In Defense of the Stooges

[Eonwe]

[quote=“Two_Many_Cats, post:20, topic:491795”]

[
[QUOTE I think Curly is the sole reason why the Stooges are remembered today rather than having faded into the mists of history like, say, the Ritz Brothers.
OTE]

Oh, nononononono, no! This is a misconception which must be addressed.

The very excellent book, “Last of the Moe Haircuts” by a wise Stooge fan whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment, postulated the following: The Stooges were the embodiment of the Freudian outlook on human psychology.

Moe is the Superego, Larry is the Ego, and Curly is the Id of the human personality. Our Moe is locked in a constant struggle to contain and control the wild nature of our animal Curly, and our Larry is the everyman Ego siding either with Moe or Curly in order to resolve the conflicts which naturally arise in everyday life.

Of course, Freud is not the god he was once looked upon as, but I think the analogy is still apt. Curly alone would be overkill in our comedy psyches. He needs Moe and Larry off whom to react so that he may fit into normal human society. You’ll notice the ordinary folk of the Stooges shorts often merely stand slack-jawed at the mayhem unfolding before them. That is why the shorts would fall apart if they featured Curly alone.

The Stooges were nothing without teamwork.

A sort of Kirk/Spock/McCoy thing.

[BMalion]

@Two_Many_Cats

… ‘Fright Night’ is very good, as is ‘Brideless Groom’. …

“Hold hands you love-birds.”

I also wish to marry the OP.

I can only offer her a life of misery and deceit, but you’d have me and you can’t put a price on that!

[cjepson]

@Two_Many_Cats

Curly alone would be overkill in our comedy psyches. He needs Moe and Larry off whom to react so that he may fit into normal human society. You’ll notice the ordinary folk of the Stooges shorts often merely stand slack-jawed at the mayhem unfolding before them. That is why the shorts would fall apart if they featured Curly alone.

The Stooges were nothing without teamwork.

Actually, I don’t disagree. I guess I was unclear. What I was trying to say was that if there had been no Curly Howard – if the team had stayed as Moe, Larry, and Shemp, for example – then I don’t think they would be the objects of such continuing loyal devotion.

[TBG]

@C_K_Dexter_Haven

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the Stooges… very much. I don’t think they reach the comedic heights as consistently as Laurel and Hardy, or the Marx Brothers. But I think they have moments as wonderful as any slapstick comedians.

It’s Shemp that bugs me as not very funny, and the later ones with Curly Joe that are, I think, just repeating themselves.

I just don’t understand people who don’t think Shemp is funny. Yes, he’s a different sort of funny than Curly, but still very funny. My sister, who’s a huge Stooges fan, way more of a fan than I am, finds Shemp the funniest of them all, and after actually giving him a chance, I have to admit, he’s tragically underrated. I don’t know that I’d say he’s better than Curly, but I love both of them, in their own way.

As for Curly Joe, he’s mainly in the Stooge full length movies, and I’m not really very familiar with those, but they’re an entirely different animal than the shorts, so I suspect you’re actually thinking of Joe Besser, who came between Shemp and Curly Joe (aka Joe DeRita) .

Joe Besser was incredibly unfunny in the final shorts, some of which were indeed remakes of Curly shorts. He wouldn’t even let Moe hit him, so poor Larry had to take even more abuse in those shorts, rather than spreading it out. It just made Joe look like a wuss.

[Horatio_Hellpop]

Back in the 80s, I briefly dated a woman who was so cool, she took me to a Three Stooges film festival. The “briefly” part was her choice. For my part, for the Stooges thing alone, I wanted to marry her.

[dropzone]

My wife and daughters are big Stooge fans. They may prefer Curly, but in the case of my wife it’s because he was so anarchic and obscene, while my daughters, who may be adults but are not DISGUSTING adults, appreciate his slapstick. I see how they are equally funny in their own ways, but I’m like that and the girls are coming around.

[dropzone]

@Eonwe

A sort of Kirk/Spock/McCoy thing.

Y’know, I accompanied one young lady to a Gene Roddenberry [del]concert[/del] presentation and ran into another young lady I had recently dated and whose hobby, it turned out, was carving Enterprises in test tubes. It is good I met and married another who had sent Shatner a portrait as Capt Kirk, or I’d’ve been toast.

[Chefguy]

Helena: It was a Three Stooges short, “Sappy Pappy.” I played Mr. Sugarman’s
secretary, remember?

Kramer: Yeah, right, right, yeah, yeah, that was a Shemp, right?

Helena: No, a Curly. The boys played three sailors who find a baby, the baby’s
been kidnapped and the police think that they did it.

Kramer: Uh huh, right.

Helena: But, but of course they didn’t do it, the police had made an awful
mistake.

Kramer: Right.

Helena: Moe hits Curly with an axe,

Kramer: Uh huh.

Helena: The Stooges catch the kidnappers,

Kramer: Right.

Helena: But it’s too late.

Kramer: Really.

Helena: The baby’s dead.

Kramer: Really?

Helena: The boys are sent to Death Row and are executed.

Kramer: Well I don’t remember that part.

Helena: I play Mr. Sugarman’s secretary.

Kramer: Oh, yeah, yeah, you were, you were very good.

Helena: Yeah, it was sad for a Three Stooges, what with the dead baby and the
Stooges being executed and all.

Kramer: Well, that was an unusual choice for the stooges.

[Bryan_Ekers]

Moe is their leader.