Three Stooges appreciation thread

[Cant_Stop]

By comparison with the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers are cerebral.

When I laugh at the Three Stooges, or at least when I think about them, I also laugh at myself. I find it ridiculous that I can be amused by such primitive humor. I do not get this kind of secondary laughter from the Marx Brothers because their humor actually appeals to my intelligence.

Yeah, I can understand that. Their humor is completely different, but I sort of classify them in the same just because of the era.

 

[Hoss]

I love these guys my fave of all time has to be Curly.

 

[Calboner]

I have a scientific observation to make on Curly. His laugh (q.v.) is conventionally represented as "Nyuk nyuk nyuk." But the initial consonant is actually the velar nasal "ng" as in "ring." In IPA symbols, what he says is [ŋʌk ŋʌk ŋʌk]. Unfortunately, there is no way to represent this intelligibly in Roman characters. "Nguk nguk nguk" just doesn't read.

 

[Calboner]

What about the classic episode where Moe impersonates Hitler?

Okay, I now have the particulars from ThreeStooges.net. It seems that there were two shorts in which Moe plays a parody of Hitler, and one in which he plays an American who disguises himself as Hitler:

YOU NAZTY SPY! Set in the country of Moronica, three men plot to overthrow their king and appoint a dictator. Their choice is a paperhanger named Moe Hailstone. With Curly as his Field Marshal and Larry as his Minister of Propaganda, the boys take control of the country. The citizens are unhappy and drive Hailstone out of power.

I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN The Stooges are the same positions they were in YOU NAZTY SPY! and they are still ruling the country of Moronica. The three men of the cabinet who betrayed the king before have turned good and want to help rid of Moe Hailstone, his Field Marshall (Curly) and Minister of Propaganda (Larry). So the king's daughter is sent as a spy and she gives the Stooges a bomb that is inside a cue ball. She tricks them into believing that rulers of other countries are plotting against them, so the rulers and the Stooges play football for a world globe that Moe owns. The Stooges win and end up knocking out all of their opponents. In anger against Moe for not letting him have the globe, Curly throws the explosive cue ball on the ground and it explodes. The Stooges wind up as trophies for the king in the end.

BACK FROM THE FRONT The Stooges are merchant sailors whose ship is sunk by a Nazi sub. They managed to sneak on board a German freighter, and manage to knock out and capture all of the crew. They then disguise themselves as Hitler, Goering and Gobbels to fool the ship's officers.

 

[Calboner]

I just finished watching The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1961). It was the first time that I had ever seen Joe de Rita as third Stooge. He seemed competent, but he was not given much to do. Whoever wrote the movie seems to have had no idea of what the appeal of the Stooges was. They hardly do anything that looks as if it was even intended to be funny: the movie is mostly taken up with plot rather than with Stooge violence. The quality of the production, though unremarkable for a feature film of that date, seemed like the height of splendor compared to the slapped-together crappiness of the shorts; but what's the use of having cleanly produced takes, competent editing, and so forth, if Moe isn't getting hit on the head with heavy tools and dealing out ritual head conks and so on?

 

[Bob Ross]

I will admit that it may be an odd choice but Disorder in the Court is one of my favorites...I work in government and spend many hours in courtrooms and have often found myself feeling like the events of this short were less ridiculous than real life...My favorite part is at the very beginning where they are playing jacks

Shemp is the only "Curly substitute" I can accept

 

[Calboner]

I will admit that it may be an odd choice but Disorder in the Court is one of my favorites...I work in government and spend many hours in courtrooms and have often found myself feeling like the events of this short were less ridiculous than real life...My favorite part is at the very beginning where they are playing jacks

Shemp is the only "Curly substitute" I can accept

The bit that I immediately remember is Curly being sworn in. "Raise your right hand. . . . Place your left hand on the Bible. . . . Remove your hat. . . . Raise your right hand. . . ." etc.

Whoever hit upon the idea of putting the Stooges in the midst of the solemn rituals of the courtroom clearly understood their humor very well.

 

[Bob Ross]

The bit that I immediately remember is Curly being sworn in. "Raise your right hand. . . . Place your left hand on the Bible. . . . Remove your hat. . . . Raise your right hand. . . ." etc.

Whoever hit upon the idea of putting the Stooges in the midst of the solemn rituals of the courtroom clearly understood their humor very well.

I just re-watched it and yes that is a spectacular bit...

Judge: "he's asking you if you swear..."

Curly: "NO! But I know all the words.."

Awesome...

Yes, you are correct (as per the usual); the Stooges are the relief and reality is the "straight man". A good situation for them is a real one and their stupidity and anachronisms bounce off of it for comic relief.

I have been a huge Stooges fan for awhile (similar to you not as a youth but right around high school age) but have not watched them in easily a year...Thanks for reminding me!

 

[B_RedDude]

Ahhhh, SHAM-PAG-NEE!

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

I loved the stooges when I was a kid. They had marathons on tv on the other band..was it UHF? I hated it in the 80s when it was politically incorrect to like their 'violence'. They were a scream. Oddly enough I now know the guy who's company owns their rights.

 

[Calboner]

Ahhhh, SHAM-PAG-NEE!

Ooh! A maskazeeno cherry! :tongue:

 

[Calboner]

From an article in Newsweek on line, "America the Ignorant":

Three Stooges vs. Three Branches

What a bunch of knuckleheads: according to Zogby, the majority of Americans—three in four—can correctly identify Larry, Curly, and Moe as the Three Stooges. Only two out of five respondents, however, can correctly identify the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as the three wings of government.

"Oh, ignorant, eh?"

 

[ghb69]

"Niagara Falls"

 

[Calboner]

"Niag[a]ra Falls"

Slowly I turned, and, step by step, inch by inch . . .

 

[legna]

I just gained a new-found appreciation for Calboner since reading about his profound Stooge knowledge. I think I've seen every one of their shorts more than a dozen times since I was a teenager, and I still laugh hysterically whenever I stumble upon one my favorites on AMC (or whatever station is airing them now). Two of my all-time favorites are:

(1) the one where Moe, Larry and Curly are working as bellhops in a hotel and unwittingly let a werewolf out of a guest's steamer trunk. Curly has a very funny scene in which he sees the werewolf in a broken mirror and thinks that the hairy beast is his own reflection.

(2) the one where Moe, Larry and Curly are somewhere in the middle east and Curly is pretending to be a non-English-speaking maharaja. The back and forth between him and Moe is priceless as Moe is trying to curry favor with an evil sultan.

"(Moe to Curly) Maha. . .

(Curly) Aha. . .

(Moe with impatience in his voice) Raja!

(Moe) Yata pette poochie coochie enda carrongee. . .this iron head he asky tasky if you got any slick chicks?

(Curly under his breath) Oh a wolf eh. . .I'd like to see some dames myself." :biggrin1:

Thanks for the laughs Cal!

 

[Calboner]

Thank you for the appreciative comments, Legna. The first short that you are referring to is Idle Roomers, and the one with the "Maha" scene is Three Little Pirates, which I think was the last short that Curly completed before he suffered a stroke. Both shorts can be found on YouTube. I'm not wild about the mirror business, perhaps because I was spoiled by the vastly more accomplished mirror act that Groucho and Harpo do in Duck Soup, but I have always loved the "Maha" scene. You can read a transcript of it at Threestooges.net. Though I have acquired a certain amount of learning in Stoogeology, I am a mere dabbler compared to some who post on that site.

 

[ghb69]

They're back.
:stooges:

The Three Stooges (2012) - IMDb

 

[185248]

I have six franklin mint plates depicting different scenes from there shananigans...all with the original curly.


Three blind mice

 

[Calboner]

They're back.
:stooges:

The Three Stooges (2012) - IMDb

I have seen the trailer. Looks as if it has some funny stuff in it, but I would be very reluctant to pay to see it in a movie house.

I have six franklin mint plates depicting different scenes from there shananigans...all with the original curly.

Mount Rushmore is going to be remodeled to show their faces.

 

[185248]

Mount Rushmore is going to be remodeled to show their faces.[/QUOTE]

No, never. Everything has a humour, these men in their time showed us all we are human.