Release Date: 10/30/07

The Show

The Gods of slapstick comedy and perfect timing are back on DVD with The Three Stooges Collection: Volume One – 1934-1936. Fortunately, the legions of fans have plenty to be happy about with this latest release. Why, you might ask? Well, for some reason, Sony historically refused to release the brilliant shorts in any form of chronological order in any type of definitive set. Rather, Sony would rather hold the fans hostage, releasing set after set with recycled shorts from former releases. However, this time around, we finally get the first 19 two-reels for Columbia Pictures in chronological order. Yuk, yuk, yuk!

What’s even better? Sony ditched the whole stupid ChromaChoice color nonsense, and now, we get beautiful digitally remastered shorts that look great. The original black & white version is on the disc, which present the true stooges in their rightful comedic element. As usual, the plots are put on the backburner as we watch the trio pull off their stunts and bits with perfect comedic timing. It doesn’t get any better than this, with Moe pulling off his gut punch, Curly letting the dogs loose, and Larry being Larry. Not to mention the eye-gouging, nose-tweaking, stomach-poking, ear-pulling, head-slapping, pie-throwing, and seltzer spraying… ah it’s like a symphony to my ears!

The 2-disc set includes 19 shorts from the first three years at Columbia from the trio with a Play All option found on each disc.
Disc 1
1934
1. Women Haters
1. Punch Drunks
1. Men in Black
1. Three Little Pigskins
1935
1. Horses’ Collars
1. Restless Knights
1. Pop Goes the Easel
1. Uncivil Warriors
1. Pardon My Scotch
2. Hoi Polloi
3. Three Little Beers
Disc 2
1936
1. Ants in the Pantr
2. Movie Maniacs
3. Half-Shot Shooters
4. Disorder in the Court
5. A Pain in the Pullman
6. False Alarms
7. Whoops, I’m an Indian!
8. Slipper Silks

The DVD

The main menu comes with boring static backgrounds and silence. Submenus include silent static stills.

The video is offered in 1.33:1 Fullscreen Format. The picture comes in the original black & white transfer. The picture is about as good as it will ever get, with a far greater amount of detail than I was expecting. This is about as nice as the Stooges has ever looked to me.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital Mono. The sound is pretty flat and there are some hisses and pops, however, anything more is not really necessary. Sure it’s not a dynamic track, but the dialogue is clear and well defined.

The Extras

None.

Final Thoughts

The Three Stooges Collection: Volume One – 1934-1936 is a DVD set that fans will finally purchase without that begrudgingly burning sensation after dropping cash on a rehash. This is a must purchase for fans based on its presentation and great video quality.

- Morris Tang