DVD REVIEW: THREE STOOGES COLLECTION, THE – VOLUME ONE

• Absolutely nothing. Why I oughtta…

The Pitch

“Hey, let’s release another ‘Best of the Three Stooges’ DVD. We made a lot of money the first few dozen times we did it.” “But sir, all of the best Stooges shorts have already been released on DVD. All that’s left is the crap.” “Okay then, let’s release a series of DVDs containing every single Three Stooges short ever made! That way the Stooges fans will take the crap that’s left. In fact, they’ll thank us for it!” “Good thinking, sir!”

The Humans

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, various exasperated onlookers.

The Nutshell

“Good heavens! My business/university/army/sports team/government is in dire straits! Where are those three new men I hired?”

Moe practices for his new job as Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon.

The Lowdown

There’s double-dipping and then there’s triple-dipping and then there’s this. Over the past five years or so, Sony has released dozens* of themed Three Stooges DVD sets, forcing Stooges fans to cobble together a makeshift, incomplete collection of the trio’s short films as best they could. Now, after years of milking the fans dry, comes the first (presumably) in a series of DVDs that will release the entire Columbia catalogue of Three Stooges shorts in chronological order. Call me cynical, but I can’t help but feel like all these years of delaying a comprehensive Stooges collection was a calculated move on Sony’s part. Is there a single reason why a DVD set like this one couldn’t have been released five years ago? Aside from pure unadulterated greed, that is? Considering there isn’t a single bonus feature on this disc, it’s not as if Sony put a lot of work into this collection beyond remastering the footage and throwing together some packaging. And in my experience, hardcore Three Stooges fans can be just as overzealous and obsessive as the geekiest Star Wars or Lord of the Rings enthusiast. I’m sure there are plenty of Stooge completionists out there who’ll be forced to discard hundreds of dollars worth of DVDs as they pick up this new series. Speaking as someone who’s been burned by a certain Mr. Lucas on numerous occasions, I feel their pain.

That said, aside from the absence of bonus material this is a fantastic DVD set. The Three Stooges Collection – Volume One contains nineteen shorts spanning from 1934 to 1936 and considering their age, these films look and sound astonishingly good. Compared to the way the Three Stooges looked when I caught them on local television recently (big ups to Rich Koz!), it’s obvious that a lot of work went into restoring this footage, to Sony’s credit. On top of that, it’s fascinating to watch these films in chronological order from the very beginning: Although much of the Stooges’ shtick was obviously carried over from their vaudeville act, it still takes them a little while to find their groove both stylistically and comedically. And while some of these early shorts aren’t particularly funny, I still found it interesting to watch the three of them in their early years, slowly shaping the act into the tried-and-true Three Stooges slapstick we all know and love today.

"I’ll just place this here, where nothing bad could possibly happen to it…"

Take their first movie, Woman Haters. Aside from the fact that it stars Moe, Larry, and Curly, there’s barely anything in their first film that remotely resembles their trademark style. For one thing, they’re actually trying to act, playing characters with names that aren’t their own. Hearing Moe call Curly “Jackie” for the first time was jarring enough as it is, but add the fact that the entire short is done in rhyme, and you have a positively surreal experience on your hands. The whole thing feels like some sort of Bizarro-world Three Stooges film, in which they all have different names and personalities, in which there’s hardly any slapstick at all, in which they fucking sing… And as baffling as Woman Haters is, it also suffers from being painfully unfunny – the rhyming feels especially forced, as if they added it to the script at the last minute.

On the other hand, things do get better relatively quickly. Men in Black and Three Little Pigskins, their third and fourth films, are both hilarious, though both play more like the Marx Brothers than the Three Stooges. Here, rather than antagonizing each other like we’re accustomed to, they’re working as a team to cause mischief to those around them. There’s a level of willful anarchy to these shorts that you’d usually associate with Groucho, Chico and Harpo; It’s strange seeing this type of comedy being performed by Moe, Larry and Curly. In fact, Three Little Pigskins is such an uncanny copy of the Marx Brothers’ movie Horse Feathers, both in style and in content, that I have to wonder if the Marx’s ever saw the Stooges’ film; and if so, what they thought of it. I don’t know if the Stooges were intentionally emulating the Marx Brothers or not, but the similarities are undeniable. I’d have to think that if a similar situation occurred today, the Stooges would have a prompt lawsuit on their hands.

The Stooges were forced to perform this scene using questions only. While singing a hoedown.

It isn’t until the ninth film on this set, Pardon My Scotch, that the Stooges really begin to find their own style. The last eleven shorts, aside from one or two duds, are the real meat of this collection, and there are a couple of classics in this bunch. The standouts include Hoi Polloi, where a respected professor who pulls a Pygmalion (or, if you prefer, a Trading Places) when he wagers that he can transform the Stooges into members of high society. The Stooges, predictably, end up having the reverse effect on their new aristocratic acquaintances. Then there’s Movie Maniacs, where through a series of mistaken identities the Stooges end up taking over a major film studio – probably a certain amount of wish fulfillment for the struggling group. But easily the best film in the set is Disorder in the Court, where the Stooges are the only witnesses in a scandalous murder trial, unless you count one uncooperative parakeet. In all of these films, you can plainly see how much fun the three of them are having, experimenting with their physical comedy, inventing newer and more elaborate ways to gouge each others’ eyes and bonk each other on the head. They were really building up a vast repertoire of slapstick violence here, one that they would use for the rest of their careers. There’s something strangely exciting about watching them perform these moves for the first time: When Curly first learns that he can block Moe’s eye gouge with a vertical palm, he looks so pleased with his discovery that you’d think he just cured polio.

All in all, I would say that The Three Stooges Collection – Volume One was a must-have for any Stooges fan, except for the fact that most of the best shorts in this collection have already been out on DVD for years, and I get the feeling that most Stoogephiles probably already have most of them squirreled away somewhere on their DVD shelf. If pristine picture and sound are important to you, or if you’re interested in seeing the Three Stooges stumble through their first few movies while they honed their act, then I’d say you have definite reason to upgrade. As for the more casual fan, it’s definitely worth a look, just be aware that there are some films in this collection that do not represent the Stooges’ best work. Just consider yourself forewarned: I’m not sure how Sony decided to divide these volumes, but seeing as this release only covers two out of the Stooges’ twenty-three year run at Columbia, it seems like Sony is determined to milk this series of DVDs just as much as the last one. At least this time you know exactly what you’re in for.

The original, offensive album cover for "Smell the Glove".

The Package

Considering that one of the most interesting things about this DVD set (at least to me) is the fact that we’re watching the Three Stooges create and hone their act and their personas for the first time, it would’ve been nice to have some kind of feature about the Stooges’ early years, particularly their vaudeville act. I’m not expecting much: Bring in some film historians and just have them give us some background. Especially considering how old this material is, it’d be nice to have a little more context is all. Here’s hoping we get more on Volume 2.

As I stated earlier, the picture and sound are both phenomenal, which is really the big selling point here.

8.2 out of 10

*Yes, dozens. Plural. In fact, Sony has released so many Stooges best-of sets that every word in this postscript links to a unique DVD.