Topic: 3 Stooges Collection Vol. 7 - 1952-1954, November 10

[metaldams]

Is Jitter Bughouse the one with the strange swing/rockibilly band?  I recall seeing a DeRita short at the Fan Club Meeting last year, and I thought it was great!  (Although the Yuenglings might have affected my judgement by then!)

I believe that's the one.  Perhaps it all boils down to musical taste.  I saw that short years ago and didn't care for it.  Not my style of music and I didn't find Derita funny.  Perhaps a fresh viewing will change my mind, but I remember I was relieved when the short was over. 

[archiezappa]

I believe that's the one.  Perhaps it all boils down to musical taste.  I saw that short years ago and didn't care for it.  Not my style of music and I didn't find Derita funny.  Perhaps a fresh viewing will change my mind, but I remember I was relieved when the short was over. 

A fresh viewing.  That's it!  That's what we really want with all these shorts being on DVD.  We can argue about good and bad episodes all day long, but we've got to be able to watch them or there's nothing to talk about.  I can't wait to see those solo shorts.  They may be horrible, but I want to see for myself.

[falsealarms]

Rear cover art from DVD Empire

[dimelives]

Thanks, falsealarms! Was wondering when this was gonna turn up.

For those who don't wish to strain their eyes lol:

"These 22 digitally remastered shorts from 1952-1954 were made during a tumultuous time for The Three Stooges. First, in 1952 Curly succumbed to the illness brought on by his stroke six years earlier; he was only forty-eight when he died. Shemp had really hit his stride by this time and he is at the top of his game in the new shorts from this period, but budget cutbacks at Columbia forced director Jules White to recycle some old footage, so although the work in this collection is first-rate, one can’t help but wonder what could have been done if they’d had the opportunity to develop more new material.

Fortunately, this era did leave us with such classics as the Stooges’ first 3-D shorts, SPOOKS! (1953) and PARDON MY BACKFIRE (1953) ; SHOT IN THE FRONTIER (1954) a parody of the classic film High Noon ; and Larry’s hilarious spoof of Brando in CUCKOO ON A CHOO CHOO (1952). These shorts are all presented as they were projected in the theaters; some in widescreen for the first time since their original release.

The Three Stooges Collection Volume 7 shows how the genius of Moe, Larry and Shemp rose above all obstacles and enabled them to be the best at their craft."

Anyone else feel it's just a little bit of a marketing tactic that this is the third volume with Shemp, and they're STILL talking about Curly's death?... Not that Curly isn't deserving of numerous mention, but it just comes off to me as a little bit of a drawing term... But ah well, whatya gonna do? =P

BTW, here's the plain front cover, sans the glasses and such:

[archiezappa]

I guess it's okay to mention Curly's death, since it happened during this time period: 1952.  It sorta helps out in understanding the chronology of where they were in their personal lives at this time, especially Moe & Shemp.  They had to bury their baby brother and that must have been devistating.  I've always wondered if you could tell a difference in the way they presented their act after Curly was gone.  I know that's kinda weird, but I've always wondered what they must have been thinking, knowing that Curly would never be a part of the act again.  He defined that role so well.

But I'm not knocking Shemp!  I love Shemp.  His shorts defined The Three Stooges every bit as much as Curly's did.  Great guys, all.  Howard, Fine, Howard and Howard.

[luke795]

What short is the picture of Moe with that thing over his head with a wiper on it from?

[Rich Finegan]

I believe that picture of Moe with the thing with the wiper is from the new footage at the beginning of "Knutzy Knights" when The Stooges are putting on the act to try to cheer up the Princess. When Larry's tears are so bad that they spray out at Moe he has that thing on and turns on the wiper.

[Smaug]

When I was young and they packed me off to school we preferred Curly, then Shemp, and would put up with Joe. Watching the shorts in order I realize that when Shemp re-joined the Stooges,he hit the ground running, and his first shorts were a big step up from the last few 'sick Curly' shorts. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Shemp hit his stride from the get go, where most of the first Curly shorts were a bit uneven, still figuring out their characters. Shemp already had his character down pat.
And I drink too much coffee.

[Sadistic Stooge]

Damn it I want my copy now !!!!!!! 

[archiezappa]

When I was young and they packed me off to school we preferred Curly, then Shemp, and would put up with Joe. Watching the shorts in order I realize that when Shemp re-joined the Stooges,he hit the ground running, and his first shorts were a big step up from the last few 'sick Curly' shorts. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Shemp hit his stride from the get go, where most of the first Curly shorts were a bit uneven, still figuring out their characters. Shemp already had his character down pat.
And I drink too much coffee.

Yeah.  Shemp definitely knew what he was doing from the get-go.  He just played the same character he's always played, but he played off of Moe & Larry very well.

[HELLOLARRY]

Nah, I don't think the mention of Curly's death is a tactic at all, it's just making note of the changes in their act/lives and putting it in perspective of the time these films were made.  Almost as if Leonard Maltin was doing a video intro to the shorts on this collection.

[dimelives]

Yeah, after reading through the backs again, I guess it isn't THAT exploitative or anything. Just felt like they were using Curly's name to sell more copies or something, but it is actually put in context of what the other guys were dealing with at these times and such. But I mean, if they throw another "But Curly unfortunately passed away in 1952 at the age of 48" in the NEXT volume, I may just have to re-asess the tact in it =P

[archiezappa]

Yeah, after reading through the backs again, I guess it isn't THAT exploitative or anything. Just felt like they were using Curly's name to sell more copies or something, but it is actually put in context of what the other guys were dealing with at these times and such. But I mean, if they throw another "But Curly unfortunately passed away in 1952 at the age of 48" in the NEXT volume, I may just have to re-asess the tact in it =P

I would imagine that they would make mention of Shemp's death on the back of the next volume.  That's very important considering both the "Fake Shemp" shorts and the Joe Besser shorts.

[dimelives]

Yes indeedy.

[xraffle]

Looking at the cover art, it's safe to say that "Spooks" and "Pardon My Backfire" will be both in 2D and 3D and that some of the shorts will be 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. I had no idea Sony would do this. The idea of releasing the shorts in 3D or in Widescreen has never even entered my mind until people started posting about it here. So, I have a slight hunch that maybe Sony takes a gander at this site, which is good.

By the way, did anyone ever notice that starting with Volume 6, Sony started using actual screenshots from the shorts rather than using the publicity photos (like they did with Volumes 1-5) for the pictures on the right side of the front cover? Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm just kind of puzzled as to why Sony decided to change that.

[dimelives]

I have a slight hunch that maybe Sony takes a gander at this site, which is good.

Either that or they've just REALLY done their homework on the Stooges and have dedicated themselves to doing this all RIGHT. Either way, I'm thrilled!

By the way, did anyone ever notice that starting with Volume 6, Sony started using actual screenshots from the shorts rather than using the publicity photos (like they did with Volumes 1-5) for the pictures on the right side of the front cover? Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm just kind of puzzled as to why Sony decided to change that.

Perhaps there just weren't so many publicity photos for the later, "less popular" shorts or something. I hadn't really noticed. Good eyes!

[moglia]

This may be the volume I'm looking forward to the most. The 3D and the Widescreen shorts will allow me for the first time to watch they way they were originally shown. I can't wait, now when I see Moe poke at the camera it will make sense.

[Smaug]

By the way, did anyone ever notice that starting with Volume 6, Sony started using actual screenshots from the shorts rather than using the publicity photos (like they did with Volumes 1-5) for the pictures on the right side of the front cover?

Columbia cost cutting? Look at all the recycled footage they started using......

[archiezappa]

So, I have a slight hunch that maybe Sony takes a gander at this site, which is good.

I really think they do watch this site.  This is where most of the Stooges fans are.  They should know that by now.   

[HELLOLARRY]

Still wise...I 'think' the case with the later Shemp shorts was again cost cutting.  Say for instance a short subject had a 'still' budget of 25 stills.  What I believe they did with the later films was take maybe 10 new pictures and recycle stills from the original short just noting the new title on the back.  Don't take this as gospel but I do believe they did something to that effect.

[archiezappa]

Still wise...I 'think' the case with the later Shemp shorts was again cost cutting.  Say for instance a short subject had a 'still' budget of 25 stills.  What I believe they did with the later films was take maybe 10 new pictures and recycle stills from the original short just noting the new title on the back.  Don't take this as gospel but I do believe they did something to that effect.

Well, that makes sense.  I wonder if we can know for sure...

[Rich Finegan]

I have a pretty decent collection of Stooges stills and quite a lot from non-Stooges Columbia shorts, but not as many from the later years. Gary L. can fill us in more on the subject of later year stills, I'm sure.
But from what I do have, it looks like they did just reprint stills from the earlier version and re-number them, along with printing a few from the new footage. And why not, actually? You can't really represent those remake shorts by stills of only the little bit of new footage in them.

[IFleecem]

Thats why  I enjoy lobby cards/one sheets  so much, you see either scenes from the shorts or publicity photos taken during filming. sometimes I believe you see deleted scenes, such as the one with Curly as the chef.

Robin

[Rich Finegan]

The images on lobby cards and posters are usually taken from the stills shot for a film. In fact the images on most lobby cards are just 8 x 10 stills colored in and enlarged to 11 x 14.
And publicity photos and deleted scenes can be found on stills too.

Two reasons I'm more into 8 x 10 stills (although I do have lots of lobby cards and some posters) are that lobby cards and posters are harder to store and / or display, being bigger. Also, they can be so much more expensive!

[garystooge]

But from what I do have, it looks like they did just reprint stills from the earlier version and re-number them, along with printing a few from the new footage.

That's correct....for the Shemp re-makes they typically took 6 or 8 stills from the original film and re-numbered them with the new production number, and then there were another 6 or 8 stills that pictured the new players/ scenes featured in the remake.
Gary