Actually, I really dig this short because of the slapstick violence. Seriously as insane as any Three Stooges short including THEY STOOGE TO CONGA! I just ignored the plot and focused on the slapstick and as far as that goes, this short satisfies quite well!
As far as it being stock footage, there were a few close up shots where they mention something resembling plot I’m assuming is new footage, but other than that, I can’t tell. Part of it may be we’re not talking the greatest print and another part is I’m not as familiar with these guys as I am The Three Stooges, so the aging process isn’t as obvious. I imagine any footage with the kid is old - kids grow up fast, after all. If I knew the original version of this, who knows? Maybe I would find this pointless and stick to the original. As it stands now, very entertaining.
Same theme of these two guys not really starting as a team, more so like rivals and yes, the women do take some insane abuse - as does everyone else. The lack of realism softens the blow, compare this to say - ANY OLD PORT from Laurel and Hardy, where the abuse of the female character feels all too real and disturbing.