Here’s an article I stumbled upon while looking for something else. I had always thought that a good portion of the Stooges’ work before they signed on with Columbia was probably gone, but apparently, only a short called Hello Pop was considered lost. In 2013, the short turned up in Australia. So the entire library of Stooge films, features and shorts, are safe and sound somewhere in the world.
Now I love the Stooges, but I can’t imagine how this boon to humanity came about. The Stooges never got the respect they deserved for their films, and most of their work was in theatrical shorts. I can’t imagine a lot of effort went into preserving and safeguarding what were considered more or less extra stuff like cartoons and newsreels that people watched before the main feature came on. And this was over a period of thirty years as far as the shorts are concerned. The Stooges made most of their money on personal appearance tours, not from the shorts, and when Columbia first released the shorts to television, they didn’t think there would be anything close to the impact that there was.
So if the Stooges were so little regarded during the time they made those shorts, how is it that none of the shorts ever turned up missing? There’s lost Marx Brothers, and lost Laurel and Hardy, but no lost Stooges.
I’m glad this is so, but danged if I can figure it out.
The earliest Stooge movie is with Moe Larry and Shemp (along with Ted Healy). It’s an hour long comedy entitled Soup to Nuts, featuring various gadgets by comics artist Rube Goldberg. Shemp left after that film to pursue a solo career, and Curly came in to replace him.
Yep, Shemp was an original stooge, and Curly was the replacement.
It looks like the first Three Stooges short (technically the first short with Ted Healy and his stooges) was Nertsery Rhymes in 1933. (Soup to Nuts from 1930 has them all but isn’t considered a Three Stooges film.) That was well into the sound era. Most lost films are from the silent era, thrown away because they were essentially worthless. Sound films kept their value.
The IMDb says that Moe Howard appeared in three silent films which are indeed lost.
Regardless, it’s obvious Soup to Nuts is a Stooge film. But there are movies that the Stooges appear in that are in no way Stooge films.
Dancing Lady is one of them. Moe, Larry, and Curly only appear in one scene as musicians for Joan Crawford. Ted Healy has a much bigger part than the Stooges. At least Healy gets to share the screen with Clark Gable. There’s a publicity still of the Stooges climbing all over Gable, but I don’t think they appeared with him at all in the movie.
At least the Stooges did one scene of their shtick in Dancing Lady. In another film The Captain Hates the Sea, they again play musicians, and they play it totally straight! I wasted ninety minutes of my life on that shipbound dreck waiting for them to do something, and they never do. They’re just in the background with their goofy haircuts. I mean, what the hell? They’re in the credits and everything.
So yeah, there are movies with the Stooges that are not Stooge movies. But the only reason to consider Soup to Nuts “not” a Stooge movie is that it doesn’t feature Curly. But that’s ridiculous. Shemp was a part of the team before Curly and was there after Curly.
Quite a few of the older scripts were reused after Shemp rejoined the group.
One example is A Plumbing We Will Go. Remade 4 times under different titles. Curly did the first version in 1939 and Shemp did the 2nd in 1944. Then Columbia made two more reusing old footage. A Plumbing We Will Go - Wikipedia
There were other remakes. I looked for a complete list and couldn’t find anything.
TV saved the old Stooges work. It began airing in the late 50’s and was a big success. A entire generation of baby boomers became fans. I’m imagine the Suits at Columbia searched everywhere for old shorts because they had become valuable.
I believe Curly had his disabling stroke in 1946. I know Shemp did a remake, (I’m thinking the title was Listen Judge), but it was made later than 1944.
Not to hijack, but does anyone know what the title of “An Ache in Every Stake” is an allusion to? They’re usually references to movies, songs, etc., but I’ve never figured that one out.
They were icemen in AAiES. (They had just returned from prospecting in “Cash and Carry”, and encountering a bear (who stole their car) in “Idiot’s Deluxe”.)
But “An Ache in Every Stake” seems like it’s based on some other title or saying.
“In the Sweet Pie and Pie” obviously refers to the hymn of nearly the same name. And “I’ll Never Heil Again” to the Sinatra song.
There may have been some popular film or song close to the name AAiES, but it’s not close enough for me to figure it out.
Hmm, maybe a reference to Herbert Hoover’s 1928 campaign slogan, “A chicken in every pot, and a car in every garage”. Pretty loose connection though. And still not sure what it had to do with the plot.