Product: Three Stooges (UK PAL Region 0)
Rating: 4.0
Supplemental Material for the Serious Stooge Fan
I'd recommend this set for someone who is seriously interested in the Three Stooges, perhaps looking to round out a collection with some rare material and isn't necessarily looking for a large collection of classic shorts. It doesn't contain a lot of classic shorts. It could be said that it doesn't contain any classic shorts. I did find the shorts in this collection to be quite interesting, though, as I have never seen them on TV. There are a few shorts with Ted Healy, the guy who originated the Stooges. And, there are some shorts with a young Shemp without any of the other Stooges and shorts with Moe or Curly with other people.I found these shorts to be a fascinating glimpse at a sort of proto-Stooge development. A lot of the classic elements can be seen as proto-Moe interacts with unrecognized stooge-like characters and a proto-Shemp interacts with decidedly non-Stooge characters. Some of the shorts have bizarre elements that leave me wondering what in the world they were thinking when they were producing them. But then again, that is often the case with the much loved classic Three Stooges shorts. It isn't something that detracts from the material (in my mind anyway). Instead it makes them endearing and novel to me.This collection also contains home movie footage with a narrative describing the genesis of the Three Stooges. I found it very interesting to see the mother and father of Moe, Shemp, and Curly (I think Moe looks like his mom and Shemp looks like his father). There is footage of Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe on the Steve Allen Show, along with some commercial spots. There is also a feature length movie in the set that has the Three Stooges in it, though they aren't then center of the plot. And finally, the last DVD contains many cartoons that the Stooges voiced in the 1960's.The collection also comes with a decently written history of the Stooges in a little booklet and a Three Stooges button/pin you can proudly display on your lapel.I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes and the around-the-fringes look at The Three Stooges that I have not seen elsewhere. I think it makes very good supplemental material for someone wanting to venture off the beaten path; to see things that aren't widely run on TV.