Topic: Emil Sitka

[Bangsmith]

Emil Sitka was probably the most talented foil and supporting actor used in the Stooges' films. He was considered to replace Larry as a Stooge in the 70's after Larry's stroke. That was about to happen after Larry died in 1975, but Moe died shortly after, so it was not to be. This topic/poll asks the question: Would Emil have made a worthwhile Stooge?
That being asked, vote and post away!!!!

[Dunrobin]

Hell yeah; Emil would have made an excellent Stooge.  He was the king of the latter-day supporting actors.

Here's a thought:  What is Moe and Larry had gone with Emil as the "third Stooge" instead of Joe Besser or Joe DeRita in the 50's and 60's?  He would have been more of a Shemp replacement than a Curly one, but he would have fit right in and would have been a lot funnier.
 

[Pilsner Panther]

I'm surprised that Columbia never thought of starring Emil in a short of his own, just to see how it would go over. After all, they made four with DeRita, and Emil was a lot funnier (and more versatile).

[Bangsmith]

Hell yeah; Emil would have made an excellent Stooge.  He was the king of the latter-day supporting actors.

Here's a thought:  What is Moe and Larry had gone with Emil as the "third Stooge" instead of Joe Besser or Joe DeRita in the 50's and 60's?  He would have been more of a Shemp replacement than a Curly one, but he would have fit right in and would have been a lot funnier.
 

Consider that both Joe's became somewhat more "aggressive" when they became Stooges, and that Emil was hot-wired as it was, it stands to reason that he would have been an absolute firecracker as a Stooge!! He was a lot funnier than either Joe!

[kinderscenen]

He would've been a much better replacement than either Joe, but oddly enough, he looked way too young in 1955 than he did 20 years later, if that makes any sense.

There's something that I never understood--was he an actual Stooge or not? It's been mentioned that he was to join Moe and Curly-Joe for a Phillippine film that fell through (1971), and I'm pretty sure that Moe was kicking around the idea of fulfilling at least some of the dates that were left a couple of months after Larry's stroke. I suppose my question is, did the actual contract (for the film) have to be signed (and Emil actually appearing AS a Stooge) make him a Stooge, or was it the fact that Moe asked him, he accepted, but never got to perform make him a Stooge that never was?

It was also mentioned that Curly-Joe, Mousie Garner, and Frank Mitchell asked Moe to travel with them in the 70's, but Moe's wife stated that he was too old. When exactly was this? If anything, I would've thought that the complaint would've come when it was announced that the Howard-DeRita-Sitka version of the Stooges were set to appear in Blazing Stewardesses.  Weren't those publicity photos taken in January, 1975--after Larry's death?! Considering that Moe had a mere matter of weeks to live, I would think that Helen Howard would've put her foot down then (but maybe she did, or everyone already knew that it was a matter of time).

[Bangsmith]

He would've been a much better replacement than either Joe, but oddly enough, he looked way too young in 1955 than he did 20 years later, if that makes any sense.

There's something that I never understood--was he an actual Stooge or not? It's been mentioned that he was to join Moe and Curly-Joe for a Phillippine film that fell through (1971), and I'm pretty sure that Moe was kicking around the idea of fulfilling at least some of the dates that were left a couple of months after Larry's stroke. I suppose my question is, did the actual contract (for the film) have to be signed (and Emil actually appearing AS a Stooge) make him a Stooge, or was it the fact that Moe asked him, he accepted, but never got to perform make him a Stooge that never was?

It was also mentioned that Curly-Joe, Mousie Garner, and Frank Mitchell asked Moe to travel with them in the 70's, but Moe's wife stated that he was too old. When exactly was this? If anything, I would've thought that the complaint would've come when it was announced that the Howard-DeRita-Sitka version of the Stooges were set to appear in Blazing Stewardesses.  Weren't those publicity photos taken in January, 1975--after Larry's death?! Considering that Moe had a mere matter of weeks to live, I would think that Helen Howard would've put her foot down then (but maybe she did, or everyone already knew that it was a matter of time).

I don't know much about that proposed movie, but I know that Moe asked Emil to become a Stooge right after Larry's death (in January 1975), Emil accepted, but Moe died (in May)so soon after Larry that Emil lost out. Emil had wanted to be a Stooge for a long time, at least since Larry's stroke during Kook's Tour, but I have never heard of Emil actually BEING considered a Stooge, since he never actually filmed anything or performed live with them.

[jrvass]

In "Love Those Stooges", there is a photo of the 3 Stooges with Emil in the role of Larry. It then concludes that Moe died before they toured.

My memory of the details may be wrong, but I don't recall mention of a movie or a script with Emil.

James

[kinderscenen]

Ah, crap! I should've remembered the answer to this, since I've memorized all of the books by now. Emil was asked to fill in for Larry for the 1971 film that fell through.  Interestingly, I think if Larry had been well, the "not quite kosher" deal may have gone through, since I can't imagine any of them (Moe, Larry or Joe) demanding limos, etc.

So, to answer my own question: Emil was to fill in in 1971; obviously he was replacing Larry for The Jet Set/Blazing Stewardesses.  By the way, has anyone seen that film? Would it have been worse for that to be their swan song or The Outlaws Is Coming? (I'm really not counting "Kook's Tour" since it wasn't widely released.)

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Kook's Tour is exactly what it is ... a travelogue which happens to have Moe, Larry and Curly-Joe in it. Its a nice film to watch when you have nothing else to do. The boys are in it perhaps 60% of the time. The other 25% is scenic panoramas, landscapes, and national parks, and the other 15% is nothing but Moose. (the dog who travels with them) The boys even make an effort to reject their old routines. Example: Moe, Larry and Curly-Joe are on the boat, when Larry asks how much gas they have left. Moe (in his best form) pronounces, "Well, the arrow points half-way ... I dunno if its half empty or half full". Both Larry and Curly-Joe chide Moe on reciting old jokes, remind him that he is retired, and exhort him to get to the business at hand.

[Pilsner Panther]

It's a fascinating coincidence that both the Stooges and Buster Keaton ended their starring careers with travelogues. In Buster's case, it was "The Railrodder" (1965). The latter is really a half-hour commercial for Canadian National Railways, but it's got plenty of Buster doing his characteristic routines, and returning to one of his favorite subjects, trains. Needless to say, the scenery is beautiful, too, especially in the Canadian Rockies.

What's of more interest (at least to me) is the behind-the-scenes documentary in the Kino Video package, "Buster Keaton Rides Again." It offers a rare glimpse of an all-business Keaton on the other side of the camera, and how precisely he timed his gags. One involves Buster on his little rail-speeder car heading straight for an oncoming locomotive; he'll be flattened if a rail switch isn't thrown at the last possible moment, with the locomotive almost right up on it. The young film crew is clearly amazed by what this grizzled old veteran can do physically, at the age of 69. At one point, the director tries to talk him out of doing an extremely dangerous stunt on a high trestle, but Buster waves him off, saying, "Ahh, that's child's play!" and he does the stunt.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000056N93/qid=1149065719/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-6863512-4774456?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

At the end, we get a little icing on the cake in the form of Buster strumming his ukulele (he was good enough to perform with Cliff Edwards, "Ukulele Ike," on film), and singing some old vaudeville tunes. If you ask me, Louis Armstrong had the only other voice like that— "ugly" and beautiful at the same time.

Highly recommended... I bring this up because with the DVD release of the Columbia Keaton shorts, there's bound to be more interest in Buster among Stooge fans, especially considering that so many of the Stooges' supporting players (Dorothy Appleby, Vernon Dent, Lorna Gray, Bud Jamison, Gino Corrado, and other familiar faces) appear in them. Even the "Jeepers creepers, what a night!" parrot shows up, in "The Taming Of The Snood."



As for "Kook's Tour," it has some charm, but I can only recommend it to the kind of devoted fan who wants to see everything the Stooges ever did. Don't expect much in the way of laughs.

[kinderscenen]

I should've been more coherent in my post--I've seen Kook's Tour dozens of times (I can recall seeing it on film when I was a kid--around 1981 or so). I meant Blazing Stewardesses--my mother mentioned that the Stooges were set to appear in it around 1979 or 1980, and I remember being fascinated because: 1. Moe and Larry had only been dead around 4-5 years, and 2. I was strangely excited over the fact that this fact wasn't covered in Moe's autobiography. (For some reason, I seemed to think that it was some big secret, when in fact, it was anything but.)

Why, yes! I was a strange kid.

[BeAStooge]

Emil was to fill in in 1971; obviously he was replacing Larry for The Jet Set/Blazing Stewardesses.  By the way, has anyone seen that film?

The 1971 film project was called MAKE LOVE NOT WAR, written by Jeffrey Maurer, with the Stooges in a Japanese POW camp in the Phillipines in World War II. The script was written for Moe, Larry and 'Curly', and planned to go forward with Moe, Emil and Joe before the deal fell apart.

The 1975 film project was called THE JET SET, which was released later that same year as BLAZING STEWARDESSES; Harry and Jimmy Ritz replaced the Stooges after Moe's death. BLAZING STEWARDESSES is on DVD, and the producer's audio commentary addresses his failed attempt to bring the Stooges into the project.

Thanks to the Stoogeum, I've transcribed both scripts and hope to do something for The Three Stooges Journal in the near future.

[Dog Hambone]

After reading BeAStooge's post, I recalled having read something about why that deal to film Make Love Not War fell through. I located the story on pp. 94-95 of The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Moe & Norman Maurer were in "serious negotiations" with Alan J. Factor of Bedford Productions. Once Sitka was signed on as a Stooge, there was a lunch meeting at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills. Attending were Moe, Joe, Emil & Norman Maurer as well as Alan Factor & "his finance people". Maurer's quote: "Moe, Joe and I were shocked at the way Emil acted at the meeting. Suddenly, it was star time. While executives announced what days we would be filming in Manila, Emil said, 'Well, I don't know if I'm available,' and 'I'll need a limousine.' Moe and I were slack-jawed. Joe was shocked." Maurer reportedly never heard another word about the film, & recalled that Sitka's actions at the lunch meeting may have contributed to Factor's backing out of the production.

Jeffrey Maurer completed writing of the film in April, 1971. Old fart that I am, I remember well the Vietnam War & attending more than one large protest demonstration, so the film's title was soitenly timely. (By the way, the book says the original title was "Make Mine Manila")

Thanks over & over again to BeAStooge for all his Stooges research & those terrific transcripts of missing, changed, or deleted scenes.   

[BeAStooge]

I recalled having read something about why that deal to film Make Love Not War fell through. I located the story on pp. 94-95 of The Three Stooges Scrapbook.

A one-sided version of the story. Because of it, Emil often referred to the book as the "Crapbook." Emil was extremely hurt by that story, and he carried that hurt to the end.

Emil's version...
Moe was uncomfortable with Mr. Factor, the foreign backers, and the overall viability of the project. So as not to cause a rift with son-in-law Norman, and because the script was his grandson's, Moe requested Emil to ask a series of questions, including pinning down schedule specifics, compensation, and perks for the team.

The primary authors of Scrapbook were Jeff & Greg Lenburg. Although Joan Maurer is the co-author, her role was more as advisor and access to the Howard family's archives. Jeff & Greg were writing Norm's version of events. According to Emil, Moe did tell Norm that Emil was not at fault.

Joan once told me that she had no personal involvement in the events of the meeting, and that Emil's version is quite possible. On a few occassions over the years she offered apologies to Emil, but as Emil once told me, he would not accept an apology, only a retraction.

If the movie project was actually going to happen, I find it unlikely that a few questions killed it. I'm more inclined to believe that Moe's original concerns carried a great deal of merit, and that's why MAKE LOVE NOT WAR never happened. Besides, if Norm's Scrapbook version of the story were truly accurate, why was Emil invited back to the Stooges in 1975?

Thanks over & over again to BeAStooge for all his Stooges research & those terrific transcripts of missing, changed, or deleted scenes.   

Thank you.

[Dog Hambone]

Thanks for sharing that with us.

There are always two sides to every story, & the passage of time no doubt had an influence on the memories. I shared your suspicion that it's unlikely that a few questions killed the project, especially in a place like Hollywood, the home of galloping egos. The Scrapbook was careful to say, & I made sure I used their wording, that Sitka's actions "may have contributed" to the project's demise. The several paragraphs in the Scrapbook generally do not indicate what the other contributing factors may have been, focusing instead on Norman Maurer's Sitka story. 

The Scrapbook seems to be fair & objective, & I understand the Lenburgs had to deal with reams of information, etc., & I applaud them for their efforts in creating it. However, this looks like an example of reporters not checking all their facts (in this case, interviewing at least some of the others who were present) before publishing the story.       

[Dog Hambone]

I realize this is a somewhat esoteric (per Wiktionary, "having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical and without obvious practical application) question, but awhile back, while watching "Hula-La-La", I couldn't help but notice that Emil Sitka appears to have some unusually large hands. Since then, I was compelled to check them out while watching other shorts, & I could swear ("that's a bad habit!") that his hands in some shorts, maybe not all, do indeed appear to be unusually large for the rest of his arms. Brent, I ask the question here because your post indicates you have talked with Sitka, & I thought perhaps it may have been in person, & that possibly you observed this. Anyone else is invited to put in their two cents worth, of course.

I'll admit up front that my doors of perception are possibly ajar from years of partying & substance abuse as well as being a musician (a keyboards & guitar player who often wished his hands were created just a little larger).     

[JazzBill]

I realize this is a somewhat esoteric (per Wiktionary, "having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical and without obvious practical application) question, but awhile back, while watching "Hula-La-La", I couldn't help but notice that Emil Sitka appears to have some unusually large hands. Since then, I was compelled to check them out while watching other shorts, & I could swear ("that's a bad habit!") that his hands in some shorts, maybe not all, do indeed appear to be unusually large for the rest of his arms. Brent, I ask the question here because your post indicates you have talked with Sitka, & I thought perhaps it may have been in person, & that possibly you observed this. Anyone else is invited to put in their two cents worth, of course.

I'll admit up front that my doors of perception are possibly ajar from years of partying & substance abuse as well as being a musician (a keyboards & guitar player who often wished his hands were created just a little larger).     

I'm straight, I'm not into checking out the size of other mens hands. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk

[BeAStooge]

Brent, I ask the question here because your post indicates you have talked with Sitka, & I thought perhaps it may have been in person

I corresponded a few times with Emil, and exchanged Christmas cards for several years. I met him once, unfortunately a sad occasion (http://threestooges.net/journal.php?action=view&id=83).

[Dog Hambone]

Sure you are, Jazzbill. And nothing goes on in those truck stop shower rooms, either, does it?

[JazzBill]

Sure you are, Jazzbill. And nothing goes on in those truck stop shower rooms, either, does it?

Breaker breaker Hambone, this here is "The Pile Driver", and thats a big 10/4 on what goes on in those truck-stop showers good buddy. Well, like I always say to the boys at the truck stop, Is that a Eaton-Fuller 9 speed transmission gearshift knob in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?    ( I wish I could pipe in a little Convoy, by C.W. McCall for you, but I don't know how)

[Dog Hambone]

The recently resigned governor of New Jersey was forced to step down over all the flak he was getting concerning his gay activities. In a post-resignation interview, he confessed to cruising the truck stops along the New Jersey Turnpike. He was apparently aware it was a good place to hook up with others of his ilk.

[Pilsner Panther]

I've seen the discussions on these boards take some pretty strange turns over the years, but this might just be the strangest. What all this gay talk has to do with Emil Sitka, I'll never know!

   

[JazzBill]

Sorry Pils..... Your right, it went south after the large hands post.

[Pilsner Panther]

Sorry Pils..... Your right, it went south after the large hands post.

Well, I've got only one thing to say to you and Dog Hambone: "Now join hands, you lovebirds!"

 

Oh, and never mind the recently resigned governor of New Jersey... the governor of New Jersey is always resigned, just to being governor of New Jersey.

 

[Dog Hambone]

Jeez, I'm sorry I brought it up. I just thought Sitka's hands looked abnormally large in that scene from "Hula-La-La".

Moe:  Let's bury the hatchet
Curly (putting hands on top of head)  Oh No!