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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Three Stooges in hysterical, er, historical comedies, January 18, 2004
Yes, it is hard to understand why you get three two-reelers on each Three Stooges videotape but a DVD only gets you up to five. However, there is certainly a thematic approach to this DVD that you rarely find with the videos as all of these shorts are set back in time, when the days of olde when knights were bold being the chief attraction, and you do get shorts with both Curly and Shemp in the mix:"Squareheads of the Round Table" (1948) is set in the Middle Ages where the Stooges are trying to help Cedric the Blacksmith in winning the hand of the Princess Elaine (Christine McIntyre). The boys pretend to be troubadours to help out and then stumble on a plot to kill the King (Vernon Dent) hatched by the Black Prince, which means dressing up as knights and throwing fruit (it actually makes sense). "I'm a Monkey's Uncle" (1948) is set in the Stone Age with the boys having trouble with hunting and cooking before they go a-courting as Moe introduces Larry and Shemp to his gal Aggie and her sisters Maggie and Baggy. When some other cavemen show up and want the girls, the Stooges have to fight back and save the day. "Restless Knights" (1935) is one of the earlier Columbia Shorts and offers the sight of Walter Brennan as the father of the Stooges. Again, the setting is in the Middle Ages where the boys visit the court of the King of Anesthesia and have to avoid being executed. There is a long wrestling match, which does not really seem appropriate, but that happens a lot with the Stooges. "Matri-Phony" (1942) goes back to ancient Erysipelas, during the reign of the emperor Octopus Grabus. The Stooges are known as Mohicus, Larrycus, and Curleycue, as well as the biggest chiselers in town (they run a stone works). The emperor (Vernon Dent) has his eye on a new woman for his harem (Marjorie Deanne), and the boys hide her out. Taken prisoner Curley ends up in drag making moves on the emperor. "Fiddlers Three" (1948) is set in the Medieval Fairy Tale Times with the Stooges serving as the jesters for Old King Cole (Vernon Dent again). The main thing here are the skits in which the boys do nursery rhymes: Shemp as Jack Be Nimble, Larry as Little Miss Muffett, Moe as Simple Simon. When the princess (Virginia Hunter) is kidnapped, the boys go off to the rescue. This one has the boys doing lots of Shakespearean tongue twisters. Nothing here is really classic Three Stooges comedy, but these are all solid efforts. Seeing Walter Brennan as the Stooges father is certainly a hoot, and it explains where the boys learned to slap each other around.
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