The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-1948: Three Stooges: Movies & TV

Apr03

The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-1948: Three Stooges: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 3 April, 06:04 AM

Product Description
This fifth collection of The Three Stooges, which features 25 digitally remastered shorts from 1946-1948, marks the end of Curly’s career with the Stooges and the return of original Stooge Shemp. Curly suffered a stroke on the final day of filming HALF-WITS HOLIDAY and retired at age 43. Moe realized there was only one person who could fill baby brother Curly’s shoes: his older brother Shemp (who, ironically, Curly had replaced in 1932). The Three Stooges were born in 1925 when Moe and Shemp met Larry Fine. But the 1930’s Shemp left to pursue a film career in Hollywood. By the time Moe called in 1946, he was starring in films with the likes of W.C. Fields, John Wayne and Abbott and Costello. But he accepted Moe’s offer, and the original Three Stooges reunited. Shemp’s first short upon his return was FRIGHT NIGHT . And Curly did recover enough to make an appearance in HOLD THAT LION, but his health continued to deteriorate and he unfortunately passed away in 1952 at age 48. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 5 is bittersweet for the change but filled with more fun than ever?and the added bonus of not only Larry, Moe and Curly, but Shemp too!

Curly’s Final 10 Shorts & Shemp’s First 14 ,

By Joshua Downham (Muncie, IN United States) -

Finally a release date!! The 3 Stooges Collection 5: 1946-1948 will include the following 24 shorts, a few of which were later remade in the 1950s:

1946:
Beer Barrel Polecats (Curly’s declining health forced the studio to use extensive stock footage from ‘So Long, Mr. Chumps,’ & ‘In the Sweet Pie & Pie.’Below average.)
A Bird In The Head (This one still works despite Curly’s ill health. Along with ‘3 Little Pirates,’ ‘A Bird In The Head’ is another favorite Curly two-reeler from ‘46. Watch for the scene in which Curly finally gets to hit Moe back. Also, there is a rarely shown scene where the gorilla and Curly drink alcohol, which was censored out of the AMC broadcast airings. Curly’s ears shoot out steam!).
Uncivil Warbirds (Sort of a follow-up to Uncivil Warriors, only not as funny. The last stooge short to feature another opening theme besides ‘3 Blind Mice.’)
3 Troubledoers (Curly’s last western, not as great as the previous ones but still okay)
Monkey Businessmen
3 Loan Wolves
G.I. Wanna Home
Rhythm & Weep (Curly is in a sad state in this, one of The 3 Stooges worst shorts.)
3 Little Pirates (Easily the best of Curly’s last 10 two-reelers. He seems like his old self.)

1947:
Half-Wits Holiday(Sadly, Curly’s last. Stooge foil Emil Sitka’s first. A remake of ‘Hoi Polloi’ with a pie fight instead of a slap fight at the end. Curly is absent in the last 5 minutes or so of the film, having suffered a major stroke while sitting off camera waiting for his next scene).
Fright Night (The return of the original 3rd stooge, Shemp Howard. Remade as ‘Fling in the Ring.’)
Out West (Features a jail cell escape gag that was later reused in ‘The 3 Stooges Meet Hercules.’)
Hold That Lion!(The only Shemp film to feature a cameo by Curly-with a full head of hair. Filing cabinet scene was later reused in ‘Tricky Dicks.’ Shemp was so afraid of the lion that a glass plate had to be placed between the lion and the stooges in certain shots).
Brideless Groom (one of my favorites and later remade as ‘Husbands Beware’ in 1955 with a funny twist at the end)
Sing a Song of 6 Pants
All Gummed Up (another favorite and I like the remake ‘Bubble Trouble’)

1948:
I’m A Monkey’s Uncle (remade as ‘Stone Age Romeos’)
Shivering Sherlocks
Pardon My Clutch
Squareheads of the Round Table
Fiddler’s Three
Hot Scots
Heavenly Daze (Yet another classic that was later remade in 1955.’Bedlam In Paradise’ is one of the few remakes that was actually funnier than the original.)
Mummy’s Dummies
A Crime on Their Hands

COMETH THE SHEMP,

By Mike Fontanelli (Sherman Oaks, California USA) -

There was only one Curly, of course - but the vastly underrated Shemp Howard was surely the next best thing, and a class act all the way. Not many fans know that Shemp took a 50% salary cut from his successful solo career to help out his kid brother, Moe. He’d been earning twice as much for years as a busy freelance character actor, in memorable cameo bits supporting W.C. Fields, Abbott & Costello, Olsen & Johnson - and just about everyone else in Hollywood. (And, frankly, having a much easier go of it. Unfortunately for posterity, the 52 year-old Shemp was already past his prime as a knockabout comic by the time he gamely returned to the team in 1947.)

But game he was, luckily for us. Shemp was blessed with an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime face that was a gift from the comedy gods. Displaying the seasoned comic instincts of a veteran clown, Shemp came equipped with a wonderful natural delivery, perfect ensemble timing, and a hilarious arsenal of quirky sounds, twitches and classic pratfalls. Out of altruism and family loyalty, he made the devil’s choice - and three generations of comedy fans can be grateful for a noble and selfless gesture.

And was he FUNNY? Well, the proof is in the pudding, (or custard pie, as the case may be.) Even his HAIR was funny - and who else could get his head “ironed” in an industrial pants press in quite the same way? Shemp had virtually created the Stooges’ trademark style of comedy with Ted Healy in Vaudeville, before Moe, Larry Fine or Curly ever even joined the act. He was also an uncredited gag writer on some early Curly shorts, such as “Pardon My Scotch,” and in 1944 he took over for an ailing Curly during the Stooges’ many live performance appearances. Sixty years later, and the world is still laughing.

“Heeb-eep-eep-eep-eep!” Shemp fever….CATCH IT!

A beginning and an end,

By MoeHailstone (NY State, USA) -

While this collection of shorts fails to measure up to the ones that preceded them, this is an important point in the career of The Three Stooges.

The shorts on this volume represent the height of Curly’s sad demise - by 1946, he was very ill and ultimately never returned to the act on a full-time basis after suffering a stroke during the filming of Half Wits Holiday. These final Curly shorts are among the worst of his Stooge years but for very understandable reasons. He had a brief cameo in 1947’s Hold That Lion, which is featured on this set.

When Curly couldn’t continue as a member of the team, Shemp returned and would stay with them until his own death in 1955. Shemp is criminally underrated by the average fan. He wasn’t Curly, but Shemp was a very gifted comic in his own right. Curly and Shemp were two very different comics but both excelled at their type of comedy. Give Shemp a shot.
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