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4.0 out of 5 stars
For the hard core Stooges fanatic, February 23, 2006
This review is from: The Three Stooges Festival/Funniest Moments II (DVD)
_I admit that when I first bought this collection I thought that I had been ripped off. That is also what the casual Three Stooges fan is probably going to think too. However, I changed my mind after the third time I watched it through. It really isn't that bad. In fact, it is a pretty good historical overview of Stooge material.
_The Funniest Moments half of the program is probably misnamed. These are not the funniest moments of the Columbia shorts. What these are is the complete set of live-action "wrap-arounds" for the animated Stooges cartoons from 1965. These are really under-rated. They show that the team lost none of their timing in their twilight years. It was one last chance to showcase their perfectly polished and timed routines. These all feature "Curly-Joe" DeRita. Personally I liked DeRita. He was a good and genuinely funny man that fit in well with Moe and Larry. He had a gentleness that fit the mellowing of the act.
_The Festival half is more varied in content and quality. First it has two movie trailers- a "Stoogeploitation" cheapy from 1959, and a Ted Healy relic (Curly's first film appearance.) Then you get all of the Columbia short, "Disorder in the Court." This is followed by old television kinescopes: an excellent appearence as CBS executives on the Ed Wynn show (with Shemp), A surprisingly good guest shot with Frank Sinatra, the failed pilot for their first television show (the first time that their timing seems off), a painful talk show appearence by Moe (I see now that Moe's timing and delivery were good- it was the hacks around him whose timing and ad-libs were terrible), and a U.S. Savings Bond commercial from 1969 (one of their last appearances.) Oh yes, there is also a "wraparound" that wasn't included on "Funniest Moments" only this time it includes the animated cartoon (the animation quality wasn't great, but it was about average for the time.)
If you ever find me not laughing at the Stooges, then bury me- cause I must be dead.
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