Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1166 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Black & White, Full Screen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 340 minutes

Amazon.com
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 sight 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 kidnapped 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

Customer Reviews

Bonified viewed review of DVD set
THIS IS AN ACTUAL VIEWED, IN FULL, REVIEW FROM AN ADVANCED COPY OF THE NEW DVD SET I RECEIVED FROM SONY PICTURES ON 10/18/07:


To Stooge or not to Stooge, that is the question. For almost a decade since Sony began issuing The Three Stooges shorts on DVD, fans have been asking when chronological ordered sets would be released. During the last nine years, previous compilations have been a mixed bag of quality prints; odd pairings of titles; ill fated "themed" discs, and a color/B&W series. Some shorts were duplicated several times, while other films never saw the light of day. The number of shorts appearing on each disc steadily decreased. If you've felt burned by previous DVD releases that had splices, missing dialogue or deleted scenes, worry not.

Sony got the message. The Three Stooges Collection 1934-1936 is the first in a series of DVD's that presents the shorts in their original release order. For ardent fans, it's a knucklehead's dream. For the beginner, it is the proper way to be introduced to the legendary trio. Each short has been restored to its original running time.


For those of you not familiar with the history of the Three Stooges, they made more films than any comedy team. A total of 190 shorts (or two reelers) and five starring feature films were produced from 1934 through 1965 at Columbia Pictures. They hold the record for the longest running studio association in Hollywood history. This was no accident. Simply put, The Three Stooges are funny. They produced a bunch of classic episodes. Of course, with 190 titles, there are some lemons in the barrel. However, with the first set of chronological shorts, each one has plenty of Stooge brilliance. Even their first short, "Woman Haters", an oddity done in rhythm, has enough mayhem to rise it above the "musical novelty" that it was originally billed.

The Stooges' career was drenched in irony. During their heyday of appearing in the classic short films, the Stooges longed to make feature length movies, fearing that the shorts were holding them back. But it was the Columbia shorts that kept them alive. Because of their running time (between 16-18 minutes), The Three Stooges shorts were like mini sitcoms. They weren't bogged down with dated musical numbers and gooey romantic sub plots like features starring Abbott and Costello and The Marx Brothers, for example. The pacing was that of animated cartoons and the Stooges were human cartoon characters. The short films they made 70+ years ago fit surprisingly well in today's video game generation of quick paced action, fast edits and short attention spans.

The other alleged nail in their career coffin was television. When the shorts market dried up in theatres due to the popularity of TV, the Stooges thought they were finished. Their backlog of films were sold in syndication and millions of people have been exposed to them ever since, therefore rescuing them from obscurity and cementing them as pop culture icons.

The first 19 of these episodes are featured in this collection. But they don't look like they did on TV. Sony has lovingly restored each short to its original brilliance and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The quality of the restoration is on par with that of Disney, the Looney Tunes series and classic films like "Wizard Of Oz", "Casablanca", and "Singin' In The Rain."

I've seen each of these Curly shorts more times than I should admit to, and watching these newly mastered films is like seeing them for the first time. Gone are the hairline scratches, dust, pops and other debris commonly found on TV and previous VHS and DVD prints. The black and white resolution is rich and some of the shorts look like they have a glossy finish to them. On "Three Little Pigskins", the picture is so clear at times, I can see the beauty parlor sign behind the boys and read that a polish and fingerwave cost 79 cents. The picture quality is that pristine! Those glorious sound effects jump from my speakers. The oldest film on the set is 73 years, and it looks beautiful on a widescreen HD TV.

So, if you're still asking yourself the question: to Stooge or not to Stooge, the answer should be as predictable as a slap from Moe. Why, Soitinly!

1934-1936 Three Stooges Filmography listing
Here are Three Stooges compleat 1934-1936 classic shorts listing with chronological order.

1934
Woman Haters / Punch Drunks / Men In Black / Three Little Pigskins

1935
Horses' Collars / Restless Knights / Pop Goes The Easel / Uncivil Warriors / Pardon My Scotch / Hoi Polloi / Three Little Beers

1936
Ants In The Pantry / Movie Maniacs / Half-Shot Shooters / Disorder In The Court / A Pain In The Pullman / False Alarms / Whoops, I'm an Indian / Slippery Silks

Total nineteen classic shorts. Some of the finest Three Stooges shorts made between 1934-1936. Disorder In The Court, Movie Maniacs are two of the best examples of three Stooges early period. Thanks for reading.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk!
At last, Sony has (eventually!) gotten around to releasing ALL the Stooges' films, and in chronological order. I just hope they don't intend to wait several months between releases. The Stooges made films for 23 years and if each DVD set includes just two years' worth of shorts, without a frequent release schedule it could be a decade before all the films are out. In other words: Sony, please don't "spread out."