-upon waiter Curly. This is the one in
which Curly "pops" when he hears "that 'Weasel' tune." And the
hits just keep on coming.
Remember the prologue of The Twilight Zone: The Movie, in which
traveling companions Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks trade favorite
"Zones"? Many of the shorts gathered here are the ones most
quoted or referenced by Stooges fans, such as "Men in Black," the
only Stooges short to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the
one with the immortal page "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr Fine, Dr.
Howard." "Hoi Polloi" is the first Stooges short to tackle the
"environment" vs. "heredity" conundrum by introducing the Stooges
to high society, reducing the well-heeled stuff shirts into a
slap-happy mob. "Pop Goes the Easel" introduces another recurring
theme in the Stooges oeuvre as the boys pose as artists in the
art school in which they take refuge from a pursuing cop. This
short contains a signature Curlyism, "Look at the grouse," as
does "Horses' Collars," in which the mere of a mouse
completely unnerves Curly ("Moe! Larry! The Cheese!) "Three
Little Pigskins" is another mistaken identity gem, as the boys
pose as three football players (look for a very young and very
blonde Lucille Ball). Like the Little Rascals, the Stooges in
these shorts were very much of their Depression-era times, but
"Uncivil Warriors," "Restless Knights," and the decidedly un-PC
"Whoops, I'm an Indian" get their anachronistic kicks by placing
the boys behind enemy lines during the Civil War, in the medieval
castle of a kipped Queen, and in the Old West. Collectors who
have suffered through, say, "Disorder in the Court" on one of
those $1 bin Stooges collections will be heartened to know that
this set at last does these comedy classics justice. More than 70
years old, and they look better than ever! So spread out and get
your n'yucks on! --Donald Liebenson