Three Stooges Collection, The: Volume Six, 1949-1951 (DVD)

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It's a cliché, but guys like The Three Stooges more than their girlfriends and wives. From 1934, when the Stooges broke away from Ted Healy to form their own act, to the mid-Sixties the Stooges were one of the most bankable acts in comedy.

There's a maxim in public relations that if you do the right thing where the public is concerned, you'll also do well as a company. That's certainly been the case with The Three Stooges Collection which Sony has put together. They've released all of the Stooges shorts in chronological order with collectors in mind. The shorts have been digitally remastered and cleaned up so that they've never looked better, they've been listed with brief episode descriptions, and appreciative fans have snapped up each collection.

Volume Six: 1949-1951 features Shemp as the third Stooge, and while I'm a Curly fan myself, those who prefer Shemp will find some of his better work here. Shemp took over for his late brother, Curly, in 1947, and though he was the original third Stooge it seemed to take him a while to feel comfortable again--not so much with brother Moe and Larry Fine, but with himself as Curly's replacement. Curly had big shoes to fill, and it took awhile for Shemp to find his own style without trying to be another Curly. He would continue to play the third Stooge for 10 years, and these episodes catch him right in the middle of his run.

The transition to Shemp really made it clear how fine the line was between comedy and sadism as the Stooges poked and whacked each other. It all depended on reactions and character expressions, and at that Curly was still the best. Some of the battering that goes on just isn't as funny with Shemp as it was with Curly. The funnier installments are the ones that have more verbal gags and a solid comedic situation.

1949
"The Ghost Talks." In this one, the boys are movers who are assigned to move things out of an empty Smorgasbord Castle, where they run into Peeping Tom and Lady Godiva. Even for the Stooges, this one is "out there."

"Who Done It?" The boys play detectives and run into a femme fatale while trying to protect a councilman from an infamous gang. Another slow-starter.

"Hokus Pokus." In this much stronger short, the Stooges get hypnotized by Svengarlic and find themselves walking a flagpole . . . and trying to get the drop on an insurance fraud.

"Fuelin' Around." Larry is mistaken for a professor and the Stooges are kidnapped by spies who think they can learn a secret rocket fuel formula from the trio.

"Malice in the Palace." This time the boys are waiters somewhere in Arabia, and they get involved in a plan to steal a diamond from the Emir of Shmow. Naturally, they dress in Santa suits to get the job done.

"Vagabond Loafers." Another episode in which the Stooges play plumbers. This time they're summoned to Norfleet Mansion, where art thieves have made off with a priceless painting.

"Dunked in the Deep." Another spy caper has the boys pursuing a shipment of watermelons aboard ship after a spy hid secret documents inside one of them.

1950
"Punchy Cowpunchers." The Stooges are members of the U.S. Cavalry assigned to confront the dangerous Dillon Gang. But Shemp ends up in the very safe the gang is trying to crack.

"Hugs and Mugs." Three beautiful female jewel thieves romance the Stooges after they learn the trio has the stolen pearl necklace they hid before they went to prison. But a gangster is also after the neclace.

"Dopey Dicks." A mad scientist is looking for human brains for a new experiment, and so naturally he wants the Stooges'--which kind of complicates these private detectives' search for a missing woman.

"Love at First Bite." No, not the campy vampire movie. This flashback episode finds the Stooges toasting their upcoming weddings and, thinking that dead drunk Shemp is more dead than drunk, they try to dispose of the body.