Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2625 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2008-08-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 396 minutes

Amazon.com
The Three Stooges--political satirists? Laugh if you will, but as demonstrated by the shorts "You Nazty Spy" and "I'll Never Heil Again"--both of which are featured on this two-disc, digitally remastered set--the boys were the first act in Hollywood to bring attention to the Nazi threat in the days prior to America's involvement in World War II. "Nazty," which was released in 1940 some nine months before Chaplin's The Great Dictator, and 1941's "Heil," have Moe donning the greasepaint mustache to play Moe Hailstone, a dull-witted wallpaper hanger who runs amok as the dictator of Moronica along with his sidekicks Larry (the Goebbels stand-in) and Curly (Mussolini, natch). If the hijinks aren't exactly drawing room humor, one must still marvel at the foresight of the team and director Jules White for conceiving the idea, and by the sheer ballsiness of the Howard brothers and Fine--all Jews--taking the air out of the most insidious anti-Semitic figure of the period. One might also view 1940's "Boobs in Arms," with the boys accidentally joining the Army, as another riff on the absurdity of the slowly mounting war. Of course, the Stooges were better known for their wild slapstick comedy, and Volume 3 of this long-overdue collection presents some of the funniest shorts in their lengthy careers. Chief among these is "What's the Matador," which pits the boys' bullfighting routine against some real live beef, and the delirious "Sock-A-Bye Baby," with the Stooges attempting to care for an abandoned child. Elsewhere, the two main themes of the shorts--the Stooges as agents of fair play, as seen in "Nutty But Nice" (Curly finds a kidnapped man by yodeling) and "So Long Mr. Chumps" (the boys free an unjustly jailed man)--or menaces to society, as shown by the devastation wreaked at a dinner party in "An Ache in Every Stake," is in full effect. As with the two previous volumes, the shorts featured here (eight of which have never been available on DVD) are presented in chronological order and pristine condition, which soitenly makes up for decades of neglect from previous fly-by-night Stooge releases. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

Volume 3 makes it to market quickly
This release may be a good sign of things to come with seven months between volumes 1 (Oct 2007) and 2 (May 2008), and only three months between the upcoming volume 3 and volume 2.

The shorts included should be:

1940
You Nazty Spy!
Rockin' Thru the Rockies
A Plumbing We Will Go
Nutty But Nice
How High is Up?
From Nurse to Worse
No Census, No Feeling
Cookoo Cavaliers
Boobs in Arms

1941
So Long Mr. Chumps
Dutiful But Dumb
All the World's a Stooge
I'll Never Heil Again
An Ache in Every Stake
In the Sweet Pie and Pie
Some More of Samoa

1942
Loco Boy Makes Good
Cactus Makes Perfect
What's the Matador?
Matri-Phony
Three Smart Saps
Even as IOU
Sock-a-Bye Baby

"A Plumbing We Will Go" is possibly the best comedy ever made by the Stooges and alone is worth the price of admission. Here the Stooges attempt to repair the plumbing in a wealthy household. Of course they don't know what they're doing, as is always the situation. They end up crossing the electrical system with the plumbing with some hilarious sight gags resulting. You'll also see the Stooges taking advantage of Moe's strong resemblance to a certain German leader as the Stooges exit the depression and enter the war years.

Volume 3
As a long time Stooge fan, its nice Sony is releasing the complete Stooge shorts. My only question is will it stop after Curly? I hope they release Shemp's shorts, even though alot of them are remakes in the later years. I give props for not changing the format of the discs (thus far) and Amazon preorder price is always $17. Like I said in the last review, Stooges have been around for almost 80 years and have a ton of footage on various dvds that could be used as great extras. Id like to see extra features instead of trailers to movies. All in all, great product and keep up the good work!

The Stooges shuffle into the Forties
I am pleased that Sony Pictures have narrowed the gap between release time for their collection. Not only do we have the nutty trio poking fun at Hitler and the Japanese during WWII, but Vol. 3 contains "A-Plumbing We Will Go", considered by the fans to be their finest short. APWWG is a prime example of putting the Stooges where they don't belong...which is pretty much everywhere!
Like the previous volumes, I'll anxiously await its release.