Product Description

The Three Stooges return with the next 24 digitally remastered shorts covering the years 1949-1951 in this sixth collection, which continues with Shemp as the third Stooge, who had stepped in two years earlier to fill the shoes left empty when Curly became ill and retired. This collection contains such classics as "Merry Mavericks" (1951), a reworking of "Phony Express" (1943) featuring Red Morgan and his gang of bandits; "Self Made Maids" (1950), in which the Stooges not only play themselves but assume the roles of their fiancées, their fiancées' father (played by Moe) and their three babies; and "Don't Throw that Knife" (1951), which features Larry, Moe and Shemp in brilliant improvisation with nothing but household items while confined to a single room. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 6 showcases Larry, Moe and Shemp at their best -- and things just keep getting better!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2698 in DVD
• Brand: THREE STOOGES
• Released on: 2009-06-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 390 minutes

Customer Reviews

Probably the final set of great Stooges shorts
This set contains:

1949
The Ghost Talks
Who Done It?
Hokus Pokus
Fuelin' Around
Malice in the Palace
Vagabond Loafers
Dunked in the Deep

1950
Punchy Cowpunchers
Hugs and Mugs
Do pey Ducks
Love at First Bite
Self-Made Maids
Three Hams on Rye
Studio Stoops
Slaphappy Sleuths
A Snitch in Time

1951
Three Arabian Nuts
Baby Sitters Jitters
Don't Throw That Knife
Scrambled Brains
Merry Mavericks
The Tooth Will Out
Hula La La
Pest Man Wins

These shorts are from the era when the Stooges were comprised of Larry, Moe, and Shemp. These are the probably the last of the great Stooges shorts. With television encroaching upon the motion picture industry, cost cutting measures were soon underway. One such measure taken at Columbia that had already impacted MGM and other studios was the decrease in scope of the short-subject department in 1952. Stooge short veterans producer Hugh McCollum and director Edward Bernds were casualties of this action, and this left only Jules White behind as a person in the short subject department with a feel for what made the Stooges special. Shooting schedules were shortened, old Stooge shorts were cut up and recycled into sparse new material, and fans were not fooled by all of this.

Do be aware that the first six volumes of the Three Stooges will be available in June on The Three Stooges Collection, Volumes 1-6 Bundle. This really is not a great buy, but is pretty much on par with what you pay for all six volumes when they are on sale. This might be the way to go if you don't have any of the volumes yet.

The Peak of the Shemp Years
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951 contains the following 24 remastered shorts, many of which are making their DVD debut:

1949:
The Ghost Talks
Who Done It? (originally intended to be a Curly short titled 'Pardon My Terror' and it shows)
Hokus Pokus
Fuelin' Around
Malice In The Palace (Of the four public domain stooge shorts, this one's probably my favorite. Curly made another cameo as a chef, but it was cut out of the film and Larry played the part.)
Vagabond Loafers (A remake of A Plumbing We Will Go with some old footage reused for the new version.)
Dunked In The Deep

1950:
Punch Cowpunchers
Hugs and Mugs
Dopey Dicks
Love At First Bite
Self-Made Maids (The 3 Stooges played all of the roles in this unique short.)
Three Hams On Rye (features the coughing up feathers gag from 'Uncivil Warriors')
Studio Stoops
Slaphappy Sleuths
A Snitch in Time

1951:
Three Arabian Nuts
Baby Sitters' Jitters
Don't Throw That Knife (The stooges hiding in a jealous husband's home in 'What's the Matador?' was the inspiration for this short.)
Scrambled Brains (This hilarious short makes probably the best argument that Shemp was not a poor replacement for Curly. Shemp naysayers should definitely watch this, one of Larry's favorite shorts.)
Merry Mavericks
The Tooth Will Out (If you're afraid of going to the dentist, you may want to skip this one. There's lots of drilling!)
Hula La-La
The Pest Man Wins (A remake of 'Ants In The Pantry')

In my opinion, this collection will easily be the best of the Shemp volumes. These were the peak years for Shemp and most of the funniest shorts he made with Moe and Larry will be included. The quality will begin to dip in volume 7, with the departure of director Edward Bernds and screenwriter Elwood Ullman, but there are still enough funny shorts to make up for it like Corny Casanovas, Three Dark Horses, Gents In A Jam, Goof on the Roof, etc. Decreasing budgets and increased use of stock footage will make volume 8 a flawed set, but some of the remakes like Bedlam In Paradise and Creeps actually improve upon the originals and the rare solo Shemp shorts will be great to watch. Volume 9 will be for diehards only, but home to several rarely shown shorts like A Merry Mix-Up, Horsing Around, and Flying Saucer Daffy. If a volume 10 is released, hopefully it will not include the insult Stop! Look! and Laugh!. Snow White and The 3 Stooges was a 20th Century Fox film, so it wouldn't be included, though the exclusion of that technicolor mistake wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

The Combo of Moe, Larry, and Shemp Might have been the BEST!!!
This volume contains some of my favorite Stooges shorts, especially: The Ghost Talks (with the voice of Phil Arnold as Peeping Tom), Malice in the Palace (with the Emir of Schmo), and Three Arabian Nuts (with the Genius of the Lamp). However, I don't agree that this is the best of the Shemp volumes. For me, that title easily goes to Volume 5, with the hilarity of Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, Squareheads of the Round Table, Fiddler's Three, Shivering Sherlocks, and A Crime on Their Hands. These six shorts are EASILY among the best the Stooges ever made. Curly was beloved and was a comedic genius in his own right; however, the more I watch the Shemp shorts, the more I'm thinking that the best combination of Stooges might have been Moe, Larry, and Shemp.