The content changes on SHEMP COCKTAIL are indeed a disappointment, but the nearly hour-long Bonus Features will, I think, still make this a handy, worthwhile, economical addition to the shelf. The interviews with Shemp's daughter-in-law, Geri; Geri's sister, Diane; and Geri's daughter, Jill are really warm, funny and wonderful - and are firsthand reminiscences and perceptions from their own experiences with Shemp, rather than secondhand retellings or rehashings.
The interviews are illustrated with rare personal photos, clips from the films, and some previously unseen home movies from 1931 that show Shemp, Babe, Moe, Helen, Mort, and Joan Howard during that brief period away from Healy, plus some other, later, color home movies with Babe and the children.
Additionally, there's a PHOTO GALLERY of 25 sharp, interesting, rarely (if ever) seen stills, snapshots, publicity shots, "narrated" by Jill Howard, who adds her personal insight into the descriptions.
So yes, it's too bad those shorts were left out, but I still think it's a worthwhile item to snap up if you have a serious interest in learning more about the personal side of Shemp, Babe, and Mort - from the people who were really there (including Geri's description of being invited to the set of AFRICA SCREAMS and watching her future father-in-law performing for the first time), and it puts the rest of the more-familiar material on the two discs into a new perspective.
