Admittedly, Jerry did not much resemble his iconic alter ego at that point, sporting long red hair and a handlebar moustache. This earned him a huge laugh from the crowd vaudeville audiences were obviously a push-over , and one of the most gifted comic performers of the 20th century had officially arrived. The contract was not renewed, and in Healy and his Stooges finally went their separate ways.
Not only was he prone to violent, drunken rages, he was apt to do some very dumb things indeed. Already several sheets to the wind when he arrived at the Trocadero on the Sunset Strip, Healy lost no time in mixing things up with another famously belligerent drunk, character actor Wallace Beery, who was drinking at the bar with DiCicco. Healy suggested they take things outside. They duly did, and Beery and DiCicco proceeded to beat Healy to a pulp. The beating was so savage, in fact, that the following day Healy fell into a coma and died.
Mayer deployed his infamous fixers Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling to protect Beery, one of his top stars, by covering up the incident. MGM story editor Samuel Marx confirmed this in an interview shortly before his death in And by then, they had quite another ruthless sociopath to contend with. They were on the brink of their greatest success and had honed their act into the classic Stooge mode that defines them to this day.
The internal mechanism of The Three Stooges is deceptively simple. Moe, with his gravelly voice, permanent scowl and menacing helmet of bowl-cut hair, was the leader, invariably the under-boss entreated with overseeing whatever hopelessly doomed endeavour the Stooges found themselves pursuing and whatever it was, you can bet it involved heavy objects and the potential for maximum mayhem; plumbing, not surprisingly, was a favourite Stooge profession.
Moe actually had his brother Shemp to thank for his signature move. Once, during a card game, Shemp became so convinced that Larry was cheating him he leapt up and poked him in both eyes. Moe made a note of it and duly incorporated it into the act. An easygoing simpleton, Larry was the essential, non-threatening intermediary, and he brought a special genius to the role.
Even given the quick-fire production schedule for shorts, the Stooges were extraordinarily prolific during their Columbia years, churning out film after film of, more often than not, admirable quality in terms of writing, direction and production values, given they were shot in a mere four or five days.
And their films were hugely popular, often getting a more positive response than the features they were designed to accompany. Naturally, their talent, industriousness and lucrative bankability were rewarded with all the bounteous largesse for which Harry Cohn was justly famous. Although the legend that in the 23 years they spent at Columbia the Stooges never received a payrise is untrue, it is rooted in reality.
Playing his customary dual role of ruthless businessman and enthusiastic sadist, Cohn kept the Stooges on a one-year contract throughout their career at the studio, forcing them to re-negotiate their employment every 12 months, browbeating them into signing for a pittance with warnings that the shorts department was in financial trouble.
Keeping its biggest stars in the dark as to their true value was a deliberate ploy to ensure they worked cheap. For one, they were terrified of Cohn and his Mob connections, as were a good many people in Hollywood.
As working-class guys, fearful of losing their livelihood, they were happy to take what they were given. Playing a human punchbag day in, day out for years, enduring constant blows to the head — most of which, according to Moe Howard, were every bit as real as they looked — brought on a series of minor cerebral haemorrhages that slowed him down to the point that he was unable to make personal appearances.
Shemp, now under contract to Columbia himself, was brought in to replace Curly in live performances. Cohn flatly refused to give Curly leave of absence, and it was not long before his declining health became evident on screen. This should have signalled, at the very least, an extended period of rest and recuperation. For their part, the other Stooges took on the extra responsibility willingly, hoping that Curly would eventually recover sufficiently to resume his role.
But it was a losing battle and in , between takes on the short Half-Wits Holiday a remake of the two-reeler, Hoi Polloi , Curly suffered a massive, paralysing stroke. The boys' careers had suddenly come to an end. They were at Columbia one day and gone the next—no 'Thank yous,' no farewell party for their 24 years of dedication and service and the dollars their comedies had reaped for the studio.
Moe Howard recalled that a few weeks after their exit from Columbia, he drove to the studio to say goodbye to several studio executives when he was stopped by a guard at the gate obviously, not a Stooges fan and, since he did not have the current year's studio pass, was refused entry.
For the moment, it was a crushing blow. Although the Stooges were no longer working for Columbia, the studio had enough completed films on the shelf to keep releasing new comedies for another 18 months, and not in the order they were produced.
With no active contract in place, Moe and Larry discussed plans for a personal appearance tour; meanwhile, Besser's wife had a minor heart attack , and he preferred to stay local, leading him to withdraw from the act. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Stooges hit a dead end.
Seeing the success of how television, in its early years, allowed a backlog of short films thought unmarketable, the Stooge films seemed perfect for the burgeoning genre. ABC television had even expressed interest as far back as , purchasing exclusive rights to 30 of trio's shorts. In January , Columbia's television subsidiary Screen Gems offered a package consisting of 78 Stooge shorts mainly from the Curly era , which were well received.
Almost immediately, an additional 40 shorts hit the market, and by , all Stooge shorts were airing regularly. Due to the massive quantity of Stooge product available for broadcast, the films were broadcast Monday through Friday, leading to heavy exposure aimed squarely at children.
This led to their baby boomer parents to watch alongside of the their offspring, and before long, Howard and Fine found themselves in high demand. This Three Stooges lineup went on to make a series of popular full-length films from to The films were aimed at the kiddie-matinee market, and most were slapstick outings in the Stooge tradition, with the exception of Snow White and the Three Stooges , a children's fantasy in Technicolor. Throughout the s, The Three Stooges were one of the most popular and highest-paid live acts in America.
From the feature film Snow White and the Three Stooges. The trio also filmed 41 short comedy skits for The New Three Stooges , animated cartoons produced for television. The Stooges appeared in live-action color footage, which preceded and followed each animated adventure in which they voiced their respective characters. In , the Three Stooges filmed a pilot episode for a new TV series titled Kook's Tour , a combination travelogue - sitcom that had the "retired" Stooges traveling around the world, with the episodes filmed on location.
On January 9, , during production of the pilot, Larry suffered a paralyzing stroke , ending his acting career, as well as plans for the television series. A minute version of Kook's Tour was edited together from usable material and initially only made available for the home movie market years before the popularity of home video ; it has subsequently been released to DVD , in an unrestored version. Larry Fine suffered another stroke just before Christmas The following month, he suffered a more serious one, and slipped into a coma.
He died on January 24, , at the age of Devastated by his friend's death, Moe nevertheless decided that the Three Stooges would continue, and longtime Stooge supporting actor Emil Sitka would replace Larry, and be dubbed "The Middle Stooge". Sitka later said he accepted the offer after receiving Larry's blessings. Several movie ideas were considered, including one called Blazing Stewardesses according to Leonard Maltin , who also uncovered a pre-production photo the film was ultimately made with the last surviving Ritz Brothers.
However, Moe fell ill from lung cancer , and died on May 4, The final incarnation of the Three Stooges. With Moe gone, it was inconceivable that the Three Stooges would continue without a Howard. Emil Sitka died on January 16, , making him the last "Stooge" to die though Sitka never performed on film as a member of the trio, but did appear in a few publicity shots.
Curly takes it in the ear in 's Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb. This photo remains one of the most popular publicity shots of the team. Joe DeRita. Emil Sitka [11]. Throughout their career, Moe acted as both their main creative force and business manager. Lugosi and Larry Fine's grandson, majority owner Eric Lamond. Comedy III has also, since , authorized and provided the services of veteran actors Jim Skousen, Alan Semok, and the late Dave Knight as Moe, Larry, and Curly respectively for numerous "personal appearances" by the Stooge characters for a variety of merchandising and promotional events.
This latter day trio has also provided voices for the characters in a variety of radio spots, merchandising tie-ins, and most recently for the first new Three Stooges short in fifty years It was not until that Screen Gems packaged 78 shorts for national syndication; the package was gradually enlarged to encompass the entire library of shorts. In the late s, AMC had held the rights to the Three Stooges shorts, airing them with host Leslie Nielsen , in the format of a college instructor for NYUK New Yuk University of Knuckleheads , with several shorts often grouped by a theme, such as similar schticks used in different films.
By , the network had discontinued airing the shorts. Spike TV had begun airing Stooges shorts again, this time every Sunday morning at As of late April , Three Stooges has disappeared from the network's schedule entirely.
Since the s Columbia has preferred to license the Stooge shorts to cable networks, precluding the films from being shown on local broadcast TV. Stations in Chicago and Boston, however, signed long-term syndication contracts with Columbia years ago and declined to terminate them. Some of the Stooge films have been colorized by two separate companies.
The two-disc set contains shorts from the first three years the Stooges worked at Columbia Pictures. This is the first time ever that all 19 shorts have been released in their original theatrical order to DVD. Every short was remastered in high definition, a first for the Stooge films. One critic states "the Three Stooges on DVD has been a real mix'n match hodge-podge of un-restored titles and illogical entries.
This new The way that the Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and poke in the eye to fans. Highly recommended. Remastered in High Definition and presented in chronological order, these short films now give fans the chance to appreciate the development of one of the most successful comedy teams in history. The chronological series has proven very successful. Flying Saucer Daffy October 9, Rusty Romeos October 17, Scheming Schemers October 4, Hot Ice October 6, Shot in the Frontier October 7, Bubble Trouble October 8, Three Dark Horses October 16, The Tooth Will Out October 4, Studio Stoops October 5, Vagabond Loafers October 6, September Shorts.
Sweet and Hot September 4, Hot Stuff September 6, September 1, Knutzy Knights September 2, Rip, Sew and Stitch September 3, Merry Mavericks September 6, Three Hams on Rye September 7, Heavenly Daze September 2, Wanna Go Home September 5, Curly Howard November 1, Curly Joe DeRita.
Curly Joe DeRita October 28, Joe Besser. Joe Besser October 27, Larry Fine. Larry Fine November 3, Moe Howard. Moe Howard November 2, Shemp Howard. Shemp Howard October 29, Supporting Players. Muriel Landers August 22, Edward Bernds — Director March 2, Greta Thyssen March 30, Emil Sitka December 22, Phyllis Crane August 7, Phillip Van Zandt October 4, Elwood Ullman — Writer May 29, New Hit It Rich!
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