Customer Reviews

The Three Stooges - Cops and Robbers

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

 

 

This DVD is great. The quality is very good. "Disorder In The Court" could have been a little better. It's better than those public domain copies, but it's still not at it's best. AMC's copy of this short is a little better. But, the print here is still very good. The picture overall is very sharp and detailed. And one thing great about this DVD is that it's "Remastered in High Definition". The picture is really good. It's great to see the Stooges in High Definition.

As others have mentioned, the picture quality on this disc isn't always the greatest. We know that there are better prints available; it isn't like these are the best surviving prints and there could only be so much digital restoration done on them. They're far from unwatchable, but it is annoying to see these grainy prints when better ones are out there. And once again, not all of the chosen shorts have much, or even anything, to do with the theme of 'Cops and Robbers.' The shorts included are:

'Disorder in the Court' (1936), which is one of their all-time best and a bona-fide classic. This is also widely considered to be Bud Jamison's best work with the boys. It seems like this short is in many fans' Top 10 of their personal favorites. However, since it is one of the 4 shorts that accidentally fell into the public domain (probably due to a clerical oversight), there are numerous releases of it already. It would seem wrong for it not to have been released on DVD, since it's such a classic, but it could have been included on another disc so that a lesser-seen short relevant to the topic could have been put here in its place.

'Flat Foot Stooges' (1938) is above average, though not really a classic or one of their most memorable shorts. I personally like 'False Alarms' better when it comes to their firefighter-themed shorts. However, it is very solid and enjoyable. This short was directed by the great Charley Chase, and though most of the shorts he did with the boys are more plot-centered as opposed to focusing on the slapstick and violence, this one has more of both in it than usually. I also enjoyed seeing veteran character actor Chester Conklin as Chief Kelly.

'Calling All Curs' (1939) is also above average, though not one I would consider one of their very greatest or most classic. It also doesn't really relate to the theme of the disc, apart from the title and the fact that there are a couple of dognappers featured. It would actually have been better-suited for inclusion on the 'Dizzy Doctors' disc, since the boys are playing veterinarians here. Again, a solid funny short, just not anything extremely memorable or classic.

'Dizzy Detectives' (1943) is another very good short, even though I personally wouldn't consider it a classic or one of their most memorable. It's also stupid how the opening scene is stock footage from 'Pardon My Scotch' (1935); someone who sits down to watch this short might even initially think it were mislabelled and that it's really 'Pardon My Scotch,' since both have the exact same opening scene. (Although that scene, it should be mentioned, caused a real-life injury when Moe fell off of the table that was sawed in half. It really demonstrates what a professional he was that he was able to stand up, deliver his next lines, and slap the other two even though he'd just broken a few of his ribs and collapsed immediately afterwards. Most actors today, comedians or serious actors, would probably never even finish the scene after suffering such a serious injury.) This short is a little slow in spots, and usually it comes off as lame and unbelievable (to a modern audience at least) to see a person in a gorilla suit being passed off as an actual gorilla. There's also a surprising moment in the scene where Curly is coming to Larry's rescue, when we hear an unmistakable sound that obviously wasn't done on purpose. You'll know what kind of a sound it is if you've watched it.

'Crime on Their Hands' (1948) is a great short. As of this date I've only seen about half of the Shemp shorts, but so far this one is my favorite. It's a great spoof of film noir, and it boasts one of Kenneth MacDonald's best roles with the boys. They did a lot of shorts of this nature during the Shemp era (acting as detectives), but this is one of their best ones. Eeverything is so great about this, flowing so perfectly from beginning to end, with a great plot, great slapstick, that great ad-lib from Shemp when he pretends to be a reporter talking back to the boss like they do in the movies, and a really cute funny ending.

'Who Done It?' (1949) is considered by many to be one of the best Shemp shorts, though I think it may be perhaps somewhat overrated (perhaps because they did so many detective-themed shorts during this era, and that premise kind of gets boring, or at least predictable, after awhile). However, he is just great in it, in every single scene, from photographing the fingerprints on the table (while continually wandering over to Christine McIntyre), to his over-the-top reaction after she tries to poison him, to the fight where the lights keep going on and off (his call, "Here I am, Moe!" is just hysterical!). And as usual, there's a great performance by Emil Sitka. The only really bad moment was when Moe was acting like Curly when the paintings were attacking him. It's kind of embarrassing to watch him doing these mannerisms that really can only ever belong to one comedian ever, because he made them his own and no one else's. It just doesn't work on anyone else.

Perhaps not the greatest disc in this series, though even in spite of having a few shorts that are only above-average instead of really GREAT, they are all very solid and funny, and it's not as though there are any below-average or outright horrible shorts included here.

These shorts contained in this collection are pretty funny. But, the materials used to transfer these on DVD are not at their best. Why can't Columbia use the original 35mm film masters like what they did to the VHS copies. I know, Columbia is just plain lazy. All the shorts on this DVD are very grainy and are not too sharp. There is one good news about this DVD. There are NO edited scenes. Remember what happened to `Three Little Beers'. All shorts are complete and unedited in this collection. I also see that Columbia is releasing their 3 stooges DVD by theme. But let me say just one thing. The two shorts, `Calling All Curs' and `Flat Foot Stooges', have nothing to do with the title "Cops and Robbers". In `Flat Foot Stooges', the stooges are firemen and in `Calling All Curs', the stooges are animal doctors. Perhaps, the people working at Columbia don't know anything about the 3 stooges. The next 3 stooges DVD is "G.I. Stooge". It comes out on October 8, 2002. Check out my review for it to see more downfalls and mistakes Columbia did to that collection.

This DVD is Great, anyone that says the Quality is bad For A DVD i would have to disagree.... i have The Three Stooges on VHS and now i am getting them on DVD.... the Quality on the DVD compared to a VHS tape is 100 times better and the sound is 100 times better.... On this DVD you get 2 Shemp shorts and 4 Curly shorts...CALLING ALL CURES (1939)The stooges attemp to replace a priceless pooch thats been dog naped while under there care,DISORDER IN THE COURT (1936)A night club dancer is put on trial for murder, and her only hope is three star witnesses (moe larry and curly) but when thay show up to court to testify there antics disrupt the proceedings,DIZZY DETECTIVES (1943)Rookie Gumshoes moe larry and curly.. seems a gorilla is committing a series of burglaries, and The Stooges may be the only ones who can catch him.FLAT FOOT STOOGES (1938)a crooked fire truck salemn finds himselef in hot warter when he sabotages the fire cheif's fire truck, a blaze engulfs the firehouse and puts the fire fighting stooges to workCRIME ON THERE HANDS (1948)when shemp mistakes the Punjob Diamond for a breath mint, he faces the end of a unsterilized knife in the hands of Dapper Dan, who stole the diamnd and wants it back.WHO DONE IT? (1949)Old Man Goodrich calls the Alert Detective Agency and hires the Stooges to protect him.

I will have to agree with you all about how far in between Columbia is releasing this series on DVD. But I do not agree with how they are doing it. I have all the DVD's so far and I absolutely love them. There are some I enjoy more then others. My favorite DVD in this series so far is Three Smart Saps, but this DVD contains an awesome collection of famous stooge shorts as well. I would recommend this to anyone who loves the stooges. And besides the fact they are releasing them so far apart, I think they are doing an excellent job, and I can't wait for the GI Stooge and more to come. Just get them out a little quicker Columbia! Thanks..

This DVD offers some very good shorts (like "Who Done It?" and "Calling All Currs".) The picture quality on this disc is sometimes very grainy but overall it's pretty good (and it has the best transfer of public domain short "Disorder in the Court" I've yet seen.) A good buy.

It should be painfully obvious to anyone who knows the shorts of the Three Stooges that the films included on these DVDs have only a cursory relationship to the titles of the collection. Cops and Robbers? Well, one could argue that there are robbers - or at the very least bad guys - on this collection, but there are precious few cops. The title Calling All Curs parodies a police call popular in 30s and 40s films. But it's called Curs because they are involved with dogs. Not exactly police.

Likewise with Flat Foot Stooges. A flat foot is a policeman or at best a private detective. But in this instance the Stooges are firemen. The Shemp entries in this volume are the best films in the collection and actually have something to do with the title. So does Dizzy Detectives and that's a nice still from this film for the cover.

But there are many films the Stooges did with the cops and robbers theme that would better suit a likewise titled volume. I agree there should be more shorts on these collections, some extras, and no editing. And has anyone noticed that the supposed release date of July 28 is a Sunday?

Can Columbia please speed up their Stooge DVD releases? They are only releasing 3 DVDs per year. If they keep up this slow pace, it will take until the year 2015 before Columbia would have all the three stooges shorts on DVD. They should at least release one DVD per month.

"Cops And Robbers" should be released soon. It has the same episodes that they released on VHS except that all of the episodes have to do with crime and robbery. The episodes contained in this collection are:

1) `Calling All Curs' (1939)- Moe, Larry, and Curly are animal doctors who get involved with a couple of dognappers.

2) `Disorder In The Court' (1936)- Moe, Larry, and Curly are witnesses for the murder of Kirk Robbin.

3) `Dizzy Detectives' (1943)- Moe, Larry, and Curly become policemen who have to chase down an ape man.

4) `Flat Foot Stooge' (1938)- Moe, Larry, and Curly are firemen who get involved with a crook named Fred Reardon.

5) `Crime On Their Hands' (1948)- Moe, Larry, and Shemp track down a crook named Dapper who stole the Punjab Diamond.

6) `Who Done It?' (1949)- Moe, Larry, and Shemp are detectives who investigate the house of John Goodrich.

Those are the six episodes contained in this collection. I hope this DVD is good. Also, I wish Columbia would put some special features on their three stooges DVDs. They should put some featurettes or production notes. All they have are the Spanish and Portuguese languages. That's it. This is America. Why do we need these languages for? Instead of wasting the room for this language junk, why not put some special features. I want to continue supporting Columbia, but they have to do a little better than this.

Oh, and another thing. I really hope there are no edited scenes on any of the shorts on this DVD. Remember what happened to `Three Little Beers'?

Columbia has gotten a lot of flack about their Stooge disks regarding incomplete shorts, illogical grouping of episodes, lack of extras etc. I agree with these gripes, but I have two different concerns.
I sincerely hope that Columbia eventually puts all of the Stooge shorts on disk, but what will they do when they run out of "categories" to group them under? They obviously are already struggling with this, as the titles they assign the releases don't make much sense when compared to the shorts that are included. Also, and this may be blasphemy, I haven't seen any shorts with Joe Besser yet. I want a complete collection of the Columbia shorts, for better or worse.
And here's my biggest complaint. Why in the world can't they have a menu option that allows the viewer to see all the episodes on the disk uninterrupted? It's a pain to have to select each short individually.
The main thing is that they don't loose interest in this series. As long as they keep them coming I'll be happy.

I love the Stooges, i've been a fan for over ten years now. I just cant understand how dvds are put together. This set could have included the classic Shivering Sherlocks and Hot Scots instead of Calling all Curs and Flat Foot Stooges. Its one mans opinion but I know the Stooges very well. I know the man who puts these dvds out isnt Stooge fan, maybe just a causal fan. I use to write the man who wrote an encloypedia on them. We had some great chats about Stooges. Its time for Columbia to wake up and release "ALL" Stooge shorts onto one massive set. I mean if we can get Newlyweds or Simple Life on dvd so fast, why not the Stooges? Granted Stooge shorts range from classic to forgetable. They could divide them into three parts-Curly, Shemp, and Joe. Six shorts on one dvd is bare minuim, they could easily put 10-15 on each disc. I would love some bonus material on them as well. I think its about time to give Stooges there due.