The Three Stooges: Lost Comedy Treasures
Our Price: $4.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $1.16 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Three StoogesDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 57 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-05-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Good Times Video
Movie Reviews of The Three Stooges: Lost Comedy Treasures
Movie Review: Valuable rarities
Summary: 4 Stars
This isn't a disc that most casual or new fans are going to be that interested in, and even the average hardcore fan isn't going to want to watch it over and over again, but there are some fascinating rarities on here, things that you won't find anywhere else. And unlike the other Goodtimes disc, 'Kings of Laughter,' here the clips are actually labeled and given brief descriptions instead of just presented as a clipshow. These clips aren't in chronological order either, but at least now they have IDs instead of leaving the viewer to wonder about or have to independently find out their origins. The clips themselves:
'Hollywood on Parade' (1934), one of their final screen appearances with Ted Healy. This was one in a series of 26 one-reelers made between 1932 and 1936; this one in particular was the ninth installment of the series. Due to erroneous mislabeling by the Criterion syndicate when Paramount sold this series to television in its early days, it has often been incorrectly labeled as having been made in 1932. This also stars Ben Turpin (a prominent silent comedian who had naturally crossed eyes) as a waiter. The most memorable part of this otherwise routine short is the slap-fest among the Stooges, Healy, and Bonnie Bonnell (a woman who often appeared with them on vaudeville and was Ted's girlfriend for a time).
'Plane Nuts' (1933), in which they perform a vaudeville routine with Healy. This one is of high historic interest, giving an idea of what they might have looked like onstage around this time period. A lot of fans are only familiar with them through their shorts and don't really know anything about how successful and funny they were on vaudeville and Broadway in their early days.
'Nertsery Rhymes' (1933), in which the Stooges appear as children who won't go to sleep, with Healy as their irritated slow-burning father, who is trying to get them to sleep by telling them nursery rhymes. He's hoping that he can sneak off with the fairy princess after they go to sleep, but to no avail. This one is also of historic interest because it's shot in two-strip Technicolor. However, I've seen better (and older!) examples of early Technicolor than this. Here the print isn't so good, and everyone's skin has a kind of pasty unnatural look to it (almost like artificial modern-day colorisation). Although given that a lot of these clips were sitting away in vaults, unseen and unrestored, for decades, this shouldn't really strike anyone as a big surprise.
Various clips from 'Swing Parade of 1946,' a film that also had clips featured on 'Kings of Laughter.' They were loaned out to Monogram Studios, a studio that was even more poverty-row than Columbia, for this movie. This looks like a rather funny movie, even if the non-Stooge scenes might be dreadful (as in the case of a number of the features they guest-starred in prior to finally being allowed to have their very own features). It's also worth noting that Curly looks and acts a lot healthier than in the Columbia shorts being made at this same time; it's not really obvious that he was a very sick man and that this would end up being one of his last film performances.
Ample clips from the long-unseen and unaired 1949 tv pilot 'Jerks of All Trades.' This is a pretty funny film, although the studio audience's laughter can be kind of distracting, coupled with the lack of sound effects. The poor A/V quality is also a downer; the print on the 'All Time Favorites' disc is somewhat better, even though one shouldn't expect too much from a film that sat around gathering dust for decades.
A number of movie trailers, for the 1951 feature 'Gold Raiders,' the awful 1960 clip show 'Stop! Look! and Laugh!,' and a number of those awful DeRita-era features. Apart from 'The Three Stooges Meet Hercules,' which I found to be halfway decent and entertaining (in its full length), the other trailers just confirm that these features from this late point in their career were rather embarrassing and geared to children. It's not a good sign when you're laughing because of how bad something is, not because it's actually funny.
A couple of commercials from the DeRita era, for Simoniz car wax, a PSA for the Arthritis Foundation, and Dickey's work clothes.
Three tv appearances, two from 'The Steve Allen Show' in 1959 and the other from 'Danny Thomas Presents' in 1965 (the lattermost in color). These were kind of amusing, and DeRita didn't grate on my nerves as much he usually does, but they just don't appeal to me that much, as humorous as they are (particularly the second one from Steve Allen's show, "The Stand-In"). It's one thing to like or at least appreciate their early shorts where they recreated their vaudeville act, but they were much much younger and fresher then, and still with their original lineup. Having a third Stooge who didn't have much of a personality or screen presence didn't help matters much either. Although perhaps their tv appearances are just an acquired taste, after being so familiar with primarily their shorts as opposed to routines they put on before a live audience.
Overall, this is a worthwhile collection of rarities, just not something that should be high up on one's list of which discs to purchase. Most people have to be fans of a person or group for awhile before feeling ready to take the plunge into more obscure and rare material.
Summary of The Three Stooges: Lost Comedy Treasures
THE THREE STOOGES: LOST COMEDY TREASURES Hard-to-Find Footage of the Stooges in "Rare" Form The Three Stooges are in "rare" form in this compilation of hard-to-find footage, featuring movie and TV appearances formerly lost, misplaced, or literally walled up in a film vault, never to be seen again--until now! You'll see their first film with Curly, Hollywood on Parade, and his only surviving appearance with the Stooges in color, Nertsery Rhymes, one of several recently rediscovered MGM films unseen for fifty years. Plus their 1949 ABC-TV pilot, Jerks of All Trades; movie trailers; rare commercials from the 1960s; and one of their final TV appearances, Danny Thomas Presents the Comics, a 1965 color special with Martha Raye. A FILM SHOWS, INC. PRODUCTION Compiled by SANDY OLIVERI Creative Consultant KEN CAYRE Executive Producers KEN CAYRE, JOE CAYRE, STAN CAYRE Production Associate JEFF BAKER Film Archivist SANDY OLIVERI ?1995 Film Shows, Inc. Approximately 57 minutes Color and Black & WhiteComedy DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Comedy DVD Video
Beverly Hills ChihuahuaRelease date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $12.88
Price in other shops:
ReligulousLions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa (Widescreen)Paramount; Release date: 2009-02-06; DVD
Best price: $8.07
Price in other shops:
The Tale of DespereauxUniversal; Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $9.56
Price in other shops:
Boston Legal: Season FiveRelease date: 2009-05-05; DVD
Best price: $31.62
Price in other shops:
Enchanted AprilRelease date: 2009-05-05; DVD
Best price: $19.98
Price in other shops:
Bedtime StoriesRelease date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Bride WarsTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-04-28; DVD
Best price: $8.79
Price in other shops:
Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops:
Marley and Me (Single-Disc Edition)Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $10.55
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-1948SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2009-03-17; DVD
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges - Meet the Baron/ The Gold RaidersWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-11-21; DVD
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 4: 1943-1945SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 3: 1940-1942SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-08-26; DVD
Best price: $13.96
Price in other shops:
Soup to Nuts with the Three StoogesRelease date: 2005-04-26; DVD
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges: Kings of LaughterThe Three Stooges: Kings of Laughter; Release date: 2001-05-15; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 2: 1937-1939SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-05-27; DVD
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges StoryGaiam; Release date: 2001-05-15; DVD
Best price: $1.30
Price in other shops:
The Three Stooges: Extreme RaritiesWELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2007-03-27; DVD
Best price: $11.95
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1: 1934-1936SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops: