Stooges: The Men Behind The Mayhem

Amazon.com

So, was Larry Fine really the Keith Richards of the Three Stooges? That's just one of the weighty assertions put forth in this thoughtful bio of the world's greatest troupe of slapstick comedians. Aside from lovingly edited "greatest hits" moments, this A&E production also contains hardcore Stooge material documenting the troupe's early years (under the name Ted Healy and his Stooges), as well as detailing the ever-changing Stooge membership. The video is impressive not only for its breadth of coverage, but also for its depth. Viewers are treated to an ultra-rare glimpse of the early Stooges performing on vaudeville as well as poignant home movies of an aged Curly. But it's not all sugary praise and heart-tugging remembrance; the video points out that the Stooges appropriated much of their act from other performers and, during the early part of the career, weren't really all that popular. Overall, The Three Stooges is a compelling work that puts a touchingly human face on characters most think of as simple, pie-throwing clowns. --S. Duda

Description

Originally airing on A&E's Biography channel, this extensive documentary goes behind the scenes of the legendary comedy show THE THREE STOOGES. Over two hours of previously-unseen footage offers viewers an insightful look at the private lives of everyone's favorite funnymen. Interviews with family and friends of the stars, outtakes, and backstage material help to paint a revealing portrait of the men who made up the hugely popular comic trio. **NON STANDARD PRICING**

Customer Reviews:

Complete overview of the Stooges.......2007-03-09

This DVD is great in being brief, but descriptive, in the stooges. It follows the development of their act and all the people that made it happen. Perfect for the casual fan looking for an inside story of these bozo's.

Great extras, very good documentary.......2006-09-04

This is basically an extended version of the A&E Biography on the boys from some time back. The only difference is that it's now padded out with a lot of great extras. Though they're essentially the same but for the bonus features, it's kind of confusing how reviews for both 'The Men Behind the Mayhem' and the old VHS of the original documentary are showing up on one another's review pages instead of being separated.

I agree that there are very few clips shown, and the only Columbia shorts shown via clips are 'Disorder in the Court' and 'Sing a Song of Six Pants,' but the title of this documentary is 'The Men Behind the Mayhem,' not 'The Mayhem Behind the Men.' If one wants something that's little more than a glorified clipshow, there's always the dreadful 'Stop! Look! And Laugh!' It also seems to work under the premise that the majority of viewers are already quite familiar with the shorts, so they won't need to see endless clips of them paraded out. However, while I did enjoy this documentary and found it really good, I just wish it had been longer and gone into more depth about some things. There wasn't a lot of information here that I didn't know already.

The photographs used both during the documentary and included as one of the bonus features (grouped into memorabilia, pix of the boys in character, and rare photos from Lyla Fine Budnick's personal photo album) are a real treasure trove. I think that most people who move beyond being casual fans into more serious interest in the boys and their careers find it really fascinating, sometimes even touching, how off-camera they were devoted family men and a far cry from their crazy screen characters. The pictures of Curly (with a full head of hair) and his daughter Janie, from the last few years of his life, were particularly touching. Janie herself was interviewed, and had nothing but good things to say about her parents' marriage, which was shortlived but very happy, and the father who adored her in the short time he had with her.

Other extras include an appearance Moe, Larry, and Shemp made on 'The Comedy Caravan' (hosted by Ed Wynn) in 1950, the 4 public domain shorts ('Brideless Groom,' 'Disorder in the Court,' 'Sing a Song of Six Pants,' and 'Malice in the Palice'), an interactive DVD-ROM webpage created by Bob Bernet, "Me and My Pal Moe" (full of personal letters, photographs, newspaper and magazine obits, and memorabilia), radio interviews, extended interviews with Billy West, Nate Budnick, and Lyla Fine Budnick, and movie trailers. The television appearance is somewhat amusing, but not really fall-down funny, and it's hampered by the poor print quality. It's far from unwatchable, but still not crystal-clear. (It's also shocking how it's sponsored by Camel cigarettes and even contains a skit where Ed is putting up a display of them and then selling them to customers; how far we've come since 1950!). And speaking of poor print quality, the public domain shorts weren't much better. 'Brideless Groom' in particular had very bad pictorial quality. I've seen much better prints of them, so it's not like these shabby prints were the only ones to choose from just because they're public domain. The radio interviews are also great, even though we hear Moe perpetuating the apocryphal legend about Joe DeRita being their first choice to replace Shemp (an urban legend which thankfully is corrected in the documentary itself) and that Shemp left the group in 1932 to play Knobby Walsh in the Joe Palooka series. Shemp was doing Vitaphone shorts in 1932; the Joe Palooka series wasn't until 1936. The first half of the final interview is with Larry, about two weeks before he passed away; because of the strokes he'd suffered, his speech is kind of slow and he doesn't sound like his old self, so one has to listen carefully for that one.

All in all, there are a lot of good things on these two discs. The only reason I can't give it a full 5-star rating is because, as aforementioned, the best possible prints were not used, and as great and informative as it is, I just wish it had gone into some more depth in certain areas instead of reading like a succinct biographical profile of these 6 men and their lives and careers. The new or casual fan probably won't mind, but people who are more serious fans will want a lot more than just the basics with some elaborations.

Mediocre.......2006-07-23

The Three Stooges shorts are some of the best loved comedy films of all time, and yet many people do not know anything about the men behind the act. They each played a role in keeping the act together for over twenty years and led lives outside of the Stooges.

This biography attempts to shed some light on the subject. It describes how the Stooges were put together by Ted Healy, their decision to leave him, and the reasons for many replacement stooges.

The information found here is easily found in books about the trio, so one would expect something extra special in documentary form. There is nothing really, however. Aside from interviews with good sources like Larry's sister, Ted Healy Jr., and the Stooges fan club president, there is hardly anything to savor. Hardly any clips are used from the many shorts made by the Stooges and what is shown is in bad condition.

This is an acceptable documentary, but it is by no means groundbreaking or highly watchable.

Top Notch Addition to any Stooge Collection.......2006-02-07

I was impressed with the quality in this DVD presentation. This documentary succeeds in many ways and preserves for all time some integral interviews of those who knew the Stooges. Some of the rare photography (including much from the Larry Fine family) was amazing, to say the least, and the DVD is well worth the purchase. It's much better than any previous or current documentaries on the comedy team or Ted Healy. The radio interviews with the Stooges add a nice touch as supplemental materials.

The best 3 stooges bio dvd .......2005-07-06

This DVD set is worth every penny just for the bonus interviews alone - you really get a good look into personal life of Larry Fine with some very interesting stories told by his sister and brother-in-law. Also to have Larry and Moe's last radio interviews included in this set is priceless. Granted, their classic film clips are missing from the documentary, but you can't beat the historical record of the interviews - not to mention the photo libraries containing personal photos of the stooges off screen as well as an archive of movie posters. I'd rather have all this than a documentary of film clips, voiced over with information heard many times over.

And if it's film footage you're after, the bonus disc takes care of that - film trailers, The Ed Wynn Show with Shemp, the 4 public domain shorts.

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