The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934-1936

Finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the Three Stooges—Larry, Moe, and Curly—have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and poke in the eye to fans. They've been anthologized, colorized, and public domain-ed, as their shorts have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality. In the immortal words of Curly, they have truly been victims of circumstance. This two-DVD set is what Stooge-philes have long awaited, chronologically presenting the first 19 short subjects spanning the years 1934-36. The first, "Woman Haters," is billed as a "musical novelty" and is performed entirely in rhyme. In the second, "Punch Drunks," Larry and Moe team up to make a boxer out of put-upon waiter Curly (this is the one in which Curly "pops" when he hears "that 'Weasel' tune"). Many of the shorts gathered here are the ones most quoted or referenced by Stooges fans, such as "Men in Black," the only Stooges short to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the one with the immortal page, "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard." "Hoi Polloi" is the first Stooges short to tackle the "environment" vs. "heredity" conundrum by introducing the Stooges to high society, which reduces the well-heeled stuffed shirts into a slap-happy mob. "Pop Goes the Easel" introduces another recurring theme in the Stooges oeuvre as the boys pose as artists in an art school where they take refuge from a pursuing cop. This short contains a signature Curlyism ("look at the grouse"), as does "Horses' Collars," in which the mere sight of a mouse completely unnerves Curly ("Moe! Larry! The Cheese!”). "Three Little Pigskins" is another mistaken-identity gem, in which the boys pretend to be three football players (look for a very young and very blonde Lucille Ball). Like the Little Rascals, the Stooges here were very much of their Depression-era times, but "Uncivil Warriors," "Restless Knights," and the decidedly un-PC "Whoops, I'm an Indian" score their anachronistic laughs by placing the boys behind enemy lines during the Civil War, in the medieval castle of a kidnapped Queen, and in the old West. Collectors who have suffered through, for example, "Disorder in the Court" on one of those $1 bargain-bin DVDs will be heartened to know that after more than 70 years, these restored shorts look better than ever! Bonus features would have been nice, but for now, we'll be satisfied with these comedy classics as they were meant to be seen. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (D. Liebenson)