Topic: Three Stooges A&E Biography now on DVD!

[Laughsmith]

Greetings!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we, Laughsmith Entertainment,
have finished producing a revised and expanded version of our award-
winning 1994 A&E Biography, Stooges: The Men Behind The Mayhem,
which is now available on DVD exclusively through Mackinac Media!
 
The two disc set contains over FOUR HOURS of great Stooge extras
including an exclusive DVD ROM feature -- Bob Bernet's "My Pal Moe."   
Please click over to our website for more details or to place an order. 
Delivery is guaranteed in time for Christmas!

www.mackinacmedia.com

Best ~
Paul E. Gierucki
Director
http://www.laughsmith.com/

[locoboymakesgood]

Wow, has it been 10 years already? Thanks for the info!!

[Laughsmith]

Scary, isn't it?  The program aired for the first time ten years ago! 
And the original interviews were conducted almost 12 years ago! 
Sadly, most of those folks are gone now.  I really miss Nate and
Lyla -- absolutely wonderful people who really made the program
what it was.

It was really nice to go back to the master tapes and add some of
the great stories that couldn't be told the first time around...   

Best ~
Paul

[Pilsner Panther]

This sounds like a great package, Laughsmith! you've just solved at least one Xmas present problem for me, and I'll be getting a copy for myself, too. I really like the original biography; garystooge has commented here in the past about how it was kind of put together in a hurry, but it's definitely a must for Stooges fans... the new version sounds fantastic!

 

[Laughsmith]

The initial program was, indeed, done in a hurry.  The C3 / Maurer lawsuits were in full swing at the time, we were changing editing studios, and A&E scheduled the program to air when we were only 3/4 of the way finished!  Total chaos. This resulted in a few small things that drove me crazy over
the last ten years, but I have finally been able to make the necessary revisions and add some really great things that just wouldn't fit into
the rigid Biography format. 

This version is a lot more personal and features stories that Nate and Lyla wanted me to keep in reserve until a more appropriate "later date."  I am now able to share some of that material.

I think my favorite part of the new set is the raw interview footage.  Everyone speaks quite candidly about their relationships with the boys
and it gives the viewer a very genuine feel as to what the Stooges must have been like off screen with their families. 

I really hope that you enjoy it!

-- Paul

[BeAStooge]

I haven't had an opportunity to watch Disc 1 yet, but I have viewed the 2nd disc.

The extended interview footage is the real treat here, with Lyla and Nate Budnick.  For those who attended the old '88 - '95 Philadelphia Conventions, almost all of the Budnicks' favorite Larry stories are here... including Nate's famous "baseball" story!  On the basis of that alone, I'm glad I bought the DVD.  Lyla also talks about her "Uncle" Ted Healy, and Nate has his stories of touring with the Stooges in the '60s.  In total, there is about 1/2-hour of extra interview footage with the Budnicks.  Plus a few minutes of additional Billy West footage, discussing the history of his "Larry" voice, and meeting Lyla.

No surprise, the digitally remastered comedy shorts are the 4 public domain titles (DISORDER IN THE COURT, BRIDELESS GROOM, SING A SONG OF SIX PANTS and MALICE IN THE PALACE).  Sourced from used 16mm Screen Gems prints, these copies do look better than most of the other PD collections around.

The film trailers include HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL, THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT, a B&W teaser trailer for SNOW WHITE & THE THREE STOOGES, and a cast-credits segment from a 1940s re-release trailer for DANCING LADY.  There are two additional, interesting trailers:

- A locally produced (?) trailer for a matinee show, called "Three Stooges Laff-a-Rama" (not to be confused with Columbia's FUN-O-RAMA).  It's not a studio-produced trailer; possibly self-produced by a theater chain.  It promotes a matinee show of 4 shorts with Moe, Larry & Shemp, plus cartoons.  No footage, just PD stills. *

- A VERY strange trailer for THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES.  This is NOT the oft-seen trailer that's circulated on other PD home videos over the years, with clips from the film.  This one features no clips... only artwork... artwork which closely resembles that used on the European 1-sheets and 1/2-sheets, or the animation designs used by Columbia's UPA division in the '50s; if I were to guess, I'd say that it was Gene Dietch's work.  It's probably not a European trailer, because it has English narration voice-over by Don Lamond.  It was produced by Columbia and is the usual running time for a trailer. *

The TV kinescope is the Stooges' 1950 CAMEL COMEDY CARAVAN (ED WYNN SHOW) guest appearance.  It's the complete show, and visual copy is better than most of the PD copies that have floated around for years.

* Paul and/or Bill -  Can you provide some historical background on these two trailers?

[BeAStooge]

Previously a limited-release DVD, "The Three Stooges: the Men Behind the Mayhem" is hitting regular retail outlets on April 26.  Amazon.com has it available for pre-order @ $21.

Brent

[Samuelc79]

By any chance this would be subtitlted or closed captioned?  If not, this is a disgrace!

[Dunrobin]

By any chance this would be subtitlted or closed captioned?  If not, this is a disgrace!

Ya lost me, there, Samuel.  How would the lack of subtitles (do you speak a language other than English?) or closed captioning on a DVD be a "disgrace?"  It may or may not be a wise business decision, but a disgrace?   

[Pilsner Panther]

I don't usually plug things, but I highly recommend "Stooges: The Men Behind The Mayhem." This is an obvious labor of love, and IMO, it's how Paul Gierucki and Gary Lassin would have done the documentary in the first place, if they'd been given the time and the budget a decade ago.

The Ed Wynn Show alone is worth the price of the two-DVD set (which is quite reasonable, considering all you get). It's pure vaudeville comedy from the 1920's golden era: Moe, Larry, and Shemp perform an extended musical number ("When You Wore A Tulip") while Wynn tries to knock them out with falling sandbags, and they all wear period costumes, too. If you're not familiar with Ed Wynn, or perhaps only know him from "Mary Poppins," he was a vaudeville star before 1920, and he performed with W.C. Fields in the Ziegfeld Follies. Fields once knocked Wynn unconscious onstage with a pool cue while they were doing a routine, but that's another story (and that's what you got, I suppose, for trying to upstage The Great Man).

Modern viewers might be surprised at how blatant the cigarette advertising is, but in those days, the tobacco companies provided the lion's share of both TV and radio sponsorship. Jack Benny's and Paul Whiteman's radio shows— to cite only two examples— were sponsored for years by the tobacco industry, and Whiteman even went as far as to rename his band "Paul Whiteman and his Chesterfield Orchestra." Lucky Strike cigarettes sponsored the original "Your Hit Parade" with Looney Toons composer Raymond Scott leading the band, and it went on and on. So, don't be too judgmental about this; it was a different age. What matters is that the entertainment in every case was top-notch.

I got off on a tangent there, but I do give this DVD set a full four pokes!

 

[jrvass]

By any chance this would be subtitlted or closed captioned?  If not, this is a disgrace!

Ya lost me, there, Samuel.  How would the lack of subtitles (do you speak a language other than English?) or closed captioning on a DVD be a "disgrace?"  It may or may not be a wise business decision, but a disgrace?   

Hearing impaired? From Amazon:

Product Details

Starring: Moe Howard, See more

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)

Format: Color, Closed-captioned

Rated: NR
Studio: Mackinac Media
DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005
Run Time: 275

DVD Features:
Number of discs: 2

ASIN: B00080ZGZQ
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,635 in DVD

[Laughsmith]

Many thanks for the kind words, Pilsner!  This project was indeed a labor of love --
I just wanted to give back a little something for all of the joy that the Stooges
have given me.  They, for all of their wonderful works, truly deserve critical
respect and admiration.  I hope that this project will help solicit more of that
rare commodity.

Best ~
Paul E. Gierucki

[Samuelc79]

Reason why it would be a disgrace is because I am hearing impaired and i rely heavily on subtitles and/or captioning.  I must thank Columbia for releasing their stooge shorts with those options.  Watching the Stooges is half the fun, but with the words it is more fun for me to understand what is going on. 

I was disappointed about there was no Stooges Cartoon not subtittled as well.  Sorry, #$&*#$ to GoodTimes, some of A&E videos, Koch, and Madacy on the 75th Anniversary DVD collection, heck 75th Anniversary DVD looked good, not cheap looking like some others still had no excuse.   I really am glad Columbia, even many of you may hate colorized version of their dvd or very few episodes, but at least it is captioned and it is accessible for me to enjoy to have equality to enjoy the show like every one of you.  I must thank Fox for releasing the movies coming in a month or so for doing the same. 

When I heard Mackinaw was realeasing this DVD.. i was having the assumption it wont have captioning, and i even clicked the link and zoomed into those DVD box, didn't mention one thing about captioning, even JRVass mention it on Amazon.  I wouldn't trust it yet due to its early news.  I hope it does have captioning in there, because one of major things I want to see is about Bob Bernet's Story about My Pal Moe, I know there is a website on it but I want to see Moe in this and It would be one of must haves for Stooges Collection.    As for BeAStooge he mentioned he saw the 2nd disc, He would know if this would be true or not if it was possible it has captioning.

[Baggie]

    Wow, not much of that made sense to me.

[jrvass]

I guessed hearing impaired because I have a friend who is. He needs to read lips. My parents aren't much better. When they play the TV, it's at full volume. I've even left the room before because it is so d__n loud!

Digging around on "more details" on Amazon said it was closed captioned. I had to do that twice I think. It was 2 pages down in "more details".

James

[BeAStooge]

... IMO, it's how Paul Gierucki and Gary Lassin would have done the documentary in the first place, if they'd been given the time and the budget a decade ago.

Paul Gierucki and Bill Hunt are the producers.  Other than appearing in some interview footage (1992), Gary was not involved.

[Pilsner Panther]

... IMO, it's how Paul Gierucki and Gary Lassin would have done the documentary in the first place, if they'd been given the time and the budget a decade ago.

Paul Gierucki and Bill Hunt are the producers.  Other than appearing in some interview footage (1992), Gary was not involved.

My bad... I stand corrected (even though I'm sitting down).