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| Available at Amazon.com |
When the Three Stooges shorts were first released on DVD, it was an exercise in frustration. The premium priced shiny discs contained between four to six of their shorts without any logic to the selections. Many of the best shorts were skipped in the nearly two dozen collections. The transfer quality varied wildly. What hope could there be for a Stooge-oholic to get their favorites? We were getting poked in the eyes. Thankfully someone with wisdom took control of the Stooge legacy. Now we’re getting a chance to collect them as Moe would have wanted: in order and at a nice price. The Three Stooges Collection: Volume 2, 1937 – 1939 contains 24 prime shorts with Moe, Larry and Curly creating havoc around the globe.
“Grips, Grunts and Groans” has the trio become flunkies to fighter Ivan Bustoff. Things go bad before his big match. Curly has to fake being Ivan in the ring. “Dizzy Doctors” proves once more that med school is a waste of time. The lazy-bum husbands end up in the operating room with scalpels ready to crave insanity into the fully insured. “Goofs and Saddles” puts them on the range. General Muster assigns them to bust up cattle rustlers. They trio get the great names of Buffalo Billius, Wild Bill Hiccup and Just Plain Bill. “The Sitter Downers” puts a father on edge when the Stooges want to marry his daughters. The Stooges becomes a sensation when they protest him protesting their marriage. The three couples end up getting a free house except they have to put it together. Moe unleashed with a hammer is a vision of violent beauty.
“Termites of 1938” goes buggy with the Stooges being exterminators with a vengeance. They have to spray and destroy in the middle of a swanky party. Can you guess if the boys can mingle with the rich? “Tassels in the Air” gets Moe mistaken for a famous interior designer. A rich woman hires them to redo her house. She’ll be the envy of all her society pals with her new decor. “Three Missing Links” has the Stooges go Hollywood as Curly gets a leading role in a jungle epic. They fly off to Africa for encounters with witch doctors and lions. Curly is supposed to play the gorilla, but a real ape steals his role.
“We Want Our Mummy” takes the trio to Egypt in search of King Rutentuten’s tomb. The bandages go flying as they enter the cursed ancient pyramid. This is the perfect short to run before watching Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy. “Saved By the Belle” brings political intrigue to the slapstick world. The Stooges are salesmen stuck in a Latin American country. They become involved in the brewing revolution even though neither side trusts them. This short could have been expanded into a feature length comedy. “Calling All Curs” goes to the dogs as the Stooges run an animal hospital. Things go bad when dognappers swipe a prize poodle. The trio have to get out of this jam or they’ll be ruined.
These pre-World War II shorts remind us that the Stooges weren’t merely slapstick. They explored the durability of the human body better than a Discovery channel special. The abuse dished out between them is more hardcore than the action in a UFC match except Curly never tapped out when it mattered. The legacy of the Stooges can be found with every finger to the eye, bang on the head and yank of hair. The Three Stooges Collection: Volume 2, 1937 – 1939 contains violence that deserves to be appreciated, but don’t try it at home with siblings.
The Shorts
“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,” “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,” “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” and “Three Sappy People.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers are sharp enough that you can see the strands of hair yanked from Larry’s head. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels are good enough to feel the boinks when Moe nails Curly in the head with a hammer. The shorts are Closed Captioned.
None.
For fans, this is a reason to both rejoice and bask in the glory of the Three Stooges. The Three Stooges Collection: Volume 2, 1937 – 1939 keeps the goodness coming. For those turned off by the earlier compilations, this is the collection you craved.
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Sony Pictures Home Video presents The Three Stooges Collection: Volume 2, 1937 – 1939. Starring: Moe Howard, Larry Fine & Curly Howard. Running time: 415 minutes on 2 discs. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: May 27, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
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