Customer Reviews

The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I must tell you that I am somewhat biased toward the subject matter of The Complete Three Stooges as I am Larry Fine's eldest grandchild. I also worked with them in my youth.

Having intimate knowledge of The Three Stooges both personally and professionally, I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy and detail brought to this filmography by Dr. Solomon.

As a family member I think all Three Stooges fans will get a true picture of the Stooges body of work and its importance to the development of comedy as a visual art.

As a fan I was surprised about the many details brought to light that even I did not know about their films.

The book as a filmography is the most detailed I have seen and can serve as a guide for compiling such a work. It's simply the most complete filmography I have encountered on any subject.

It's well researched, well written, factual and fun to read. This book belongs in the library of every Three Stooges fan, comedy fan and film fan.

For years I've been looking for that perfect guide to Stoogedom. Did I find it? Well, kind of. Solomon's book does have its merits. It covers and analyzes ever single one of their films and cameos appearances (it is a filmography after all) in excessive detail. In some ways, that is also one of its faults, however. Much of the book's wopping size is taken up with Solomon's listing of their verbal and visual gags. A few succinct summaries or examples would've worked perfectly here - such as the first appearance of certain jokes and gags, etc. - but instead, he goes on for pages, listing much of the dialogue and which of their 190 shorts they'd previously appeared in. Unfortunately, this tendency towards "list writing" made for a very tedious read at times.

What was more effective was Solomon's "Perspective" and "Other Notes" sections where he offered up more analysis on Stooge themes and included some production details of the talent involved. But despite all Solomon's research, what his writing lacked was a strong sense of the Stooges themselves and what went on behind the scenes. Many times I found myself frustrated when Solomon would start into a brief anecdote or personal detail and drop it very quickly. (The death of Curly during the Shemp's years comes to mind - mentioned in a couple of sentences. Or Joe Besser's decision to give up the group over his sick wife. Or a brief mention that Shemp had a stroke a few years before his death.) He also tends to refer the reader to other sources rather than including them (ie. read Moe's autobiography here to find out more about his feelings on Curly, etc.)

Admittedly, Solomon isn't writing a biography here. And doing both a filmography and biography would make for an even more massive tome! But I found other comedy team books like Randy Skretvedt's "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies" or Bob Furmanek's "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood" much more successful in this regard. Yes, they summarized the films - but also delved into the lives of the comedians themselves and how they merged with the making of the films. Did the Stooges have a lot of input into their scripts? How did Larry and Moe feel about the death of Shemp or the years of cost-cutting and rehashing of "Shemp" material before and after his death? What kind of injuries did the Stooges suffer while filming? How did the complaints of violence by the PTA effect their films? Solomon doesn't give us much insight or info here. With this book coming from the Stooge's company, I really expected more of an "insider's take" on their films - and here, you don't get it.

Perhaps the biggest drawback here is the book's layout and construction. Despite all the obvious research, it "looks" like a rush job in many respects and certainly could've used some more editing and proofing - there are countless misspellings, careless mistakes like boldings and a title missed in the table of contents, etc. At times, the san serif font makes reading a little difficult. Solomon often repeats himself, telling the reader the same details on subsequent pages, or even in the photo captions on the same page. The pictures also tend to be dark and sometimes resemble screen captures that should've been of much higher quality. The cover indicates this book was for the 75th anniversary of the Stooges so that could explain the rush to get it finished in time. However, since this book was authorized and published by The Three Stooges company itself (maybe an additional problem here because Solomon hardly says anything critical of the Stooges) you'd think they should've produced something with more care and higher quality, given their vested interest in the product.

Don't get me wrong - it's great to have info on all the Stooge films in one place with a guide of this kind. But coming from "the Stooges" themselves, the bar just should've been set so much higher.

I found this book to be quite enjoyable. A lot of work has gone into this. There are a few mistakes, but I'm sure these can and will be corrected, in a 2nd printing. If your a Stooge fan, this book is a must. The only real complaint I have, (reason why I didn't give five stars) is that the pages are SO paper thin, you have to be careful with the book, to prevent a page from tearing. I would rather have paid $60 for a hardback copy, with top quality paper. I hope this will be considered if another edition is printed. You will enjoy this book almost GUARANTEED, but I wanted to forewarn you about the paper being telephone book style.

I read this book every day, and pretty much know it by heart. Dr. Solomon's years of research have paid off handsomely, as he presents the most exhaustive and detailed reviews of the Stooges films ever written. Knowing the films as I do, I did find a few things missing and a few typos, but nevertheless this is an excellent book and highly recommended by this huge Stooge fan!!

If you're a Three Stooges fan, this is an absolute must to have. Sure it's big, but it includes all their films. Sure you can say it has typos here and there but I consider that nit-picking. Three Stooges fans will overlook that. Others say that Solomon repeats things. Sure. But didn't the Stooges use the same gags and one-liners a lot. That's what makes them them GREAT. When I see an apisode on TV, I will open the book to get more insight on the particular episode. One little thing I will mention is that I wanted to look up a particular episode I had recently seen but couldn't remember the title. I couldn't find it in the book, although I know it's there. Maybe if there was a section/glossary listing the title and a few notes about what happened to jar the reader's memory. (The episode I was looking for is when Larry and Curly take Moe out to a cabin in the woods to help his nervous condition.)
All in all it's a great reference guide and a definite must for any Stooges fan.

College professor Jon Solomon has just rehashed all the same old information in already existing Stooge books to create this new "Stooges Companion." The trouble is that there is not much new information here, and I found quite a few factual errors throughout as well. His research skills are limited, and his writing style is as dry as your typical professor (i.e., "... those who can't, teach"). The real disappointment will be found in the book's construction -- basically this volume is printed on phone-book-quality paper with an even cheaper binding. Your Stooge dollar would be much better spent elsewhere.