Customer Reviews

The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 3: 1940-1942

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This release may be a good sign of things to come with seven months between volumes 1 (Oct 2007) and 2 (May 2008), and only three months between the upcoming volume 3 and volume 2.

The shorts included should be:

1940
You Nazty Spy!
Rockin' Thru the Rockies
A Plumbing We Will Go
Nutty But Nice
How High is Up?
From Nurse to Worse
No Census, No Feeling
Cookoo Cavaliers
Boobs in Arms

1941
So Long Mr. Chumps
Dutiful But Dumb
All the World's a Stooge
I'll Never Heil Again
An Ache in Every Stake
In the Sweet Pie and Pie
Some More of Samoa

1942
Loco Boy Makes Good
Cactus Makes Perfect
What's the Matador?
Matri-Phony
Three Smart Saps
Even as IOU
Sock-a-Bye Baby

"A Plumbing We Will Go" is possibly the best comedy ever made by the Stooges and alone is worth the price of admission. Here the Stooges attempt to repair the plumbing in a wealthy household. Of course they don't know what they're doing, as is always the situation. They end up crossing the electrical system with the plumbing with some hilarious sight gags resulting. You'll also see the Stooges taking advantage of Moe's strong resemblance to a certain German leader as the Stooges exit the depression and enter the war years.

As a long time Stooge fan, its nice Sony is releasing the complete Stooge shorts. My only question is will it stop after Curly? I hope they release Shemp's shorts, even though alot of them are remakes in the later years. I give props for not changing the format of the discs (thus far) and Amazon preorder price is always $17. Like I said in the last review, Stooges have been around for almost 80 years and have a ton of footage on various dvds that could be used as great extras. Id like to see extra features instead of trailers to movies. All in all, great product and keep up the good work!

I am pleased that Sony Pictures have narrowed the gap between release time for their collection. Not only do we have the nutty trio poking fun at Hitler and the Japanese during WWII, but Vol. 3 contains "A-Plumbing We Will Go", considered by the fans to be their finest short. APWWG is a prime example of putting the Stooges where they don't belong...which is pretty much everywhere!
Like the previous volumes, I'll anxiously await its release.

THIS IS A FULLY VIEWED REVIEW FROM AN ADVANCED COPY I RECEIVED FROM SONY PICTURES ON 8/5/08.


Fans of the Three Stooges have much to rejoice about as Sony unveiled its plans to release the entire oeuvre of 190 shorts the Boys made for Columbia Pictures from 1934-1958. Volume 3 has been eagerly awaited, for it includes the historical (and hysterical) "You Nazty Spy" and fan favorite "A Plumbing We Will Go".

Relax, Stoogephiles! The quality displayed in the first two volumes of chronological shorts continues here. Actually, these films look even BETTER than many on the previous sets. By the 1940's, the technology was consistently better than the 1930's. These shorts have a beautiful contrast of rich black and white; no pops; no major hissing on the soundtrack; no dust; no scratches and any splices or jumps have been fixed. These shorts have never looked or sounded better and I've seen all of these titles numerous times over the years.

As with all performers, the Stooges had their share of shorts that missed their mark. Let's face it-with 190 titles in their filmography, there were some bad apples in the barrel. However, weaker efforts like "Even As I.O.U" still have some gonzo scenes (Curly and the bassoon) to make it a watchable outing.

This volume of theatrical shorts contains several films released during wartime and some great titles like "Sock-A-Bye, Baby" have a few un PC bits of dialog that the unfamiliar viewer may find shocking. During the time these films were made, America was at serious odds with the Japanese and that sentiment is displayed here (also on future shorts like "No Dough Boys" to be featured on Volume 4 releasing October 7).

All in all, the collection of shorts hit the comedy bullseye (with only a few weak efforts such as "Rockin' Thru The Rockies" and the earlier mentioned "Even As I.O.U."). It's the last volume to feature Curly Howard (easily, the most popular Stooge) in his prime, before his career suffered from declining health.

So, what are ya waitin' for, ya mallethead? Grab Volume 3 on August 26th and get your N'yucks on!

I must say i am also thrilled that (for the first time) these shorts are being released remastered and in order! i've experienced a lot of frustration in the past at how greedy Columbia is by releasing all of these random incomplete dvds of the Three Stooges. Finally you can own them all at a great value. i mean honestly, i would pay 50 dollars a volume for something like this. And mark my words, these WILL go out of print and people WILL be paying 50 dollars or more for this collection in the years to come. so if you're a fan. BUY UP NOW!!! TRUST ME!!!

This is truly a Stooge fans dream. Finally a Stooge DVD collection with remastered picture & sound, & in chronological order too! The first 2 were awesome to see & hear so clearly. Let's hope Sony keeps putting these out every 3 months now because there's a lot of Curly shorts to get through & let's not forget the Shemp shorts either. A job well done Sony!!

Am very pleased to see such a rapid release of the shorts. The quality of the restoration is top-notch, and the humor is always on the money with the Stooges. However, I'm not sure I could claim "A-Plumbing We Will Go" as the all-time best short. There are so many high points to their career. I do admit, that APWWG is one of their very best (to a large degree due to Dudley Dickerson); but there is also "Three Little Beers" and also "False Alarms" (truly one of the very best!); and it would be impossible not to include "How High is Up?" which will also be on this latest release. So, I'll just keep racking my brain, trying to come up with my favorite of all-time....to no avail. ---- And I agree with another reviewer: let's not forget the Shemp shorts, Sony. Please give the same love and attention to all the shorts. The era of Shemp's contribution may have seen dwindling financial resources for the short subjects department at Columbia, but just remember: where would the Stooges have been withOUT Shemp after Curly fell ill?

I can't stress enough how happy I am to see these sets come out complete and in chronological order. Finally, someone got it right.

I am proud to own The Three Stooges Volumes One and Two and they are awesome. Best transfers I've ever seen and in chronological order. So even sight unseen, I'll assume the same for Volume 3 and award it five stars.

HOWEVER...... AND HERE'S THE GREAT NEWS!!!

Volume 4 is on the way according to "creepyclassics.com". Here are the particulars.



THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION - Volume 4 (1943-45) Release Date: October 7, 2008

On this one will be there "werewolf" short IDLE ROOMERS!:

They Stooge To Conga (1943)*
2. Dizzy Detectives (1943)
3. Spook Louder (1943)
4. Back From The Front (1943)
5. Three Little Twirps (1943)*
6. Higher Than A Kite (1943)
7. I Can Hardly Wait (1943)*
8. Dizzy Pilots (1943)
9. Phony Express (1943)
10. A Gem Of A Jam (1943)*
11. Crash Goes The Hash (1944)
12. Busy Buddies (1944)*
13. The Yoke's On Me (1944)*
14. Idle Roomers (1944)*
15. Gents Without Cents (1944)
16. No Dough Boys (1944)
17. Three Pests In A Mess (1945)*
18. Booby Dupes (1945)
19. Idiots Deluxe (1945)
20. If A Body Meets A Body (1945)
21. Micro-Phonies (1945)

*new to dvd

If you are new to the Three Stooges, get this. If you are a long-time fan, get this. I've been a fan of Moe, Larry, and Curly since I was about five years old. I DON'T care much for any of the other Stooges groups- Moe, Larry, Shemp; Moe , Larry, Curly Joe, etc, etc. The original lineup was Moe Howard, brother Shemp, and family friend Larry Fine. However, after the first few years, Shemp, the oldest Howard brother, was replaced by baby brother Curly, who, in my opinion, is the the best Stooge, and one of the funniest actors, perhaps, of all time.

Now on to the review. In this collection, you will see two episodes in which the Stooges are poking fun at at certain 1940's era Nazi dictator. You will also see the Stooges pretending to be small children. This collection also includes the episode with the popular "Curly's Oyster" scene. Also, you will see the Stooges as plumbers, babysitters, icemen-turned-cooks, census takers, pottery-makers in ancient Rome, matadors, undercover agents, horse racers, and in what is probably the best episode in this entire collection, cowboy actors/protectors. In this episode, Curly breaks something and starts to "cry", AND uses guitars for snowshoes. Absolutely hilarious. If you haven't had a good belly laugh in a while, you should get this. You will be rolling in the aisles the whole time. Also, a little trivia. I think that this collection might contain the first recorded Moonwalk, as demonstrated by Curly. I just thought that was kind of funny. If you want to laugh your head off for a few hours definitely get this!!!