Topic: Outside the Classic 190...?

[pipboytaylor]

Ok, I wanted to pose this question. As a serious Stooge fan, I have sought out and watched most every film with the Stooges as a comedy team. Some of them remain only as a curiousity which I rarely revisit.

Outside of the Three Stooges Classic 190 shorts, speaking of all of there feature film appearances and Healy shorts etc.., "Do any of these films have enough fun and likeability for to prompt somewhat regular viewing?" More than an occasional curious revisit.

Which would you rate among your favorite Stooge films outside the classic 190 shorts?

I think the ones I watch more so than the rest would be...

Swing Parade Of 1946 (I actually like the story and the stooges are featured throughout, plus I like the other actors.Also the film is relatively short.)
The Outlaws Is Coming
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules

[stooge1029]

I dont tend to like anything outside the 190. I avoid the movies and cartoons and whatnot from the 60s because its not the Stooges I know. And in my opinion Curly Joe is JUST AWFUL. He didnt belong in show business and definitly didnt belong with the greatest comedy team ever. I look at the 60s films and TV for the Stooges like I look at Michael Jordan as a Wahington Wizard...when looking back at a legendary career, its best to just forget that part.

[Final Shemp]

I'm actually slowly making my way throught the filmography of the Three Stooges at the moment.  I'm a third of the way through (just finished In the Sweet Pie and Pie yesterday), and I have a lot of non-190 appearances fresh in my head.

Best Ted Healy short:
Beer & Pretzels
Probably the most like the Columbia shorts they ever did at MGM.  A lot of laughs are crammed into the short, and the line-up of Ted Healy and the Stooges in this setting showed how dynamic they were as a team.  It's also worth seeking out Plane Nuts, and maybe Nertsery Rhymes.  The Big Idea and Hollywood on Parade are best left avoided.

Best Ted Healy Feature:
Meet the Baron
Delightfully wacky, Jimmy Durante and Jack Pearl are a gas.  The Stooges scene in the ladies shower room is a knockout.  Also from the era, while lacking Stooge meyhem, Turn Back the Clock and Dancing Lady are terrific dramas.  Not so good:  Soup to Nuts and Fugitive Lovers

Best Curly (without Healy) Feature:
Time Out for Rhythm
Just watched this one, and it's a delight.  Everytime the Stooges appear, they give it their all, especially the Maharaja scene.  Their fellow performers are equally tallented, especially Ann Miller, who is dynamite.  Another hoot (with Jimmy Durante) is Start Cheering.  Have not seen My Sister Eileen all the way through, though I have seen the Stooge scene.  Avoid the Captain Hates the Sea and Stop, Look, and Laugh.  Lesser works are Swing Parade of 1946 and (unfortunately) Rockin' in the Rockies.

The Lesser of Two Evils (Best Shemp Feature):
Soup to Nuts
While I also consider it a Ted Healy venture, Shemp only had one other staring role with the group, and it was arguably worse.  Soup to Nuts is a messy attempt at absurdity.  Honestly, I grow very impatient with it, but not nearly as impatient as I get with Gold Raiders.  At least the Stooges are funny in Soup to Nuts, wheras Gold Raiders is a cheap "western for the sake of a western" filled with tired gags for the boys.  Poor Shemp.  I thought the worst mark of his Stoogedom was the reedited shorts, then I saw these two features (OK, so they aren't as bad as Bubble Trouble, but that's like saying having your hand burned is better than having your junk cut off).

Best Curly-Joe Feature:
The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze
I like the adventurous spirit of this movie.  It's a fun little ride to take.  I also quite enjoy the Three Stooges in Orbit and the Outlaws is Coming.  Didn't much care for Snow White and the Three Stooges and Have Rocket will travel.  Their cameo appearances in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and 4 for Texas aren't worth the time it takes to sit through those movies.

Best Television Pilot/Series
Jerks of all Trade
Full of recycled gags to lesser effect, but the Stooges were still going strong when it was made.  It's sad a series was never developed.  The New 3 Stooges has its moments, and I don't care for travelogue, so Kook's Tour didn't stand a chance.

[falsealarms]

It's a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD is a classic. It's well worth it to sit through that -- and probably more than once.

I'd agree with BEER & PRETZELS.

[Final Shemp]

I do not dispute is classichood, I just think the movie is mediocre.  I felt it was far too long, and while it had a lot of momentum, I often felt like it wasn't going anywhere.  I broke the movie down into two days to get through it, and even that was testing my patience.  I can only sit through movies over two hours if I'm properly compelled, and Mad World didn't even come close.

But I do concede it has its fans, and I'm glad they enjoy it.  I didn't get much out of the experience, though.  I found myself more disappointed in that fact than I was at the movie itself.

[Boid Brain]

It was a fine effort, but in spite of the comedy legends in the film it was weak...Spencer Tracy??

[pipboytaylor]

I  have mixed feelings about "....Mad World". The first time I ever saw it, I was pretty disappointed. It was very long to sit through and the Stooges scene is so short and it seems like it just takes forever to get to it. As far as rewatchability, I do find some fun in it. Most likely it is just seeing all of the famous wacky actors together. It is fun to see who and when the next cameo appearance will pop up. I enjoyed the Jonathon Winters and Ethel Mermen sequences also.

Someone mentioned "Fugitive Lovers". I think I actually liked that film. I only saw it once and that was a long time ago.

"Captain Hates The Sea" was terrible I thought.

"Rockin In The Rockies" is pretty strange. All of the musical elements makes it tough to watch plus Moe being set apart from the group. I don't get that. I wonder who made that decision?

Does anyone know much about "Start Cheering" or "Myrt & Marge"? Worth watching?

[Final Shemp]

Both are middle of the road, in my opinion, though I prefer Start Cheering by a mile.  Jimmy Durante is always a treat, and while the Stooges only have two scenes in it (with one being a rehash of the "point to the right!" gag), the scene in which the Stooges investegate a boy sneaking around in a girl's dorm is hilarious.

Myrt and Marge has its moments.  Healy and the boys have a decent sized role in it, but the story doesn't particularly grab me and the performances are rather blah.  Had a few laughs though.  And I loved the finale with the stage that looked like a coiled cobra, that was really cool.

I'd also like to add that I've just watched My Sister Eileen.  Thought it was fantastic and hilarious.  Definately a favorite.