HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) - Page 3

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

The Stooges (Moe-Larry-Curly) did one film at Universal, which Universal still owns: "Myrt And Marge," with Ted Healy. Back in the late 1980s it aired on Cinemax as part of a "Three Stooges Month" lineup along with some of the 1960s feature films. I don't know of it being released on any video format or aired on TV any time since then. (This was around 1988.)

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Different people have different opinions, but being a Curly fan, I like the years when he was given more to do than Moe or Larry. This would be from about 1939 through 1944 or so.

One of the saddest things in movie history is to see how the effects of his illness turned him into a shell of a man, as someone once put it -- yet, even in his last shorts, when he isn't a fraction as manically funny as he had been, he still manages to be somewhat funny and always endearing as the Ultimate Stooge.

But I like all the Stooges shorts to varying degrees, even the ones with Besser.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I hate to be so terribly nitpicky, because you're fundamentally correct, of course -- but if not I, someone will pipe in and say:

"Snow White and the Three Stooges" is owned by 20th Century-Fox (and out on DVD for quite a while now).

There's also the 1951 movie "Gold Raiders," originally released by United Artists, and owned by the-lord-knows-who now.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Isn't Soup to Nuts also put out by 20th?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Warner Bros put out a double-feature DVD along with Meet the Baron...
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Stooges-...063596&sr=1-35


Yes and it's actually a fantastic restoration. While the only extra is a trailer for Snow White and the Three Stooges, they did keep the 1.20:1 format and have two mono tracks (mono and enhanced mono).

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

My favorite years for stooges would be from 1934-1939, but do like the early 40's one's before curly got sick as well. I am biased though as I am a big thirties fan and think that the greatest time for comedies or movies was done in the thirties and on up to about 1942 when the war hit.

This also would relate to my favorite time for screwball comedies from Twentieth Century (1934) to Palm Beach Story in 1942. I think 1934-1942 was the best years that Hollywood ever saw for comedies, dramas adventures and romance movies.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I guess I should have been less misleading. Thank you all for the correction.

All 190 shorts [with the exception of the earlier mentioned 4 public domain titles] are owned by Sony. This also goes for their later films with Curly-Joe, and their one and only feature with Curly called "Rockin' In the Rockies" [not to be confused with their short of a similar name, "Rockin' Thru the Rockies"].

Their pre-Columbia features with Healy are primarily owned by MGM - although I believe some of those [if not all] are owned by Warner [who put out last year's double feature of "Meet the Baron" and "Gold Raiders"]. They also were featured in a couple of shorts at the time - one called "Jailbirds of Paradise" featured Moe and Curly in a starring role, but unfortunately this film is long gone. Larry had a cameo in one film with Healy, the name escapes me at the time, but it was his only solo non-Stooge film. Moe had a cameo in two films I believe, perhaps shorts.. all of these were MGM films. Soup to Nuts was their only actual film they made at Fox, and that saw a DVD release in 2005.

Universal's "Myrt and Marge" has never been released on home video, although as someone mentioned Cinemax aired it in the 80s, so any DVD you see of that online is a bootleg [I have the original recording myself somewhere.. it's a really enjoyable flick]. The Boys with Healy had a cameo in the Clark Gable film "Dancing Lady" which Warner put out a couple of years ago as well. Their bits are short, but if you're a Stoogephile chances are you already own it.

If any of this is incorrect please let me know, I like to be as accurate as possible and it wouldn't hurt to be a little mored educated.

Also, check out ThreeStooges.net for a complete filmography of all 6 Stooges. It's the most thorough resource out there.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Yes, we definitely do have different opinions! I'm the complete opposite of that -- I don't like when Curly gets a lot of the spotlight on him over Moe and Larry (same would go for Shemp, actually) in what I might call "solo segments".

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I think even the most rabid anti-Curlyist would have to admit he was a more inspired comedian than Larry Fine.

I wonder if there's anyone on the planet who thinks Joe DeRita was a funnier comedian than Curly Howard ... well, it wouldn't surprise me if some people think so, and would fight over it.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I just don't think DeRita is funny at all, to be honest. I've seen his solo work he did for Columbia, and overall he just wasn't my cup of tea.

Besser is hilarious. Yes, he's one of the most hated in the Stooge-i-verse, but I think the man is genius. Now I'm not saying this guy is really great as a Stooge. Let's put one thing out there, his humor fit more with Abbott and Costello [see the first season of their TV show where he played Stinky]. His sissy persona just didn't translate well with the Stooges brand of humor.

To me the Three Stooges will always be Curly, Larry, Moe, and Shemp. I'm not a huge fan of the later features, and I thoroughly enjoy the Besser-era shorst simply for some of Moe and Larry's lines. All of the best gags were always with the three Howard Bros. and Larry Fine. That's just the way it is.

All IMHO, of course.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

All I "admit" is that even back from when I was a little kid and watched the Stooges on the Officer Joe Bolton Show, I always thought Larry was funnier than Curly. Moe was funnier to me than Curly too.

I don't care for Joe DeRita though. The most unfunny of all the Stooges.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Here's a strange and unfortunate thing that happened to me in the realm of Stoogery. The first time I laid eyes on the Stooges was in the summer of 1959 when I saw "Have Rocket, Will Travel."

That autumn, they started showing the Stooges shorts in my city.

So I see the fat guy with the very short hair and I think he's that unfunny one I saw in "Have Rocket." So when one of THOSE comes on, I don't watch it. I only watch the ones with Shemp, who I think is funny.

I just assumed the Shemp ones were older than the ones with the fat guy, who I thought was still living and was named Curly Joe.

I was too young to see that OBVIOUSLY the Curly episodes are older than the Shemp ones.

It wasn't until many years later that I learned the facts of the situation. In 1974, they started showing the Stooges again in my city and I told myself to give this Curly guy a chance, now that I knew he wasn't DeRita. And OMG! What a revelation.

But through it all, I never thought of Larry as funny, at all. To me, he was just there. I can't think of a single thing Larry ever said or did that made me laugh. It's Moe, Shemp, Besser and above all Curly that make me laugh. I like Larry well enough -- I just don't think he's funny.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

After viewing a few shorts, I'm in awe of how perfect the remasters look. I can't recall a single speck of dirt or scratch. At the same time, they still look film-like.

Also, Larry has had plenty of hilarious gags. My favorite is in the "Swingin' the Alphabet" scene in Violent is the Word for Curly. He's daydreaming or something, but the close-up of him staring into the ceiling until Moe slaps him is funny. The gags with the pinball machine in Three Little Pirates are funny, too. He was mostly the foil to Moe and Curly, but I can't think of any times he was totally unfunny.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I don't think Larry had the instinct for comedy and the superb timing of the Howard Brothers (or Joe Besser, for that matter). However, I do rank Larry far above poor Joe DeRita.

The Three Howard Brothers would have made a fantastic team! It's almost unbelievable that it never happened that way.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I got mine yesterday and spent most of the morning watching the first disc with my son. Wow! The prints look amazing! THIS is a perfect release and we can't wait for future volumes.

Is there an e-mail I can write to thank Sony for finally getting it right?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I just watched the first disc and this is easily the best DVD for the cheapest price on the market right now. I had heard that there was some lost footage on "Three Little Beers" that had been put on this DVD, but it really just looked like all the other versions I had seen. What was supposed to be new footage on that short.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

There was no deleted scene inserted, just a fix to how Sony released it last time.

Three Little Beers was on the "Three Smart Saps" compilation disc released in either 2004 or 2005. The scene in which Moe hits Curly on the head and he drops all of the golf balls was missing, not intentionally.. just a sloppy mastering job by Sony. The new release has this scene re-inserted.

Every home video release prior to that (as well as TV airings) have always had that scene, there was just a glitch in the mastering process.

Another scene that can be considered inserted by some is the kissing scene in Movie Maniacs. When the Stooges were put into syndication in the late 50s/early 60s, the censors at the time removed the kissing scene because they thought it was inappropriate for children's prgramming. Needless to say the print that AMC used when they aired the Stooges had it, and this new release does as well (this was Movie Maniacs first DVD issue).

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

According to a recent biography of Larry Fine called "One Fine Stooge," the trio of Moe, Shemp and Curly did perform on stage, exactly one and only one time.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Just some notes on the pre-Columbia Stooge films off the top of my head:

The Ted Healy/Stooges feature films:
Soup To Nuts (Fox) (on DVD)
Turn Back The Clock (MGM) (Brief cameo) (Not available)
Meet The Baron (MGM) (on DVD)
Dancing Lady (MGM) (on DVD)
Hollywood Party (MGM) (Clips of Laurel & Hardy on DVD as part of "TCM Archives" set, but Stooge scene not on DVD as of yet; was released in its entirety on VHS by MGM/UA)
Myrt And Marge (Universal) (not on DVD)

MGM shorts:
Nertsery Rhymes (officially unavailable; was on a few public domain releases, but in B&W -- some good color footage is in a Goodtimes compilation)
Beer & Pretzels (extra on "Flying Down To Rio" DVD)
Plane Nuts (extra on "Dancing Lady" DVD)
Hello Pop (considered a LOST FILM)
Roast-Beef And Movies (extra on "Dancing Lady" DVD)
The Big Idea (see Nertsery Rhymes above)
Jail Birds Of Paradise (considered a LOST FILM)
Give A Man A Job (not released on DVD)

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I kind of figured it must have been something like that. Thanks for the info.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I tend to agree with the assessment of Joe "Curly-Joe" DeRita and the later feature films in general (with the concession that unlike the shorts, those films were originally made with a children's audience in mind). They are fine and definitely part of the Three Stooges canon...just don't sit down to watch "The Three Stooges In Orbit" expecting something equal to "Dizzy Doctors."

But in the last several years I have gotten a chance to see some of the Stooges' TV appearances, and I have to say, DeRita is fine in the segments I've seen from "The Steve Allen Show." Stooge fans owe it to themselves to check it out. A fairly recent DVD has an abridged version of a Steve Allen show with the Stooges performing the "Maharajah," "Hospital Operation" and (my favorite) "Stand-In" sketches. Now, I'm not saying DeRita is as good as Curly Howard...but he did a great job in these performances, and the team worked together like clockwork (despite Moe Howard being very ill with the flu that night). I think maybe it gelled so well that night because the team were doing routines they'd been doing for a long time, and I think they used to do stuff like this in their live show, where they'd do the same stuff night after night. They were probably a lot better rehearsed. That might make the difference. (I did notice Moe feeding DeRita a few lines during the "Maharajah" routine, however.)

These segments are on a DVD called "The Three Stooges Extreme Rarities," which is part of Legend Films' "The Three Stooges Triple Whammy" 3-DVD set. It's a random hodgepodge of public domain stuff (along with some items that at one time or another were believed to be public domain, but I don't think are...shhhhhhh...) and although there's a lot of colorized material, most of it is also on the discs in the original black and white too, and the quality tends to be better than previous releases of the same material. There is some material I never saw before (like a trailer for "The Three Stooges Fun-O-Rama") and I've been collecting stuff on the Stooges since I was a kid. Some of it is frustrating though, because certain things are represented just by clips, and I'd really rather have had the whole show (like the Steve Allen material, and a Danny Thomas special, segments of which are included from a beautiful color videotape, even including the NBC peacock at the beginning). But there is a treasure trove of stuff here...including a Columbia "Screen Snapshots" short with the Stooges from the 1930s...I guess you could think of this set as the "DVD extras" for the new Sony Stooges shorts collection (which is great, just like everyone else has been saying).

There are clips from an interview show called "On The Go," from a beautiful B&W videotape, from around 1960 if I'm not mistaken. Just recently I watched this on my computer and noticed this for the first time...if it seems like some of the "shot composition" is odd, you're not imagining it...the image is reframed to cut out the time code at the bottom of the screen! Pretty clever!

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I watched this whole set this weekend, and I'm pretty pleased with the quality. Despite the fact that this is barebones, I really have enjoyed this and am looking forward to the other sets.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I had no idea that this was out!! I am so a huge three stooges fan, this the one of the best DVD deals I ever seen. I ordered it right away

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Absolutely breathtaking! So that is what black and white photography is supposed to look like? Bravo, Sony! Bring on Vol. 2!!!

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Sony has finally treated the Stooges with respect. And I thank them for it.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

How did you do that?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Mike, your smiley-fu is most impressive!

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

That smiley is from the ThreeStooges.net message board.

There's also a pie-throwing one which is a favorite of ours over there.