Customer Reviews

The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My boyfriend was laughing out loud as he read this book so after he finished it, I decided to see what was so funny. I was dubious because I've never been a Three Stooges fan, something my boyfriend has always considered a flaw. However, I've always considered his love of the Three Stooges one his flaws. He now feels triumphant because I couldn't put the book down. I've pointed out that I still don't get the Stooges humor - but the story of their development as an act, their vaudeville years, and the relationships between the brothers is fascinating. It's an extremely well written book and I did laugh but what really struck me was how hard The Stooges worked, the amount of physical abuse they suffered while performing, and how much they're still a part of our culture. I'm very glad I read it, I highly recommend it; and much to my boyfriend's amazement, I want to rent a Stooges tape.

I recall reading in my youth Parent magazine movie reviews in which one of the ratings was "Good of kind"; by which I understood that a film could be (say) of the horror genre and not quite up to a Greer Garson or Bette Davis glitzy soaper, but could still be a very good horror film.

Now the Three Stooges were certainly "good of kind." They never could have done Oscar Wilde (or perhaps they could have?)or even rise to the level of Laurel and Hardy (again, perhaps...). But what they did, they did for the most part well. The original theater company that did "Lysistrata" would have welcomed them, as would some medieval troupes that toured the provences with less than high-tone routines.

Mr. Fleming's book was given to me as a Christmas gift from my daughter on New Year's Eve, just in time for me to start taping AMC's Three Stooges marathon. Since a good percent of this book is a series of resumes of each Stooge short from the very first "Woman Haters" to the 190th "Sappy Bullfighters," this gift could not have been more opportune. (Would you believe that each episode has appended to it a count of how many slaps, head conks, and pie throwing took place in each film?) This section provides me with a wonderful checklist to see which ones I am still missing.

But even before that, we have the wonderful account of how these three/four got to be the mainstay of the Columbia lot and how they kept that position without ever knowing about it, since their bosses kept their value a secret from them.

The saddest part is certainly the section about Curley's growing deterioration leading up to his collapse in the film #97 and Shemp's replacing him in film #98.

The only error I can find (other than a disputed number of pies thrown in an episode here and there) is misnaming "Mutts to You" as "Nuts to You."

So if this topic is for you, this book certainly is. As much fun to read as to use as a reference tool for all Stoogephiles.

A nicely packaged book. If you're new to Stooge fandom, then this is a good book for you. But, if you're a longtime fan who wants to read and learn...

MOE HOWARD AND THE THREE STOOGES (by Moe Howard himself) *
THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
CURLY (again, co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
THE COMPLETE THREE STOOGES (by Dr. Jon Solomon)...

Those are the books you should buy!

If you decide otherwise, this book is a nice simple read, with nothing new to offer. There are better ways to learn about the Three Stooges.

Michael Fleming admits that this is his first book, and even though this book is quite an endeavor, it has its short comings, mainly in the organization of the material.

Most of the material that was gathered for the book came from court documents and testimonies from the stooges that pertained to their dealings with the motion picture industry. Well, this is nice since we get a close look at their relationships and finances, but the writing becomes repetitious as the "testimonies" are repeated over and over. I became quite bored reading about their salaries. Once is enough; I thirsted for more.

What is missing is more personal detail about behind the scenes, things that most stooge fans more or less ponder. For example, who chose the opening music? Why? Details such as this would have been a bit more absorbing.

For the synopsis of the episodes, I was hoping for more trivial behind the scenes happenings. There are some, but they are few and far between.

Why four stars and not three? Since I live in Europe and the closest Blockbuster is an 11 hour plane flight away, it was a joy to read each synopsis of the shorts. I've seen all of the stooge shorts over and over and over again as a kid, and reading these they played out in my mind; Larry's matter-of-fact drone, the Moe snarl, the whoop whoop whoops.

If you buy this book, you'll probably end up looking for more.

the three Stooges have always made me Laugh.they were funny back then&now.this book deals with their rise and the business side.very solid Book.for any fan of theirs this is a special treat.from the first time i saw them i was rolling on the floor and to this day i find them amazing.

But when you think STOOGES...only THREE will come to mind.

I can't see ANY of these guys doing Hamlet...(would probably be called OMELET, knowing them), and yet their works have endured over time, and endeared them to us, generation after generation.

Mr. Fleming does an outstanding job of capturing the essence of being a "stooge" in the heyday of talkies following vaudeville. The photos are numerous AND hilarious. The quality of paper used in the printing is of note as well.

One major selling point is the compilation of ALL their works from the first short to the last appearnance...it's all there!

Having read the Moe Howard book as well, it was nice to see another person's perspective on one of (if not the best) comedy teams of all time.

I grew up with the stooges shorts being shown on local TV (in Philly), and in all that time, we never lost an eye at our school...lol!

So if you need a good, concise tome on these knuckleheads...look no further. This is a very good book, and will surely conjure up a lot of memories.

Perhaps the term "craftsmen" is difficult to associate with the Stooges, however they were masters of slapstick and comedy. Physically comedic in appearance, they were underappreciated and underutilized by the Columbia crowd. In the best of the shorts, their timing was impeccable and their delivery delightful.

The book provides a great deal of information as to the particulars of their careers and also reminds us of what could have been, especially in the later "Shemp" years, had they been blessed with better quality writing and production values.

Very informative - I enjoyed this book immensely!

A msjor big budget studio pick of the mid-30s was called "Valiant is the Word for Carrie." Of course, those fantastic guys who wrote the titles for the Stooge pictures hijacked the name and gave it to one of the best shorts the Stooges mdae: "Violent is the Word for Curly." The short wasn't that violent, actually, and had a coherent plot and structure. The thing was, however, Funny, with a capital "F!" A lot of comics today make fun of the Stooges in an ironic way by saying "Oh, and you can enjoy the comedy on so many levels." Of course their point is that there AREN'T any levels upon which to place the one you see on screen. I beg to differ.

To me, the Stooges are funny because they have immaculate timing, they are spontaneous (the things were shot almost always in one take -- they HAD to bget it right!), and they are masters of slapstick. But, even more (and here's where those levels come in to play), what's funny is that three guys would act that way! And that the people with whom (or under whom, in the case of work) simply accept their behaviour! And, on yet another level, they woudld occasionally spoof themselves, several times by alluding to the ridiculousness of the gags they were performing, other times more blatantly ("Such levity! You men remind me of the Three Stooges!" "Hey, Hey -- that's an insult! "). And then there's the ridiculous ways they try to extricate themselves from simple situations, like usuing tire irons and extra large mallets to remove a sweater that Curly can't remove because he "might've put on a few pounds" since he first donned the thing.

Fleming has written a pretty good book about the Stooges. He tells of their early days, their period with Ted Healy, when they were probably the highest-paid act in vaudeville, he talks of inter-Stooge problems, and he examines their widespread popularity. He doesn't really try to ask why the Stooges appealed to so many, both in the days that the pictures were new, and today, on television, and all the times in between. I think that's a big minus for the book. He also makes a lot of mistakes in names, dates -- you know, factual material. This I found disappointing.

He did get some big (and medium) sized names to contribute to the last chapter, and their insights are interesting. But it still would've been nice to know more about the films themselves, things like what iot was like working with Jules White at Columbia, and h0ow the STooges felt as budgets forced them to make more and more modest-looking films.

But all in all, I'd recommend the book, because there's just not too much out there giving you and insiders view of this wonderful comedy team. Maybe, someday, someone will undertake an analysis of the Stooge films (much like the one that's been done on Laurel and Hardy). There's a lot more there than people think.

Get this book. It's well written, and it tells an interesting story. If you like Hollywood bios, you can't go wrong.

This isn't a full biography of the Stooges so much as it is a detailed general overview of their careers and lives. I also wish more time had been spent on talking about their childhoods and lives offcamera, but that's what a longer, more in-depth biography is for. It's true that some events were glossed over or not even mentioned, but I found the information that was included to be fascinating and informative, such as particularly the Stooges' run on vaudeville when they were supporting Ted Healy. The best thing about this book are the pictures, on practically every page, from all stages of their career. The final section was also a highlight, recapping all 190 of their shorts, complete with a slap count and tally of conking heads, memorable lines, and pies thrown. And I really hope that the story related in the second section was true and not just urban legend, the very unorthodox (to say the least!) way Moe finally got Larry to start paying back money he'd been lent, since it's just too good to have been made up! If you're just looking for a good general overview of their career, this is a good book to go to, but if you're looking for a more detailed in-depth look at the boys, both onscreen and off, you'll be better-served reading an actual biography or 'The Official Three Stooges Encyclopedia.'