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Rating:  -
As on the 'Stooges and the Law' DVD, this disc too includes a "Play All" button, which is a welcome relief from their past discs, which required the viewer to manually select each short one by one. However, as on that disc, here too there are only five shorts included. Given the length of these films, it's ridiculous that there aren't twice as many. However, at least none of the shorts here are bad. The plots have already been described by other reviewers, so I'll just add my thoughts on each one.
'Booby Dupes' (1945) is a bit above average. The plot is somewhat similar to the 1932 Laurel and Hardy short 'Towed in a Hole,' which has never been one of my favorites of theirs. However, this short isn't a carbon copy of it, as there are numerous original gags and plot twists. Overall, this is probably the weakest one included here, as there are several spots where there are long awkward pauses and a slower pace. The scene on the beach also seems a bit out of place, like it should have been put in another short. It's solid and funny, just not one of their most memorable or classic.
'Crash Goes the Hash' (1944) is a classic, or at least a strong second-tier classic. There's a lot of awesome violence in this one, and you know that there's going to be a lot of hilarious antics when the boys are at a dinner party and are trying to prepare food! There are so many great scenes and gags in this one, like the "canapes," the scenes in the kitchen, and "Prince" Shaam of Ubeedarn and his accomplice (Bud Jamison) getting knocked out, accomplished via the oft-used one-sleeve-in-the-coat gag. However, there are some down points to this short--Curly uses his real voice at one point, when he's talking to Larry at the table with the bowl of ice and the drinks, which is kind of jarring, and Bud Jamison isn't looking, or even sounding, that good. Sadly, this was Bud's last short with the boys, and it's obvious by his appearance that he was already sick when it was made.
'Dutiful But Dumb' (1941) is often praised as a classic, though I personally only find it above average. Of course, there are some great scenes in it, like Curly's battle with the oyster soup (previously done by Billy Bevan in the 1926 short 'Wandering Willies'), but overall I just think it's not one of their all-time greatest. It kind of seems slow in places, and the ending doesn't make any sense or provide any resolution to the main plot. It almost seems like one of their very early shorts, being more freewheeling and absurd, with the humor and plot all over the map, as opposed to having a strong tight plot and a satisfying resolution.
'How High Is Up?' (1940) is a very good short, though it's not one of my personal top favorites. The opening scenes and the ending scene are incredibly great and funny, though the middle section does seem a bit slow. It's just one of those shorts that is great and funny enough, just not ultra-memorable or one of their top-notch classics. However, they made enough classics during this golden era of the late Thirties and early Forties that some lesser-memorable shorts here and there isn't really a big deal.
'Three Missing Links' (1938) is absolutely hysterical, even considering that most modern viewers would find it silly and unbelievable for someone who is so obviously a person in a gorilla suit to be passed off as an actual gorilla, a "gorilla" whom grown men are supposed to be deathly afraid of. This was also the short in which Jules White made his debut as a director for the Stooges. There are a few moments that are slower than others, but overall it's a fast-paced riot, with a lot of great scenes and gags.
Overall, not all of the shorts on this disc are classics or among their utmost greatest, but they're all solid, funny, and high-quality in their own separate ways. One only wishes that Columbia would see fit to release more shorts per disc, instead of asking the consumer to pay more for less, or better yet to just start over again and release the shorts in chronological order, the way most fans want, instead of doing all of these "themed" discs.
Rating:  -
Whoever restored these shorts loves the Stooges.
It's clear that they went frame-by-frame, filling in scratches, blips and sound drops. And where frames have been missing in every version I've ever seen, they (somehow) extrapolated the material to create velvety, smooth action from highly compromised source material.
The special features are nice, too. But mostly here you get some wonderful Curly material, restored to such quality that it's like being in a Depression-era theatre, laughing along with all these other people so much in need of a laugh.
Enjoy!
Rating: -
The most important thing to know before watching these three Columbia comedy shorts with the Three Stooges is that you are still talking Moe, Larry and Curly as the three figures. This is important, because there is Curly and then there are Shemp, Curly Joe, and Joe, but all together they are not Curly. You always get extremely physical and what is now a controversial brand of slapstick comedy with the Stooges, but with Curly in the mix they always seem to be at their best. This is a solid mix of comedies with at least a couple of classic routines worked in along the way.
"Booby Dupes" is from 1945 and starts with the Stooges selling fish, but things are not going well. So they decide to cut out the middleman and buy a boat to prove that they are worse at catching fish than they are selling them. Then Curly proceeds to find several ways to help sink the boat. This below average effort is not helped when the boys wave a white flag with a big red dot on it so that they the army bombs them thinking they are Japanese (I suppose they could have been the vanguard of a fleet of sinking fishing boats).
"Crash Goes the Hash" is a 1944 offering has the editor of the "Daily Star Press" mistaking the Stooges for reporters for a rival newspaper. He offers the trio $100 for photographs of Prince Shaam of Ubeedarn, so the boys pose as a cook and two butlers and invade the home of the widowed socialite the prince is going to marry. This means the usual havoc in the kitchen. The title is rather interesting because so much of this one is re-hashed from previous shorts by the Stooges (e.g., the bird flying into the cooked turkey so that it starts jumping around).
"Dutiful But Dumb" is a 1941 short with the Stooges as photographers for "Whack" magazine. They are not very good photographers, botching an assignment to get a shot of a movie star and his new bride, so they are sent to Vulgaria to get a photo of their death ray gun. This gets the boys put in front of a firing squad where the Vulgarians (you knew that was coming) making the mistake of asking Curly if he has a last request. He asks for a giant cigar.
"How High Is Up?" comes from 1940 and the boys are fix-it men working under the title of "Minute Menders." Since they live under their car business is not too good, so they decided to drum up some business by punching holes in the lunch boxes of workers, but, of course, they get caught. So they end up as riveters working on the 97th floor of a new skyscraper. Things get so bad the boys end up having to parachute from the building to escape their irate boss (you knew that hot rivets and the Stooges is a recipe for disaster).
"Three Missing Links" dates from 1938 and has the Stooges working as janitors at a movie studio. They destroy the office of the studio bosses and then get jobs in a movie set in Africa. Moe and Larry play primitive natives while Curly gets to be a gorilla. Unfortunately the movie is set on location, so when Curly meets with a witch doctor to get some love candy to help win the leading lady a female gorilla shows up and when Curly eats the candy things get rather interesting and provide a fitting note on which to end this videotape.
Rating: -
The Three Stooges at work doesn't feature any of the best shorts featuring Curly, but at least all 5 shorts ARE Curly's. Booby Dupes, Crash Goes the Hash, Dutiful but Dumb, How High Is Up?, and Three Missing Links are the five shorts on this DVD.
The Three Missing Links is the oldest from 1938 featuring the Stooges as janitors who then get jobs as extras in a Jungle movie. Curly in a gorilla suit encounters a real gorilla.
"How High is Up" from 1940 has the stooges as Tinkers who can fix anything. They end up working as riveters on a high rise building featuring some classic scenes as Curly eats a rivet thinking its a hot dog. Vernon Dent is the boss.
Dutiful but Dumb" 1941, The stooges are photographers for Whack magazine ("If it's a good picture it's out of Whack") who, after messing up an assignment, are sent to the country of Vulgaria to get a picture of a death ray gun. In Vulgaria the penalty for taking pictures in is death, and the boys soon wind up in front of a firing squad.
"Crash Goes the Hash" 1944 - The stooges are hired as reporters and their first assignment is to get a picture of a visiting prince who is planning to marry a local socialite. The boys disguise as servants and infiltrate a party being in thrown in the honor of the prince. The stooges ruin the party, but save the day as they expose the prince as crook who is planning to rob the house.
"Body Dupes" finds The stooges as fish peddlers who decide to cut out the middleman by catching their own fish. They trade their car and $300 for a "new" boat which turns out to be a piece of junk that soon falls apart and sinks in the middle of the ocean.
The DVD is very good quality and this is a fine collection.
Rating: -
DVD Review- While only 5 shorts on this collection, they are the best ones, especially "Booby Dupes". All of them fit the 'work' theme perfectly and they are hilarious. No weak shorts are in this colection, which is a plus.
Picture Quality- The picture is at it's best. All shorts are very good looking and are all perfect 35mm prints. I've never seen the stooges look this good. Aside from minor dusts and scratches here and there, the quality is picture perfect.
Sound Quality- The sound is very clear and very good. Every face slap and head bonk is very clear. "Three Missing Links" has a little bit of a tinny sound to it, but the sound is still clear.
Final Comments- Every stooge fans deserves a copy of this DVD because of it's amazing quality and excellent shorts. Columbia finally provides a 'Play All' button so you can watch all the shorts without touching your remote. No special features are contained in this collection, except for English Subtitles. Overall, this is a magnificent collection to have.
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