The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Shemp HowardBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 390 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-06-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951
Movie Review: A True Holiday for us Half Wits--Thank You Sony
Summary: 5 Stars
And unlike the first few reviews, I waited to write this until AFTER I actually saw the release:
* * *
Sony continues to understand what movie buffs really want: the movies.
No loud, hateful, cloying menu music or menu video; no DVD "themes" (such as 'The 3 Stooges at Work'); no extras (which would be nice, but are ultimately unnecessary)--just a no-nonsense menu to get right to what we all want: complete, restored, straight-off-the-negative-looking movies, presented in chronological order. It boggles the mind that so many studios have NO CLUE about doing this.
Buy this set, buy it for your friends' birthday, for your kids, your parents... Maybe if Sony sees how popular this series is, we can prevail upon Sony to release everything else in their archives. I'd like to see EVERY movie the Stooges were in, and all shorts by all the other comedians that worked for Columbia in the 1930s and 40s.
Volume 6 has many films I have never seen, which makes it one of the most interesting releases so far. It is the set I've spent the most time re-watching, partly because of the "new" material, and partly because the films are put together so well. In fact, every time I re-watch these, I find them funnier than the time before. I am now buying this set for friends. By the way, the visual and audio quality is perfect. The movies couldn't have been better when first released.
6 stars out of 5! Get this!
The rest of this review is just a bunch of my observations, so you may want to skip it...
~ ~ ~
I notice that all these later films seem more like stage plays, whereas the early films were more like little movies. The 1930s films make me feel like the "Anthropologist from Mars"--a voyeur, looking into the lives of curious creatures in a somehow familiar yet distant time and place, on a world that's a little cracked. The 3 Stooges seem largely unaware of the camera, and we are often taken outside. The late-40s films seem more like three funny guys doing schtick on a stage. Now, if you've ever seen Moe, Larry and Shemp doing their live TV routines (check out Youtube) you see that they are incredible stage performers, so this isn't bad--it's just different.
DVD #1: At first viewing, "The Ghost Speaks" seemed overly cutsie, with the stage blocking and acting at times unmotivated--like they're just "following the script"; but afterwards I found myself thinking so much about the ghost's engaging (and illogical) tale of woe (he has a very appealing story-teller's voice), the insouciant skeletons, the out-of-place animals, and the lazy denouement, that I had to re-watch it. Several re-watchings later it has become my favorite short subject. "Who Done It" has the best fight-in-the-dark sequence I've ever seen; "Malice..." has the best Hotdog/Catfish eating scene, even funnier than Abbott and Costello (although Larry calls the catfish a rabbit, which starts the routine on a confusing note); "Punchy Cowpunchers" is excellent overall, with some astounding stunt falls by Jock Mahoney; "Dopey Dicks" is another really well-put together movie, very satisfying and with a great ending; "Self Made Maids" is probably the closest to a Jerry Lewis movie they ever made, particularly the ending.
DVD #2: I'm sure you'll have your favorites... "Baby Sitters..." doesn't read like it will be very good, but it gave me more laughs than any of the others. Shemp is particularly good and seems to be improvising (and enjoying himself). "The Tooth Will Out", although written and Directed by Ed Bernds, does not have Bernds' usual accomplished touch; after a brilliant and surreal first half, it becomes probably the most sadistic film they ever made. On the other hand, it also showcases remarkable teamwork by Shemp and Moe in a long and apparently improvised sequence. If you watch it for that, you'll make it through. "Hula La-La", also by Bernds, is very funny and very different with one of their most charming endings. Larry really plays the piano in this film, and if they had done some real dancing and singing it might have been a classic. The final film, "Pest Man Wins", isn't quite as well put together as the 1936 "Ants in the Pantry", but it's still laugh-out-loud, and here we finally get to see the true ending of "Half Wits Holiday".
~ ~ ~
Another excellent release by Sony, and another set of really funny and very interesting movies, rarely seen outside of Southern California, by the most famous (or infamous) comedy trio of all time.
Summary of The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951
The Three Stooges return with the next 24 digitally remastered shorts covering the years 1949-1951 in this sixth collection, which continues with Shemp as the third Stooge, who had stepped in two years earlier to fill the shoes left empty when Curly became ill and retired. This collection contains such classics as "Merry Mavericks" (1951), a reworking of "Phony Express" (1943) featuring Red Morgan and his gang of bandits; "Self Made Maids" (1950), in which the Stooges not only play themselves but assume the roles of their fiancées, their fiancées' father (played by Moe) and their three babies; and "Don't Throw that Knife" (1951), which features Larry, Moe and Shemp in brilliant improvisation with nothing but household items while confined to a single room. The Three Stooges Collection Volume 6 showcases Larry, Moe and Shemp at their best -- and things just keep getting better!Similar DVD Movies
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