I admit I am a big fan of any stooge short with Shemp (Closet Shemp fan…but I love the boys and Curly! The nuymbskullery was there but he had a certain thing about him that I just found hilarious. How about you?
You a Shemp or Curly? Favorite scenes?
Here’s mine
-Moe tries to belt Curly with a board handed to him by Larry. He instead shatters a Ming Vase. He turns and smashes Larry upside the head
“You idiot why didn’t you get me a softer board!?”
-Shemp plays a Western Dentist who cannot see and the boys have to hold down a patient for him to drill. He proceeds to drill the guys nose, Moes ear and teeth, Larry’s skull and teeth, and his own teeth.
-They boys are in a pie fight and Larry hit Moe with a pie. Moe grabs another pie and goes to throw it. Larry ducks and Moe just squats and smashes it into his face. The look on Larry’s face is perfect.
So…who out there will label themselves as a lover of true slapstick
Unfair! Unfair, I say. Shemp had his own signature and style and was comfortable with it. He did not try to imitate Curly.
To try to compare these two is to introduce the traditional “Apples/Oranges” debate.
Shemp was the better dressed of the two, barked with more conviction and perfected the wobbly up-and-down hand which drove Moe nuts (and down to the floor, knocking his head repeatedly on the ground in the process on at least one occasion I can remember). Shemp choke ups are also classics.
Curly, on the other hand, gave us the nyuck-nynuck-nyucks, the woo-woo-woo-woos, the “Soitanly!” (although Moe could legitimately claim paternity to “Recede” and "Spread out!) and the spinning-clockwise-on-the-floor episodes. His semi-elephantine grace, especially when dressed up as a member of the fair sex, was also something to behold.
Joe, Curly Joe (and Larry, for that matter) could hold a candle to them.
Always have been, and always will be, a die-hard Curly fan. He just beats Shemp, hands down. I’ve noticed, though, they seem to have reused Curly scripts with Shemp skits. But, starring Curly, my favorite films:
The one where they are plumbers, replumb the house, and have water coming out from all of the electrical fixtures in the house.
The “Niagra Falls” episode.
The one where they are firefighters…that one’s a given, though.
Any of the ones where Moe mocks Hitler…he does such a great job of making fun of him its just great.
Jeremy…
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine - Kurt Vonnegut
I don’t think people truly appreciated the subtle comic nuances of Shemp.
ANYBODY could get a laugh from getting squirted in the eye by an iracible oyster in a bowl of soup, but with Shemp you Felt the heatbreak! You felt the pathos! You felt the overpowering absurdity of modern man in conflict with his surroundings (as personnified by a squirting clam).
Each one of the six–Moe Howard, Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, Curly Joe DeRita–was very much his own Stooge. You’d never see Joe Besser try to imitate Curly or Curly Joe try to imitate Shemp. You’d never see Moe or Larry imitate each other, or a third Stooge, or vice versa. Each of the six Stooges was unique.
Hmmm. Re-reading my post (what I obviously should have done before submitting). Should be: “Joe, Curly Joe (and Larry, for that matter) could not hold a candle to them.”
