The Three Stooges Collection Volume Two: 1937-1939
Studio: Sony/Columbia
Years: 1937-1939
Rated: Not Rated
Length: 415 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
The Program
Last October, after years of releasing Three Stooges shorts on DVD in disappointing collections of four or six shorts per set, Sony finally showed that it was listening to Stooges fans when it released The Three Stooges Collection Volume One: 1934-1936. The shorts in that set were fully restored and nearly pristine, shown in chronological order and in black & white only. The only concern which fans had was whether it would be a one-shot deal or if Sony was truly committed to releasing every Stooges short in this manner.
Well, only seven months have passed and now we have The Three Stooges Collection Volume Two: 1937-1939, and it is every bit as good as Volume One. The new collection includes the following shorts:
1937
Grips, Grunts and Groans
Dizzy Doctors
Three Dumb Clucks
Back to the Woods
Goofs and Saddles
Cash and Carry
Playing the Ponies
The Sitter Downers
1938
Termites of 1938
Wee Wee Monsieur
Tassels in the Air
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb
Violent is the Word for Curly
Three Missing Links
Mutts to You
Flat Foot Stooges
1939
Three Little Sew and Sews
We Want Our Mummy
A Ducking They Did Go
Yes, We have No Bonanza
Saved By the Belle
Calling All Curs
Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise
Three Sappy People
As far as I can determine, three of these shorts had never been released previously on DVD by Sony/Columbia: “Cash and Carry,” “Tassels in the Air,” and “Mutts to You.”
Volume One sold extremely well, and as I write this Volume Two is already #27 at Amazon. This of course bodes well for those of us who hope to see the entire collection of Three Stooges shorts released in this manner.
The Video
As was the case with Volume One, these shorts have been wonderfully restored and remastered.
A comparison of the short “Grips, Grunts and Groans” with the transfer which was used for the 2000 DVD All the World’s a Stooge demonstrates that dramatic improvements have been made. The speckles which appear during the opening credits have been eliminated. In the opening scene of the old transfer, the freight train which pulls into the train station appears to be a black blob. The contrasts on the new transfer have been greatly improved, and now every detail of the train can be seen.
There are a few minor blips here and there, but overall the shorts in this collection look superb, and certainly are much better than any previous prints that we have seen.
The Audio
The mono soundtracks are of course limited, but given their age they are in fine shape. The dialogue is always intelligible and the sound is pretty much free of distortion.
The Supplements
There are no supplements on this DVD set. Disc Two contains a promo for three Ray Harryhausen films which have recently been released on DVD and a promo for the DVD of Meatballs.
Other Features
Each DVD offers the option of playing all shorts or selecting individual shorts.
The Packaging
The 24 shorts in this collection are spread over two discs. Each disc comes in a slimcase and both discs come in a slipcase. The artwork on the covers of the slimcases is similar to the artwork on the slipcase, except that the slimcases has different thumbnail photographs.
The Final Analysis
I cannot recommend this set more highly. If, as seems to be the case, Stooges fans support this release with the same enthusiasm they showed for Volume One, there is no reason to believe that Sony will abandon this project. As I suggested in my review of Volume One, buy one for yourself and another for a friend -- For Duty and Humanity!
Equipment used for this review:
Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD player
Sharp LC-42D62U LCD display
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: May 27, 2008
