But that ‘golden age’ of Stooge shorts was very brief indeed. Punch Drunks and Men in Black have a choreography to them that was given over to sloppy slapstick even by, say, 1937.
It depended to some extent on the director’s choices. Del Lord and Jules White were the principal directors. I forget which one I prefer. Later, Edward Bernds did some as well.
There needs to be a formal poll. I know I’m in the minority by preferring Shemp and that Curly would win, but it would be interesting to see the spread,
They completely reshot some of Curly’s early shorts with Shemp in the late 40’s.
There was one with A Plumbing We Will Go. Curly connects all these pipes that takes over the shower. It’s interesting seeing Shemp doing the same scene years later in Vagabond Loafers .
Curly trapped in the pipes at 10:04
Shemp same scene
The two stooges were part of Abbott and Costello for a while? What happened to the third stooge while that went on?
Curly
So that made four stooges.
Incidentally, just to mention, the wife and I stopped by and had a bite at Jon’s Bar & Grille on the corner of South Street and South Third in Philly a couple of years ago. It used to be the house where Larry Fine was born and raised.