Sunday, July 1, 2012

THREE STOOGES ULTIMATE COLLECTION: THE WHOLE SHEBANG


For many of us we grew up with the Three Stooges. We watched their slapstick antics and laughed along as they went from one mess to another. These were guys who always seemed to make the wrong choices and yet survived to make yet another in another short film. Before my generation was one that grew up watching these shorts in movie theaters around the world. And for the current generation? They now have the opportunity to see the hilarious antics of these three from the start. Forget the new movie with slight imitations, get THE THREE STOOGES ULTIMATE COLLECTION and enjoy the originals as they were meant to be seen.

Fortunately Sony has been passing along packages of Three Stooges films to collectors and fans for years. They've made all of their earliest works available in packages that followed various years. Now all of those packages have been brought together into one along with some extras that haven't been available before. For the true fans this is pure Heaven.

The sets released before and included in this package feature the Stooges in various incarnations beginning with the original line up of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard. Set one goes from the years 1934-1936, set two 1937-1939, set three 1940-1942, set four 1943-1944 and set five 1946-1948. In the midst of those final years Curly suffered a stroke and retired only to return for one more short. Brother Shemp replaced him and the stooges continued on. The next two sets featured Shemp as the third stooge from 1949-1951 and then 1952-1954. The last set in the collection features Shemp who passed away in 1955 and was then replaced with Joe Besser. It runs from 1955-1959.

The one thing in common all of the stooges had was years performing in vaudeville. It was there that they learned the art of slapstick comedy and to date there has been none better. Not only were they masters of the art, they had a certain amount of slick comedy talk as well that resulted in laughs just as much as the slapstick did. The characters they created also did well for all generations because the boys seemed like innocents. This played well with kids and the adults got the rest of the jokes. This combination of comedic elements made the stooges the funniest and perhaps longest running comedy outfit to ever be filmed.

So, since this collection contains these previously released sets why buy the new one? Because they've included things not seen before in a three disc set. The first disc features a short not included before, the feature film HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL and several classic cartoons featuring caricatures of the Stooges. The second disc features Shemp Howard in various shorts he made without the other stooges. The third disc features shorts featuring the last of the new stooges, Joe Besser and Joe DeRita. If you already own the first sets, this can be purchased on its own. But if you know a Stooges fan who doesn't own the whole collection this is a fantastic opportunity.

Each of the sets runs anywhere from $12 to $14 dollars but this ultimate collection is currently going for just $64.59 on Amazon.com. That makes the price much less than they were on their own and they come in a box that shows the original Stooges on the cover. More amazing than that though is to think of how much you actually get for the small amount you pay. Over 3,876 minutes of footage! Over 64 hours!

There are so many worried adults out there who fear that their children seeing things like this will warp or scar them. They've taken the fun out of being a kid. Tom and Jerry are banned because of the violence. The same holds true for the Stooges with their eye pokes and slaps. The thing is that in all the years I've watched the Stooges I can't recall ever hearing of anyone losing an eye or being beaten up because someone watched them. The only thing I've ever associated them with is laughter. Perhaps its time we lightened up just a little bit. Perhaps its time we let kids be kids and get a laugh out of the same things we did growing up. If you enjoyed the Stooges as much as I did as a child then you'll want to share this with your kids today.

There is no way to pick a favorite Stooge short. I find it impossible. I've watched samples from each set and laughed at each one. In some ways they seem a little more stupid than I remember but then I laugh anyway. I appreciate Shemp Howard more than I did when I was younger. Besser and DeRita are still the weakest Stooges. And Curly reigns supreme when it comes to laughs. But the antics of Larry and Moe can be better realized when watching too. Trying to talk about them all is like swirling around in a circle, trying to give each one the credit they deserve and being unable to do each justice. The fact remains that the Stooges as a whole are one of the most amazing and funny comedy acts there ever were.

I'm hoping that the few words I've offered here do the Three Stooges justice but I doubt it. So do this. Travel back in time to when you were young and when you'd watch TV, those days when there were only 3 or 4 stations. Remember how much you laughed while watching the Three Stooges. Now take the time and make the effort to do so once again. Sony has a home run here with this ultimate collection. For movie fans this is something worth adding to your collection and putting on the watch-now-and-then shelf. This is comedy at its best.

Click here to order.

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