The Three Stooges DVD Collection (Curly Classics / Spook Louder / All the World's a Stooge)

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As the boys enter the 1940's, their characters and unique brand of comedy have achieved a sort of perfection, displaying the enthusiasm, timing and creativity that comes from familiarity, genuine affection, and physical vibrancy. Curly in particular is in peak form, with a genius that would later fade as his physical problems kicked in. While some of the gags are predictable (and of course, that is part of their enduring charm), the shorts remained varied and fresh, allowing Moe, Larry and Curly to act and react upon different situations.Several shorts stand out (and this review will only focus upon a few as others have done a marvelous job of reviewing them). These are my personal favorites among the many fine shorts in this volume."You Natzy Spy" - This is the Stooges' (and Hollywood's) first spoof of Hitler and his band of "merry men." Moe does a remarkable turn of Adolf; Charlie Chaplin's wonderful "The Great Dictator" was not released until some nine months later. Quite honestly, I found Moe's portrayal of Hitler much better, although Chaplin fans will argue the point. Larry is particularly interesting in his role as Pebble - minister of propaganda."A Plumbing We Will Go" - The classic "Moe, these pipes are all clogged up with wires" short, later remade with Shemp. The original version, features a manic Curly, tangled up in the waterpipes; his childlike antics are never more hilarious (as a side note, the remake with Shemp was a classic as well)."How High is Up" - A frenetic short in which the boys end up at the top of a skyscraper construction site. Nothing particular to note here (other than the "Get the tools" routine), but just a fun one."All the World's A Stooge" - Moe, Larry and Curly play three refugee children, who are called upon to pass themselves off to a wealthy society matron. Their parody of precious little children is priceless, especially Larry, with his typical brand of humor."I'll Never Heil Again" - The worthy sequel to "You Natzy Spy," provides a fitting end to the erstwhile dictator and his henchman."An Ache in Every Stake" - The boys are icemen, delivering ice to a home at the top of one of those long LA staircases. Classic gags abound. Stooge regular Vernon Dent is at his blustery best."What's the Matador" - The Stooges are vaudeville performers, taking their bullfighting act to Mexico. They annoy the jealous husband of a gorgeous Mexican woman and hilarity ensures. Perfect timing from beginning to end. Curly is at his best in this one. This short was remade with Joe Besser as "Sappy Bullfighters." While one of Joe's better efforts, it pales in comparison to Curly's antics.The charm of these shorts is not just with Moe, Larry and Curly, but also with the wonderful co-stars who appeared with the boys at that time. Vernon Dent is the perfect foil: pompous, dignified - the perfect stuff shirt. Bud Jamison, adept at playing butlers, cops, or members of the upper crust, was an able character actor supporting other notable stars such as Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase and numerous others in a career that spanned from 1915 until his death in 1944. Talented women abounded in the shorts as well. Dorothy Appelby, Bess Flowers, Symona Boniface provide the feminine touch in a land of lunacy.As with the first two volumes, the restoration of the shorts is excellent, providing viewers, used to the sliced and diced television versions, with a new found appreciation for the programs as originally released.

This Three Stooges box set collects 3 of their best DVDs, for a total of 19 shorts. "CURLY CLASSICS" has 6 shorts, starting with their very first one from 1934, "Woman Haters." It's also unique in that the entire short is done in rhyme. "Men In Black" features the stooges as doctors whose motto is, for duty and humanity! It's one of their best and was even nominated for an Academy Award. "Three Little Pigskins" finds the stooges mistaken for star college football players, and is notable for featuring a blonde Lucille Ball. "A Plumbing We Will Go" shows the stooges to be three of the best plumbers who ever plumbed! As with many of their shorts with Curly, it was later remade with Shemp. In "Punch Drunks" Curly pops off whenever he hears Pop Goes The Weasel and punches his way to the heavyweight boxing championship. "Micro-Phonies" is hilarious, with Curly in drag as Senorita Cucaracha, and Moe and Larry as Senor Mucho and Senor Gusto. It's my all-time favorite Curly short subject."All The World's A Stooge" has 7 shorts. The title short has the stooges disguised as children who are going to be adopted by a wealthy couple. "Violent Is The Word For Curly" does NOT involve him as a boxer or a wrestler. In fact, the stooges go from gas station attendants to being mistaken for visiting professors at Mildew College for Women. This short features them doing the classic song Swinging The Alphabet. In "Three Dumb Clucks" the stooges try to stop their father (played by Curly with sideburns) from marrying a young gold-digger, whose gangster friends plan to kill him for his money shortly after the wedding. This short was also redone later with Shemp to great effect. In "Grips, Grunts And Groans" Curly goes ballistic whenever he smells a certain perfume, which Moe and Larry use when Curly has to take the place of a drunken wrestler. In "Uncivil War Birds" Curly joins the Confederate army while Moe and Larry join the Union forces. Amazingly, the country survived this conflict! "Back To The Woods" features the stooges as palefaces dealing with Indians in one of their weaker efforts. In "Three Little Pirates," the shipwrecked stooges must don disguises and use their wits (speaking gibberish) to escape from the governor of Dead Man's Island."Spook Louder" has 6 shorts, 1 with Curly and 5 with Shemp. The title short finds Curly and company as traveling salesmen who end up at the mansion of an eccentric inventor. It ends by answering the burning question, who's throwing those pies? "Fright Night" is Shemp's first short with Moe and Larry. Shemp's sparring with the boxer Chopper is priceless. (What's good for a fractured skull?) "Shivering Sherlocks" finds the stooges falsely accused of being bank robbers. The best scene is in the police station when they take the lie detector test. "Hokus Pokus" finds the stooges hypnotized by the Great Svengarlic and walking out on a flagpole high above the ground. Look out below! My personal favorite is "The Ghost Talks." The stooges must remove furniture from spooky, old Smorgasbord Castle, including a suit of armor. They discover that the suit is inhabited by the ghost of Peeping Tom. He does not want to be moved from his ancient home and he does his best to scare them away, although Shemp scares himself just by looking in the mirror! "Mummy's Dummies" is set in Ancient Egypt and features the stooges as used chariot salesmen. They stick the King's palace guard with a lemon and are taken to the palace to be executed. They are spared when they cure the King's toothache. They also save the day by uncovering a plot against the King and recovering stolen tax money. The grateful King rewards them with his daughter's hand in marriage. Since the daughter is unattractive, Moe and Larry volunteer Shemp to be her husband.

if you already know of the three stooges you wont need me to tell you how great they were/are-but you should be made aware that this current collection released by sony-this being the third chapter-is by far the ultimate/definative collection-all of the classic shorts released uncut/remastered and in release order-this chapter sees all of the shorts released between 1940 and 1942-all 23 of them on 2 discs-picture and sound quality is excellent-of course this series is only available currently on region 1-so you will need a multi region dvd player to view these gems-hopefully these classics will soon make there way to region 2

My young son was first introduced to the Three Stooges during the film Short Circuit, where they make a brief appearance. We then spent the next half an hour watching numerous u-tube clips that left me in tears and him in mild amusement and incredulity.I bought this DVD for him as an introduction into their comedy genius. While it is very funny, he was a little disappointed that his 'favourite' character Curly only appears in one of the four episodes (despite the front sleeve image, though the product description does mention it - I now find). Shemp is in the others instead.I hadn't heard of him before and guess Curly replaced him early on for the bulk of their films. I don't regret the purchase but will be looking for something more Curly in the future.

Gutted no subtitles

The Three Stooges shorts were just a one reeler 10-15 minutes, lots of slapstick and mahem; they were entertaining and still are, not sophisticated or littered with foul language just clean silly laughs, very much of a long gone era but good to see again.

Very hard to get film, rare, with bonus short goofs and saddles. In English and Spanish language, subtitles English, French and Spanish. Highly recommended