The Three Stooges Collection, Volume 2: 1937-1939 (Disc 2)

Available from Amazon.

Three Missing Links, directed by Jules White, 1938 (Wiki).
Mutts to You*, directed by Charley Chase, 1938 (Wiki).
Flat Foot Stooges, directed by Charley Chase, 1938 (Wiki).
Three Little Sew and Sews*, directed by Del Lord, 1939 (Wiki).
We Want Our Mummy*, directed by Del Lord, 1939 (Wiki).
A Ducking They Did Go, directed by Del Lord, 1939 (Wiki).
Yes, We Have No Bonanza, directed by Del Lord, 1939 (Wiki).
Saved by the Belle*, directed by Charley Chase, 1939 (Wiki).
Calling All Curs, directed by Jules White, 1939 (Wiki).
Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise*, directed by Jules White, 1939 (Wiki).
Three Sappy People*, directed by Jules White, 1939 (Wiki).

* Denotes the first appearance on DVD for this film.

Six short films new to DVD make their debut, fleshing out five other classic Stooges films. The boys are just reaching their prime here.

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise, Calling All Curs and Three Sappy People are particular favorites, all three I really came to appreciate in my teenage years. Highly recommended disc.

The Three Stooges Collection, Volume 2: 1937-1939 (Disc 1)

Available at Amazon.

Grips, Grunts and Groans, directed by Preston Black, 1937 (Wiki).
Dizzy Doctors, directed by Del Lord, 1937 (Wiki).
3 Dumb Clucks, directed by Del Lord, 1937 (Wiki).
Back to the Woods, directed by Preston Black, 1937 (Wiki).
Goofs and Saddles, directed by Del Lord, 1937 (Wiki).
Cash and Carry, directed by Del Lord, 1937 (Wiki).
Playing the Ponies, directed by Charles Lamont, 1937 (Wiki).
The Sitter Downers, directed by Del Lord, 1937 (Wiki).
Termites of 1938, directed by Del Lord, 1938 (Wiki).
Wee Wee Monsieur, directed by Del Lord, 1938 (Wiki).
Tassels in the Air, directed by Charley Chase, 1938 (Wiki).
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb, directed by Del Lord, 1938 (Wiki).
Violent is the Word for Curly, directed by Charley Chase, 1938 (Wiki).

Two shorts, Cash and Curry and Tassels in the Air, are making their DVD debut with this set.

The definite highlight of the set is saved for the last film on the first disc, namely Violent is the Word for Curly, which features the boys teaching an all-girls college the song "Swinging the Alphabet" to improve their mental coordination (after being asked an nearly impossible to answer question by one student).

Back to the Woods is the first Stooges short to use stock footage from an earlier film, as the scene where Moe, Larry and Curly escape via a high speed canoe was recycled from 1936's Whoops, I'm an Indian!

I didn't count a single subpar film on this disc. Highly recommended. Disc 2 from the collection will be reviewed soon...

Dancing Lady

Dancing Lady. 1933 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Winnie Lightner, Fred Astaire, Robert Benchley, Nelson Eddy, Ted Healy and His Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard)
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Buy Dancing Lady at Amazon.
Also part of the Clark Gable Signature Collection.

An early MGM all-star movie. This one introduced Fred Astaire to the world, made a star out of Nelson Eddy, and showcased an early appearance of the Three Stooges with their old mentor, Ted Healy. Larry Fine is Harry, the pianist, and actually has a substantial part, while Moe and Curly (billed as Jerry Howard) play stagehands.

Tod Newton (Tone) is a millionaire who takes his friends to a burlesque show in a seedy place, where he is attracted to a dancer named Janie Barlow (Crawford). The club is raided, and Janie is among the many arrests, but she is bailed out by Newton, and insists on paying him back honestly instead of becoming his mistress in return.

With some help from Tod, Janie is able to secure work in a Broadway musical produced by Patch Gallagher (Gable), who initially tried everything he could to sabotage her audition, but reluctantly hires her when he realizes Janie "has something". Janie works hard and becomes the star of the show. Tod worries that he'll lose the girl, so he buys the production and shuts it down.

Patch uses his own savings to restart the show, which entices Janie to come back, after she discovers what Newton did to halt the first run of the show. She and Patch fall in love, and surprise, the show is a big hit with Janie starring with Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy.

Recommended. For those Three Stooges fans out there, the DVD contains two bonus shorts that would be of interest to them.

The Three Stooges Collection, Volume 1: 1934-1936 (Disc 2)

Available at Amazon.

Ants in the Pantry, directed by Preston Black, 1936 (Wiki).
Movie Maniacs, directed by Del Lord, 1936 (Wiki).
Half Shot Shooters, directed by Preston Black, 1936 (Wiki).
Disorder in the Court, directed by Preston Black, 1936 (Wiki).
A Pain in the Pullman, directed by Preston Black, 1936 (Wiki).
False Alarms, directed by Del Lord, 1936 (Wiki).
Whoops, I'm an Indian!, directed by Del Lord, 1936 (Wiki).
Slippery Silks, directed by Preston Black, 1936 (Wiki).

The second disc of the first DVD set of Three Stooges shorts feature a number of firsts: the first appearance of Vernon Dent as a supporting player in Half Shot Shooters; he would appear in more Stooges films than any other actor, and the first full fledged pie fight in a Stooges film takes place in Slippery Silks.

Disorder in the Court, one of the four Three Stooges shorts that have been in the public domain for many years, is also included here. Hopefully, if you needed it on DVD badly enough, this is the set you bought, and not a cheapo one you could find at any dollar store.

Highly recommended. The boys are starting to find their groove at this point.

The Three Stooges Collection, Volume 1: 1934-1936 (Disc 1)

Available at Amazon.

Woman Haters, directed by Archie Gottler, 1934 (Wiki).
Punch Drunks*, directed by Lou Breslow, 1934 (Wiki).
Men in Black, directed by Raymond McCarey (Wiki).
Three Little Pigskins, directed by Raymond McCarey, 1934 (Wiki).
Horses' Collars, directed by Clyde Bruckman, 1935 (Wiki).
Restless Knights, directed by Charles Lamont, 1935 (Wiki).
Pop Goes the Easel, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Uncivil Warriors, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Pardon My Scotch, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Hoi Polloi, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Three Little Beers, directed by Del Lord, 1935 Wiki).

* Selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

We'll be taking a look at the first 11 shorts that the Three Stooges made for Columbia Pictures, and released to DVD in an excellent set.

The earliest Stooges shorts can be fairly awkward, as there are moments that the boys will act somewhat out of character, like during Men in Black, where Larry hits Moe with a hammer, but doesn't get one in return. Woman Haters is a musical short from Columbia's "Musical Novelty" series, sung entirely in rhyme.

There's also the usual slapstick violence that you've come to expect from the Three Stooges, with two notable scenes from different films. During the making of Three Little Pigskins, Moe, Larry and Curly refused to perform a stunt in a scene where they stop to pose for photographers, only to be tackled by much bigger football players. Curly and Larry had already gotten hurt filming earlier scenes, so they didn't want to do this scene. Director McCarey was adamant that the boys do the scene, but lost that battle. Stunt doubles were quickly found, and after filming started, two of them were seriously injured, as were the four photographers.

Later, during filming of Pardon My Scotch, Moe was injured during a stunt involving a table that was supposed to split in half on cue. The table collapsed incorrectly, and after Moe fell, he broke three ribs. He stayed awake long enough to stand up and slap Larry and Curly before fainting. This footage was also used in 1943's Dizzy Detectives, one of many Stooges shorts to feature older vignettes inserted in with the new material.

Look for appearances from Walter Brennan and Lucille Ball (as a blonde) in some of the shorts.

The Three Stooges have long been an acquired taste, so these DVDs won't appeal to everyone. Still, highly recommended.

Disc 2 of this set will be reviewed soon!