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Three Stooges FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Eye-Poking, Face-Slapping, Head-Thumping Geniuses
(FAQ). This entertaining and informative study of the Three Stooges focuses on the nearly 190 two-reel short comedies the boys made at Columbia Pictures during the years 1934-59. Violent slapstick? Of course, but these comic gems are also peerlessly crafted and enthusiastically played by vaudeville veterans Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, and Joe arguably the most popular and long-lived screen comics ever produced by Hollywood. Detailed production and critical coverage is provided for every short, plus information about each film's place in the Stooges' careers, in Hollywood genre filmmaking, and in the larger fabric of American culture. From Depression-era concerns to class warfare to World War II to the cold war to rock-and-roll the Stooges reflected them all. Seventy-five stills, posters, and other images many never before published in book form bring colorful screen moments to life and help illuminate the special appeal of key shorts. Exclusive sections include a Stooges biographical and career timeline; a useful, colorful history of the structure and behind-the-camera personnel of the Columbia two-reel unit; and personality sidebars about more than 30 popular players who worked frequently with the Stooges. Also included is a filmography that covers all 190 shorts, plus a bibliography, making this the ultimate guide for all Three Stooges fans!
408 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 19, 2019
Not really a FAQ, but a guide to every Columbia episode of the Stooges. I was reading it and going to watch the episode on dailymotion then compare my impressions with the author. As said before, he digresses a bit talking about the beauty of the actresses who played the stooges. His opinions are far and balanced still personal, sometimes obvious. This one is only for stooges diehard fans, its more a technical book to recur while watching the episodes, can be dry read jn other situation. 3.5 stars
April 11, 2013
Packed like a spring-loaded boxing glove into a faux-present, "The Three Stooges FAQ" is bursting with encapsulations of every one of the Stooges' 190 (!) two-reel comedies, including breakdowns of storylines, best jokes, best violent attacks, and encyclopedically complete information on every recurring character actor, leading lady, or writer/director who ever worked with this group. I'm not the biggest Stooges fan in the world, but Hogan's book gave me a lot of interesting insight into the span of the group's work. For example, it's worth thinking about that Howard/Fine/Howard/Howard/Besser started in the Vaudeville era (1920s), started making shorts 10 years later (mid-'30s) and made new shorts all the way into the age of rock and roll (the last new ones were finished in '57). That's an incredible span! Well past the Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy, or any of the other legends from the time. The Stooges were churners, and due to their tight contracts, there was no downtime, no chance for writer's block.
Rather than go 2-reeler by 2-reeler chronologically, Hogan carves the massive pile up into themes: "The Stooges At Home," "The Stooges Abroad," "The Stooges and the Fantastical," and "The Stooges at War" are sample chapter titles. Within each chapter, we go chronologically, which has a weird "Groundhog's Day" effect of perpetually heading toward Curly's eventual stroke and Shemp's eventual premature death, over and over. We learn a lot about Stooge regulars like Vernon Dent, and the many pretty ladies that acted opposite the galoots. Hogan's knowledge of the old Hollywood studio system is astounding, and a book like this can get you a toehold not only in the Stooges history, but also the history of movie production.
Never one to fall into the "the earlier ones were better" trap, Hogan isn't afraid to suggest that Joe Besser's work with the group was frequently hilarious, and in rare cases, some of the remade 2-reelers were funnier than their originals. Hogan also isn't afraid to judge certain 2-reelers quite harshly, and point out ideas that didn't work. He neither excoriates nor excuses the occasional foray into racism absolutely. Each questionable yuk is ultimately judged by the yardstick of whether it made you laugh or not (attendant baggage or not).
Most interesting to me was the chapter titled "The Stooges Go To War." Hogan explains the US's eventual entrance into the theater of war year by year (and in some cases, month by month) to break down what the Stooges could and couldn't say at the time. Their earliest shorts about Hitler came before we had officially declared Germany an enemy nation -- as such, their 2-reeler parodying the events had to be heavily disguised as a group of soldiers from "Moronia" doing battle with some two-bit dictator from a banana republic who happened to have a very unique mustache. Each new film references the events of the time as they were happening, getting more bold in their depiction of Hitler and his goons.
Also useful for us young'ns is Hogan's painstaking work in decoding the parody titles for many of the films. Something like "Three Little Beers" isn't hard to figure out, but a fair number of titles were based on other films at the time that are scarcely remembered now. For example, how many of us could honestly say that we knew that "Three Sappy People" was a riff on a popular song at the time, "Two Happy People?" Hogan's knowledge of the time is impressive and intensely useful to younger readers.
For those of you who enjoy seeing behind the cameras, Hogan's careful treatment of the many "remakes" in the later years, in which tight production schedules forced the boys to shoot just 6 or 8 new minutes of footage and awkwardly graft it to a short from 10 or 15 years earlier (sometimes with a new third Stooge [swapping Shemp for Curly]!), is fascinating. If you're interested in finding out which remakes are better than the original and which have the worst edits, Hogan has you covered.
For casual Stooge fans, this book might almost be, to quote John Hodgman, more information than you require. Reading it end to end might be a bit of a slog. As a reference book, however, it's aces, and should be resting next to your armchair any time you decide to host your next Stooge festival.
Rather than go 2-reeler by 2-reeler chronologically, Hogan carves the massive pile up into themes: "The Stooges At Home," "The Stooges Abroad," "The Stooges and the Fantastical," and "The Stooges at War" are sample chapter titles. Within each chapter, we go chronologically, which has a weird "Groundhog's Day" effect of perpetually heading toward Curly's eventual stroke and Shemp's eventual premature death, over and over. We learn a lot about Stooge regulars like Vernon Dent, and the many pretty ladies that acted opposite the galoots. Hogan's knowledge of the old Hollywood studio system is astounding, and a book like this can get you a toehold not only in the Stooges history, but also the history of movie production.
Never one to fall into the "the earlier ones were better" trap, Hogan isn't afraid to suggest that Joe Besser's work with the group was frequently hilarious, and in rare cases, some of the remade 2-reelers were funnier than their originals. Hogan also isn't afraid to judge certain 2-reelers quite harshly, and point out ideas that didn't work. He neither excoriates nor excuses the occasional foray into racism absolutely. Each questionable yuk is ultimately judged by the yardstick of whether it made you laugh or not (attendant baggage or not).
Most interesting to me was the chapter titled "The Stooges Go To War." Hogan explains the US's eventual entrance into the theater of war year by year (and in some cases, month by month) to break down what the Stooges could and couldn't say at the time. Their earliest shorts about Hitler came before we had officially declared Germany an enemy nation -- as such, their 2-reeler parodying the events had to be heavily disguised as a group of soldiers from "Moronia" doing battle with some two-bit dictator from a banana republic who happened to have a very unique mustache. Each new film references the events of the time as they were happening, getting more bold in their depiction of Hitler and his goons.
Also useful for us young'ns is Hogan's painstaking work in decoding the parody titles for many of the films. Something like "Three Little Beers" isn't hard to figure out, but a fair number of titles were based on other films at the time that are scarcely remembered now. For example, how many of us could honestly say that we knew that "Three Sappy People" was a riff on a popular song at the time, "Two Happy People?" Hogan's knowledge of the time is impressive and intensely useful to younger readers.
For those of you who enjoy seeing behind the cameras, Hogan's careful treatment of the many "remakes" in the later years, in which tight production schedules forced the boys to shoot just 6 or 8 new minutes of footage and awkwardly graft it to a short from 10 or 15 years earlier (sometimes with a new third Stooge [swapping Shemp for Curly]!), is fascinating. If you're interested in finding out which remakes are better than the original and which have the worst edits, Hogan has you covered.
For casual Stooge fans, this book might almost be, to quote John Hodgman, more information than you require. Reading it end to end might be a bit of a slog. As a reference book, however, it's aces, and should be resting next to your armchair any time you decide to host your next Stooge festival.
February 7, 2012
I expected an FAQ to answer the Frequently Asked Questions that fans of the stooges have always wanted answered (e.g., how many injuries occurred on the set, the length of Curly's hair when he was not performing, etc.). This book mainly just summarizes the many shorts in a thematic rather than a sequential fashion. One area of interest: the sidebars honoring the many faithful character actors and actresses who also appeared in the shorts.
May 5, 2012
Hard to have grown up a boy of my era without battling with parents over the need to watch the Stooges. I got this book as a gift, and I skimmed it. It's less a true FAQ of all things Stooges, and more a digest of plots. A resource, if you need it.
January 24, 2021
This was very detailed. I wasn’t sure if at first this was written by a fan or not. He finds fault with movies and the humor. He also tells a lot of good points and history. Perhaps he grew into being a fan as he wrote this.
I don’t think about it but the Stooges always surrounded themselves with beautiful women that pursued them! The author has nothing but praise for these women. The Stooges also had a cadre of actors they worked with a lot. Many didn’t go onto bigger and better things though. They kept working.
By the 1950s, the Stooges were redoing their old movies and the company was using stock footage. I think that’s why the Joe (plural) years aren’t remembered fondly. The formula was used up as valiantly as they tried.
The book got me to remember how much I enjoyed the movies. I looked up some old movies so the book accomplished making the Stooges fun again.
I don’t think about it but the Stooges always surrounded themselves with beautiful women that pursued them! The author has nothing but praise for these women. The Stooges also had a cadre of actors they worked with a lot. Many didn’t go onto bigger and better things though. They kept working.
By the 1950s, the Stooges were redoing their old movies and the company was using stock footage. I think that’s why the Joe (plural) years aren’t remembered fondly. The formula was used up as valiantly as they tried.
The book got me to remember how much I enjoyed the movies. I looked up some old movies so the book accomplished making the Stooges fun again.
May 30, 2021
I was intrigued by a break down of the shorts as we all see some common things revised. There were several wrong details, to name a few Harry Cohen never shut down the shorts department. The studio closed it down when he passed. The author to claim to be very familiar with the shorts after continuously watching them for this book yet he quoted a joke they've used in about 4 shorts and miss quoted it. Got details of gags wrong and spends a LOT of time describing the bodies of the female leads. To the point it gets a little creepy. So half way through the book i decided to put it down and move on. There are no FAQ's in the book. It is LITERALLY a synopsis of the shorts. No new information to be had.
January 20, 2017
Could have been written in about 20 pages. Not what I was expecting. Author has annoying habit of describing how beautiful or attractive various actresses are, or rather, were almost 80 years ago!
September 24, 2015
Pretty decent critical look at the Columbia shorts.
Usually if the Stooges are written about, it's either to dismiss them as beneath consideration or a sanitized "official" version. This book isn't afraid to claim the Stooges importance to American filmed comedy, nor criticize when it is due. Rather than going strictly chronologically, the shorts are considered thematically, which works well I think. It makes the book easier to read and less like reference material. The only real complaint I have is the author tends to leer at the female co-stars, which maybe is in the spirit of the times of the shorts but is a bit unnecessary today. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable read and a worth companion to the big Stooges box set.
Usually if the Stooges are written about, it's either to dismiss them as beneath consideration or a sanitized "official" version. This book isn't afraid to claim the Stooges importance to American filmed comedy, nor criticize when it is due. Rather than going strictly chronologically, the shorts are considered thematically, which works well I think. It makes the book easier to read and less like reference material. The only real complaint I have is the author tends to leer at the female co-stars, which maybe is in the spirit of the times of the shorts but is a bit unnecessary today. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable read and a worth companion to the big Stooges box set.
July 3, 2012
Everything you wanted to know about the stooges.... and less.
April 19, 2017
This is a good book for the person who is just getting interested in the Stooges. The problem is that it is primarily a book of descriptions of the plots to the movies. It has a few bios of the various co-stars but not too many and mostly of the "main" co-stars (Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, Christine McIntyre.) If you are already a Stooge fan this book will probably bore you (I finally gave up and didn't even finish the book, I'm sorry to say.) There really isn't anything new here; well... the author's own critiques I suppose.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews