A Golden Age of Comedy: Looking Back at the Three Stooges

Is it true, that the Three Stooges have been around for nearly three quarters of a century and their timeless antics still prove to be as comedical as they did when Columbia originally released their shorts in the theaters so long ago? How they've delighted nearly up to a fourth generation of fans and they're still going strong. From eye gauges, slaps and the immortal creators of the pie fighting- the Stooges will live on forever.

Starting in the early 30's, after headlining at Vaudeville acts, the family of the Howards came together and finally got a great deal with Columbia to do a number of shorts that would be shown all throughout movie theaters all across the country. Do children and young adults, their antics proved to be hilarious. Hilarious slapstick that could only be proven with slaps, laughs and very quick witted responses and catch phrases that live on to this day.

But their antics were not easily met by all. If you were to ever ask a woman on their opinion on the Stooges, your normal response would fall around "idiotic, moronic or childish." Normally, I just say this as a sexist remark and claim the Stooges to be "a guy thing." They're a high inspiration to many men. You can find them within such filmmakers as Sam Raimi, Farrelly brothers, and numerous writers on the Simpsons. They ranked amongst the top 50 guy films in a recent Maxim Magazine poll. Sales of dvd sets and an ongoing fan club will keep the Stooges running strong for years.

The one thing I've noticed about the Stooges is that they're at their best when they pretend to be something their not. The further away from the truth - the better. Normally you may find them portraying bumbling idiots trying to run their business or have some sort of boss that would hire these numb skulls. One antic I can recall is when the editor at a newspaper needs to hire the reporters at Star Press. He looks outside to see our boys unloading a truck, reading some newspapers and on the unopened truck door it says Star Press on it. The editor calls them up cause he wants to give them a hundred dollar bonus. The boys head upstairs to the office and shut the truck's doors. Now the back of the truck reads "Star Bright Press Cleaners", it's like a MAD fold in!

So now you have these press cleaners getting hired as photographers to get a picture of this Prince at a fancy party. So of course the boys don't reveal and neither party truly realizes what they're getting into throughout most of the discussion. Then at the party, they are hired by the butler as help for the soiree. So now you have press cleaners pretending to be reporters that are now pretending to be a cook and two butlers. HILARIOUS. Of course, hilarious antics follow when these nitwits try to pull of jobs that their unmannered asses have never even seen before. They eventually succeed of taking the photo and realize that the butler and the prince were nothing more than thieves putting on a show for Lady Buckham. A lot of false identities flourish in these shorts.

I found the shorts aren't fun when they're pretending to be heroes, such as in Horses and Hats. Where the boys are supposed to be top notch horse wrangles, though they do some crazy antics and some slapstick, none the less they try to be stern and serious about their work. It doesn't get good until they have to capture some criminals. The first time they pretend to be bushes and the second as big poker players from the West. So again the antics will only follow once the Stooges try to pretend they are not what they are- IDIOTS.

Noticing why women may have a problem with these yucksters is that how they treat women badly in the shorts. One whole film was claimed as Women Haters, and how easily they must not fall in love but at the same time how easily woman can manipulate men. They normally man handle their women and it's no rare occasion to bump into a lanky or an extremely fat girl stuck with Curly or one of the other hapless Stooges. But it's all for jokes folks. It's no laughing matter to think that some day some Womanist Group will save up all their money to buy out the rights to the Three Stooges to make sure they're never seen again. Much like how Bill Cosby got the rights to Little Rascals cause they were just too offensive.

So, in case you were ever sucked into a Three Stooges film, how could you tell? Look out for social settings, any time you see three bumbling idiots turning a party into a disaster. Social settings are a Stooges breeding ground. Your guests will get upset and embarrassed, bad dancing will ensue, plates will be smashed and some how pies will appear. Now the pie fight starts out like this: Moe, Larry and Curly stand near a stack of pies. Moe ensues by hitting Curly in the face with a pie. Curly retaliates by throwing a pie back but Moe ducks; instead it will hit the host of the party. The person near the host will laugh it him/her, the host gets upset and will aim for Curly but instead hit Moe. Moe gets upset, flings a pie back at the host and hits his/her friend that is still laughing. Now that he's had a taste of his own medicine, he flings a pie across the room that misses all Stooges and accidentally hits a high ranking official or his wife. Larry gets caught up in the crossfire eventually and it turns into an all out pie war. Curly dances around and does a Woo Woo Woo.

Many gags that the Stooges due are always recycled throughout their films. The pie fight is a fine example. So are the eye gauges and bonks on the head. A classic is slipping a Stooges arm into a jacket while trying to punch the guy as he slips his jacket on. The two men start to spin in circles and hitting people. Moe will punch his foe; continue to spin until the foe hits the man that Moe is stuck with. It continues into a cycle until all enemies are defeated. Normally the bad guy is always the same actor portrayed numerous times over, any guy that is large and has a moustache or some menacing facial hair. Also look out for home appliances, they well frequently get abused or get bent around Curly's indestructible skull.

Is there anything else that can be said about these pioneers in physical comedy? How about how many small children have been put into the hospital for imitating the Stooges antics. Not too many people realized how the boys faked their tricks, such as how an eye gauge actually gets pointed in the forehead and slaps in the face are imitated by having all fingers opened. Everything else is done quickly with some of the most original sound effects a studio could produce. But besides the pain they brought, there has also been a lot of laughter. Gut busting laughter and years worth of inspiration to go into the comedical arts. Until something else strikes my fancy about these three fine fabulous boys, I'll end it by saying Shemp sucks and he was nothing more than a filler.