Another point — not eye-poke! — I meant to make yesterday is how the arrival of a new Stooge resulted in a breath of fresh air to routines that had become, well, routine and formulaic.
Shemp coming into the fold brought a new dynamic because he and his comedic shtick were so noticeably different to Curly’s. (I firmly believe that Curly’s comedic talents were innate, and while he learned his craft onstage in vaudeville, he wasn’t “drawn” to the stage in the same way that Moe and Shemp were. Shemp spent many years in vaudeville and then in movies honing his gifts before Moe asked him to rejoin the Stooges; what was supposed to be a temporary gig, lasted him the rest of his life.) Shemp trying to do Curly’s shtick wouldn’t have worked, and likewise Curly never tried to copy Shemp’s mannerisms after he replaced his older brother in vaudeville.
Unfortunately, budget cuts at Columbia meant that less and less original material was filmed for their shorts; sometimes upwards of half a “new” short consisted of recycled footage from one or more previous shorts. Not only did it feel like you’d already seen these shorts before — you partly had!! (And the less said about the four “fake Shemp” shorts, the better!)
So Moe having to find a third Third Stooge, at least meant Jules White had to cut back on reusing footage of previous years. And once again, the Third Stooge dynamic was more different than it had been in years, so at least it was another breath of fresh air.
But as we all know, opinion has been (and probably always will be) sharply divided on whether or not Joe Besser was the best choice for the Third Stooge. On paper, he was a great fit, with years of comedic experience and a popular character in the form of spoiled brat Stinky opposite Lou Costello. In practice, though… Joe’s whiny, fussy man-child (I hate the word “sissy” and refuse to use it, no matter how fitting it is here), along with Besser’s initial reluctance to be on the receiving end of slaps, eye pokes and other indignities, alienated him from many fans. But there’s no denying that by this point, the Stooges needed a shakeup, and boy, they got it!
For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead
