Customer Reviews

Shemp Cocktail: A Toast To The Original Stooge

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A shame on you. Another company out to make a quick buck on the popularity of THE THREE STOOGES. The quality of this set is awful. AFRICA SCREAMS, an Abbott and Costello comedy has been released over and over again since it is public domain as are the three STOOGES comedies that are part of this set. They have been released and much better quality. To add insult to injury this company thought it would be cute to add a horrible brownish tint to give the shows an ancient look. All it does it make it even harder to watch. Come on....colorized movies are bad or good depending on the individual. But no need to give it a phony brownish look to make it look like an old tin type photo. Other episodes are soft focus, poor sound and just an insult to a great comic who has so often been considered the "forgotten Stooge". It ain't worth the money fans.

I think I am getting very spoiled by the high quality DVD sets that have been coming out of late. Cartoons, old movies, The Stooges Collection Volume 1...I mean, most of the stuff coming out today has been restored and cleaned up and just looks and sounds amazing. Popping this DVD in over the weekend, I realized just how spoiled I have become. The quality of most of the video and sound transfers on this DVD look like they came off some bad reception UHF station from the 1980's via a rabbit ear antenna. Yes, I love Shemp. Yes, I love the Stooges. Is it great to have some of these movies and clips that I have never seen before? Absolutely. But, the 1980's style of poor video transfers made this kind of tough to watch. 5 stars if you are a completest and must have some of this rare hard to find Shemp material. But dont buy this DVD If you are not prepared to watch clips and shorts that look like they come off of an old VHS tape from the 1980's. I'll give it 4 stars just because I love Shemp so much.
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I so looked forward to receiving this 2-disc set. The exterior packaging seemed complementary to the sets of 3 Stooges DVDs being released chronologically by another company. BUT - and I rarely bother to write reviews here - I was greatly disappointed with the over-all quality of the films on this disc. Granted, the first two selections on disc 1 are rare, Radio Pictures shorts, and they're choppy and not restored. That I could forgive due the rarity of their availability, but the rest of the material was given no attention at all to clarity of picture- it was as bad in quality as they come. Since most of it is available elsewhere in better condition, I expected that Passport would have restored and refined the prints. Alas, not to be. So disappointing... buyer beware!

Shemp Howard (Samuel Horowitz) was an original member of the comedic vaudeville troupe known as (among other names) "Ted Healy & his Southern Gentlemen," along with his brother Moe (Moses) and later Larry Fine (Louis Fienberg). In this early incarnation, Healy was the leader who slapped the others around. Eventually the trio split with Healy, Shemp went to Hollywood and his brother Curly (Jerome) joined with Moe and Larry to continue touring vaudeville as a trio.

Throughout the 1930s, Shemp had a considerable solo film career at Warner's, RKO, MGM, and Monogram. During this time he co-starred as Knobby Walsh in the Joe Palooka series. Later, at Universal, Shemp appeared in the comedy classics "Buck Privates" (Abbott & Costello) and "The Bank Dick" (WC Fields).


SHEMP COCKTAIL is comprised of features ("Africa Screams" and "Private Buckaroo") and Three Stooges shorts that are all widely circulated public domain material. "Henry the Ache," "Knife of the Party" and the excerpts of "Convention Girl" are much rarer and thus of especial interest to collectors.

This twin-DVD set's manufacturer, PASSPORT VIDEO, has in the past superimposed a faint watermark on-screen at all times. Also, they've heavily filtered audio, much to the detriment of clarity. Whether these failings have been positively addressed in their new product remains to be seen.


Slapstick fans are sure to love THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION, Volume One. This outstanding quality package presents the boys' first 19 COLUMBIA shorts in chronological order.

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website

DISC ONE--
(4.1) Henry the Ache (1934) - Bert Lahr/Janet Reade/Monte Collins/Shemp Howard
(4.9) The Knife of the Party (1934) - Lillian Miles/Jack Good/Shemp Howard and his Stooges
(7.7) (excerpts from) Convention Girl (1935) - Rose Hobart/Herbert Rawlinson/Shemp Howard
(5.3) Private Buckaroo (1942) - The Andrews Sisters/Dick Foran/Joe E. Lewis/Shemp Howard/Harry James/Donald O'Connor/Huntz Hall
(6.2) Africa Screams (1949) - Bud Abbott/Lou Costello/Clyde Beatty/Frank Buck/Max Baer/Buddy Baer/Hilary Brooke/Shemp Howard/Joe Besser

DISC TWO--
(7.0) Brideless Groom (1947) - Three Stooges/Christine McIntyre/Emil Sitka
(7.0) Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947) - Three Stooges/Virginia Hunter/Vernon Dent/Jules White (announcer on radio)
(6.9) Malice in the Palace (1949) - Three Stooges/George J. Lewis/Vernon Dent
(???) Camel Comedy Caravan (TV-1950) - Ed Wynn/The Three Stooges

BONUS--
Remembering Shemp - (Interviews with Howard family members)

I've seen some of the Shemp and Stooges material before, but the lengthy and very personal interviews with his family and the extensive gallery of rare photos (with narration!) really make Shemp come alive and make me feel as though I've come to know him. Even seeing some of the familiar Shemp/Stooges shorts once again becomes a slightly different experience after you listen to his family's stories, anecdotes, perceptions, and remembrances. He really does sound like he was a great guy - in addition to a natural comic. I can't imagine a Stooges fan skipping this, if only for the rare, first-person insight into this unjustly overlooked member of the troupe. Oh - and the glimpses of home movies with Shemp, Moe, and Shemp's legendary wife Babe and only child Mort are fascinating!

These Shemp shorts are great fun although not restored. Curly or Shemp is the usual debate. I love them both. Each brings a different spin to the Three Stooges but Shemp works, in his way, just as well. Both Curly and Shemp evoke laughs. Even Joe Besser had the chemistry, but came along too late. By his time, the series was a shadow of what it once was, so he was never shown to good advantage. Joe DeRita, in my opinion, just didn't have it in any way.

I had no idea he was as funny without the other Stooges untill I watched this dvd. What a performer!

I LOVE the Stooges. They never fail to make me laugh, ever. This special salute to Shemp is amazing. The old films are something to be studied, if only for their historic film value. I have NEVER seen these earliest works of Shemps, and am thrilled to have them in my collection now.

Shemps was such a natural. He never seemed to be in character, so much as he WAS the character. He had a smooth approach to his roles that made him seem to glide through his scenes.

The bonus clips, with his family members, is worth it alone. The old photo's, and home movies are fantastic. And the stories are really sweet. Shemp seemed like he was one of the nicest guys in the world.

I love Curly, Moe and Larry too, but a tribute to Shemp is long overdue, and he is most deserving of it. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Any Stooge fan should own this, PERIOD!!

if you like the stooges with Shemp you will like this dvd set some old footage on it also worth getting it if your a fan of Shemp.

What a disappointing DVD. The only saving grace was the bonus feature: Remembering Shemp, but even that got tedious with repeated footage continually going on throughout the feature. How many times do you have to see Shemp waving a hanky around? 6 or seven times? The quality of all the shorts are terrible, the worst being the Camel Comedy Caravan with what looks like a cat's coughed-up furball on the upper left-hand corner of the screen during the whole show. Though it was nice to see some of Shemp's early work, with the way the are wonderfully restoring the Three Stooges, you are better to wait until the volumes come out with Shemp in them before you waste your money on this DVD.