The Three Stooges Collection volume 8

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8 (1955-1959)

The Three Stooges DVD collection continues with their final volume of Columbia short films, from 1955 through 1959:

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8, 1955

• Fling in the Ring – a Three Stooges comedy short, starring Moe, Larry, Shemp. It’s a remake of Fright Night with ample stock footage, but a different ending
• Of Cash and Hash – a remake of an earlier Three Stooges short film, Shivering Sherlocks – and is an improvement! Moe, Larry and Shemp get involved in a bank robbery, and need to prove their innocence to the police by tracking the crooks down to their hideout, a deserted mansion. Where their friend Christine is kidnapped, and the monstrous “Angel” wants to separate their heads from their bodies!
• Gypped in the Penthouse – One of the last 2 Shemp films to not feature any stock footage – In a return to the Woman Hater’s club, Shemp and Larry both relate the story to how they were driven to the club by their encounters with a gold digger and her boyfriend/husband, Moe – who in turn becomes the newest member of the club!
• Bedlam in Paradise (This remake of Heavenly Daze is one of the few that’s even better than the original. Added scenes include an opening prologue of Shemp dying in a rather comical fashion, the devil tempting Shemp with a she-demon, leading Moe and Larry astray as Mr. Heller, and getting a pie in the face in the end – “Well that beats the devil!”)
• Stone Age Romeos – Stone Age Romeos – a recycling of the Threee Stooges short film, “I’m a Monkey’s Uncle” with Moe, Larry, Shemp, Emil Sitka
• Wham-Bam-Slam! – a weak remake of Pardon My Clutch, with less than 6 minutes of new footage.
• Hot Ice – Hot Ice is a recycling of two earlier, funnier, Shemp-era short films. Scotland Yard footage is taken from “The Hot Scots“. The rest mostly consists of footage from “Crime on Their Hands” (1948). I will say that the new scene in the bar, where the Stooges want to question Barbara Bartay, is very funny! 
• Blunder Boys – The last original, no old footage, Three Stooges short starring Shemp – In a parody of then then-popular Dragnet series, Moe, Larry and Shemp play the role of inept detectives, who after serving in the war go to college where they are inept students studying criminology, and after graduating (with the lowest possible honors) they try to earn their positions on the police force by capturing “The Eel” – but he’s too slippery!

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8, 1956

• Husbands Beware – a remake of Brideless Groom
• Creeps (A remake of The Ghost Talks that I prefer over the original. The Stooges tell their 3 sons, also played by The Stooges, a bedtime story of knights, ghosts, and murders.)
• Flagpole Jitters – a remake of Hokus Pokus with the evil hypnotist Svengarlic
• For Crimin’ Out Loud (Sadly, this remake of Who Done It? was Shemp’s final film. In November 1955, while riding in a taxicab telling jokes with some friends, he died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 60.)
• Rumpus in the Harem A remake of Malice in the Palace is one of the last 4 “fake Shemp” shorts with Joe Palma doubling.
• Hot Stuff – a remake of 1949’s Fuelin’ Around, one of the 4 “fake Shemp” shorts with Joe Palma doubling for the deceased Shemp.
• Scheming Schemers – a recycled short, with six minutes of new footage, with old footage from “Vagabond Loafers“, “A Plumbing We Will Go“, and “Half-Wits Holiday“.
• Commotion on the Ocean Moe, Larry and Shemp are working as janitors at a newspaper, but they aspire to be reporters. After the standard slapstick while cleaning the office, Moe answers the editor’s phone and gets a tip (from Three Stooges regular Emil Sitka) on missing atomic documents being in the hands of a foreign spy. They visit their neighbor, Bortch, for help with foreign languages, not realizing that Bortch is actually the spy, hiding microfilm copies of the documents in three watermelons, which he has the Stooges carry to his ship, as he’s leaving for his home country. Soon the Three Stooges are stuck on the boat as well, and after fighting hunger, seasickness and Bortch, they recover the microfilm and get the scoop they need to become reporters.

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8, 1957

• Hoofs and Goofs – The Three Stooges short film “Hoofs and Goofs” – Joe Besser’s first Three Stooges short film, dealing with the Three Stooges’s dead sister Birdie being reincarnated as a horse.
• Muscle Up a Little Closer – Moe, Larry, and Joe Besser are all getting engaged — but Joe’s fiancée, Tiny, has her ring stolen! Can the Stooges get it back?
• A Merry Mix Up – The story of 3 pairs of identical stooge triplets, all played by the Stooges (Moe, Larry, Joe Besser)
• Space Ship Sappy – starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser, as three people who apply for a job from Emil Sitka only to take an unexpected journey to “Sunev” where they meet cannibalistic Amazon woman, and a giant gila monster
• Guns a Poppin! – A remake of Idiots Deluxe
• Horsing Around (A sequel to Hoofs and Goofs) – Moe, Larry, Joe have to rescue Birdie the horse’s mate from the circus.
• Rusty Romeos (A remake of Corny Casanovas)
• Outer Space Jitters – starring the Three Stooges – Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser, as well as Emil Sitka. Not much to recommend, although a few bright moments, and a pre-“Bonanza” appearance by Dan Blocker (aka. “Hoss”)

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8, 1958

• Quiz Whizz – A partial remake of All the World’s a Stooge – starring the Three Stooges – Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser. One of Joe’s better short films with the Stooges, where he wins money in a Quiz show (hence the title), loses it to swindlers, and it’s up to the Three Stooges to recover the money.
• Fifi Blows Her Top – using footage from Love at First Bite, it’s the story of Joe Besser’s true love reentering his life.  But she’s married to a nasty man (Philip van Zandt) …
• Pies and Guys – A remake of Half-Wits Holiday
• Sweet and Hot – Doctor Moe, brother Joe and boyfriend Larry try to help singer Tiny overcome her fear of performing in front of an audience
• Flying Saucer Daffy – the last Three Stooges short film ever made – starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser – a retelling of the Cinderella story, using a flying saucer instead of a glass slipper …
• Oil’s Well That Ends Well – A remake of Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise

The Three Stooges Collection volume 8, 1959

• Triple Crossed – A remake of He Cooked His Goose.
• Sappy Bull Fighters – A remake of What’s the Matador?. Listen for Curly’s woo-woo-wooing. This short is a prime example of old footage not mixing well with the new, a problem that plagued a lot of Besser shorts. In some scenes, Moe and Larry suddenly appear 20 years younger, then go back to late middle age the next.)