Product Description

These 22 digitally remastered shorts from 1952-1954 were made during a tumultuous time for The Three Stooges. First, in 1952 Curly succumbed to the illness brought on by his stroke six years earlier; he was only forty-eight when he died. Shemp had really hit his stride by this time and he is at the top of his game in the new shorts from this period, but budget cutbacks at Columbia forced director Jules White to recycle some old footage, so although the work in this collection is first-rate, one can't help but wonder what could have been done if they'd had the opportunity to develop more new material. Fortunately, this era did leave us with such classics as the Stooges' first 3-D shorts, SPOOKS! (1953) and PARDON MY BACKFIRE (1953) ; SHOT IN THE FRONTIER (1954) a parody of the classic film High Noon ; and Larry's hilarious spoof of Brando in CUCKOO ON A CHOO CHOO (1952). These shorts are all presented as they were projected in the theaters; some in widescreen for the first time since their original release. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 7 shows how the genius of Moe, Larry and Shemp rose above all obstacles and enabled them to be the best at their craft.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1288 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2009-11-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 356 minutes

Amazon.com
What chills, what thrills! While the Three Stooges' best days were behind them, these 22 slaphappy shorts produced between 1952 and 1954 demonstrate that the enduring comedy team still had a lot of hair-pulling, eye-gouging, and head-banging life in them yet. You can be forgiven a certain amount of déjà vu when watching some of the shorts. Studio budget cuts necessitated the use of recycled footage. "Booty and the Beast," for one, contains Curly's now-poignant cameo in "Hold That Lion." Still other shorts recycled plots from the team's Curly days ("A Missed Fortune" is a remake of "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb"). While none of these shorts rank in the Stooges pantheon or are likely to change anyone's anti-Shemp bias (can't we all just get along?), they are knockabout fun for die-hard fans. The highlights of this set are "Spooks!" and "Pardon My Backfire," the team's pioneering forays into 3-D (two pairs of glasses are included). An engagement anniversary cake, water, fire, and hypodermic needle comin' at ya are crude but effective. Other shorts offer sublimely surreal silliness. In "Cuckoo on a Choo Choo," a T-shirted Larry storms around like a Marlon Brando wannabe, while a soused Shemp hallucinates a giant canary. The vaudeville tradition lives on in "Tricky Dicks," with god-awful gags (the old "wooden leg named Smith" bit) and bizarre dialogue ("How dare you look like someone I hate," a woman greets Larry). The political satire "Three Dark Horses" is a fine example of the classic Stooges formula, in which villains seek three patsies "who are too dumb to think and will do what we tell them. Now where do we find such guys?" Enter the Stooges. But others, like "He Cooked His Goose," break convention by presenting Moe, Larry, and Shemp as individuals rather than a team. While the Stooges themselves may be showing their ages, the slapstick, expertly timed and exquisitely choreographed, never gets old. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

3-D 3 Stooges! YES "Spooks" & "Pardon My Backfire" are in 3-D
Sony has confirmed that, with the current popularity of 3-D movies, they are going to include 3-D versions of "SPOOKS" and "PARDON MY BACKFIRE" in this set.

This will make up for the fact that 1953 brings about the sad cost-cutting practice of re-releasing an older short with a few minutes of new footage and giving it a new name.

Disc 1
1952
A MISSED FORTUNE - a weak re-working of a weak Curly short Healthy, Wealthy & Dumb. The Stooges live the high life on an inheritance.
LISTEN JUDGE - One of my favorites from this period. Three electricians are hired to find a short in the Judge's house.
CORNY CASANOVAS - The Stooges are all engaged to the same gold-digging girl. Told mostly as three seperate stories.
HE COOKED HIS GOOSE - One of their first off-the-mark solo offerings. Larry is a petshop dealer who's seeing Moe's wife while at the same time trying to steal Shemp's fiancée.
GENTS IN A JAM - Shemp's rich Uncle Phineas comes to visit the Stooges who are broke and about to evicted. It is a little painful to see Emil Sitka get kicked in the face multiple times. It feels like Jules White duirected it, but he didn't.
THREE DARK HORSES - The Stooges get into the political ring as crooked Kenneth MacDonald (later a judge on Perry Mason) hires them to cast the winning votes.
CUCKOO ON A CHOOCHOO - One of their wierdest shorts. Only Larry & Shemp are teamed, living in a stolen train car. Moe is the railroad detective hired to find the train car. Shemp spends most of his time dancing with an imaginary girl canary. Larry does his best Marlon Brando impression.

1953
UP IN DAISEY'S PENTHOUSE - A re-working of the Curly short "Three Dumb Clucks". Shemp impersonates his dad who is about to marry a golddigger planning to bump him off.
BOOTY AND THE BEAST - The Stooges unknowingly help a burglar break into a house. When the boys realize their mistake, they pursue the thief as he makes his escape on a train. The ending uses footage from "Hold That Lion" which includes CURLY's cameo as a sleeping train passenger.
LOOSE LOOT - The Stooges subpoena attorney Icabod Slipp to collect their inheritance from their late Uncle, pursuing him to the Circle Follies Theater. This includes attorney's office scenes from HOLD THAT LION.
TRICKY DICKS - A top notch detective spoof showing that the writers still have the stuff for a good comedy. The Stooges are detectives put on the trail of killer Slug McGurk. Again footage form HOLD THAT LION makes its way into a new short, this time it is the filing cabinet sequence.

Disc 2 (all matted to look widescreen except "Rip Sew & Stitch", "Bubble Trouble")
SPOOKS! in 2-D, then
SPOOKS! *** 3-D *** - As pie salesmen, the Stooges are captured by a mad scientist and his gorilla. Needless to say, the pies come flying directly at us, the audience. (Filmed May 11-14 of 1953 as a widescreen short.)
PARDON MY BACKFIRE in 2-D, then
PARDON MY BACKFIRE *** 3-D *** - Dangerous Bank Robbers go to the Stooges auto shop to repair their get-away car, the Stooges hear a radio broadcast about the hold-up & suspect their new customers. This is pure wire-up-the-nose Stooge slapstick. When Moe aims the grease gun at the us, the audience, we get it in the face (well almost). (Filmed 6/30 to 7/6 of 1953 as a widescreen short.)
RIP, SEW & STITCH - (re-issue of "Sing A Song Of Six Pants" from vol.5. No change to the story, but some new searching scenes in the shop were filmed using a double for Terry Hargen)
BUBBLE TROUBLE - (re-issue of "All Gummed Up" from vol.5 with 4:30 of new footage shot to change the ending. A double was used for Christine McIntyre in the new footage, she quickly runs off-screen never to be seen again for the rest of the short.)
GOOF ON THE ROOF - O.K., maybe I have more than one favorite in this set, this is the ultimate slatstick as the Stooges try to hook up a television antenna wire to their friend's TV set. This one suffers some from the letterboxing, I think it was shot for full frame then released with titles formatted for widescreen. (This was filmed from November 17-20 of 1952, before Columbia matted their camera viewfinders for widescreen, which is why this letterboxed presentation looks wrong. It is wrong.)

1954 (all matted to look widescreen)
INCOME TAX SAPPY - Yes, it is that time of year again, and the Stooges are ready to help veteran comic Benny Rubin get his tax break. (Filmed from 11/30/53 to 12/2/53 as a wide-screen short)
MUSTY MUSKETEERS - (re-issue of "Fiddler's Three" from vol.5 with some new footage at the beginning & end showing the Stooges with their girlfriends.)
PALS AND GALS - (re-issue of "Out West" from vol.5. Slight story change with new footage of the Stooges replacing "The Arizona Kid" rescuing the jailed girls, Larry ending up in jail & an escape using a covered wagon.)
KNUTZY KNIGHTS - (re-issue of "Squareheads Of The Round Table" from vol.5 with some new footage at the beginning)
SHOT IN THE FRONTIER - One of the last good Stooges shorts made. In a spoof of "High Noon" the Stooges have a shoot out with three outlaws who are out to get them. The most memorable gags are the lymricks read out on the tombstones & a strumming singing cowpoke who always hits a bad note.(Filmed from October 25-28 1953 as a widescreen short.)
SCOTCHED IN SCOTLAND - (re-issue of "Hot Scots" from vol.5 with a new opening scene of the Stooges getting their assignment to investigate strange goings on in Scotland. A double was used for McPherson in some new castle footage)

There is enough new material here to make this set worth getting. Add to that the inclusion of the 3-D shorts, and you have a "MUST-HAVE" set here. As a devoted Stooge fan I will be getting all 8 DVD sets, but this will be the last 5-star set.

The last volume with Shemp in all of the shorts
This two disc set contains the following shorts:

1952
A Missed Fortune
Listen, Judge
Corny Casanovas
He Cooked His Goose
Gents in a Jam
Three Dark Horses
Cuckoo on a Choo Choo

1953
Up in Daisy's Penthouse
Boo ty and the Beast
Loose Loot
Tricky Dic ks
Spo oks
Pardon My Backfire
Rip, Sew and Stitch
Bubble Trouble
Goof on the Roof

1954
Income Tax Sappy
Musty Musketeers
Pals and Gals
Knutzy Knights
Shot in the Frontier
Scotched in Scotland

The shorts Spo oks and Pardon My Backfire will be presented in their original 3D format with a pair of 3D glasses provided in the set.

At this point the Columbia shorts department was really feeling the heat from the competition with television, and the recycling from earlier Stooges comedies became more pronounced as Columbia sought ways to cut the cost of production. However, recycled or not, it's always a pleasure to spend time with Moe, Larry, and Shemp. Shemp died of a sudden heart attack in 1955, so this set will be the last opportunity in this series to enjoy the trio in every short.

The last four shorts starring Larry, Moe, and Shemp were made after Shemp's death and released in 1956 and consisted of recycled material with Shemp in it along with a double of Shemp - shown from behind - to complete bridging sequences. These last four shorts are Rumpus in the Harem, Hot Stuff, Scheming Schemers, and Commotion on the Ocean. All eight shorts completed in 1957 had Joe Besser as the third member.

Spooks and Pardon my Backfire in 3-D!!
According to a press release from sony, both the 3-D and 2-D versions of Spooks and Pardon my Backfire will be included, along with viewing glasses! This set will also have several Shemp shorts that have never been on DVD. Goof on the roof, Gents in a Jam, Income Tax Sappy and Corny Cassanovas to name some. Sony has done a great job on all the previous sets, so the picture quality and sound should be great.