8mm Forum: Men In Black (Three Stooges) Columbia Super 8 Sound

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 21, 2011, 01:14 PM:

"Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!"

Though those beloved Stooges made many a great short, this is my personal pick for one of thier all-time best!

I think that this is because many of thier earlier shorts were much more "zany" in humor, as well as incredibly fast paced!

This was only the second Stooge film, made in 1934. The first film was more of a musical short, so common back then, but this one was the first in the classic Stooge style, and much more so!

The earlier Stooge shorts were strongly patterned after
two of the major talents of the time, the Marx. Brothers and the Ritz Brothers, which both had a manic style with sharp humor and even sharper slapsstick. later, the Stooges would follow a slightly calmer pace with thier own developed "indivisual" styles, (Curly and his "shuffle", for instance)

This is a big factor in this short, and if I remember, this was thier only one that was nominated for best short subject, (though I'm sure that a stooge-phile will correct me on that in the case that I am wrong.)

Trivia note : If you have ever watched Curly's run, it's almost most of a lop sided hop. This was due to the fact that Curly had broken his leg when younger and instead of going to the hospital, he would have it set at home and it would heal abnormally. Curly would always have a "hobble" , but he eggagerated it for effect on film.

Well, if he was to go to a hospital, I would surely suggest
that he shouldn't go to THIS particualr hospital!

The Stooges play the most inept doctors on the planet, and all for "duty and humanity" (though humanity suffers terribly!), and among the great running gags in this short is ...

1. The trio running through the head doctors glass front door, (breaking it everytime they go through) ....

2. Rushing through the hospital in any number or forms of transportation, midget cars, horses, ect.

3. Performing unnecessary surguries! (gee, that sounds like something that happens in real life! Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!)

4. Shooting the speaker system!

"Where are the tools?"
"The tools?"
"The tools?"

However, another great element of this particular short is the guest cast and sadly, I forget the names of the people but I will describe them ...

There is one nurse who was well known for supplying cutesy little girl voices (mostly in early cartoons) and she has a great cameo appearance in this short.

There is also a great comedic actor, (who also played the blustering "hater of piano's" in the Laurel and Hardy's classic short, "The Music Box") and he plays a completely insane man who even baffles the Stooges. Hey when your so insane that even the stooges can't handle you, your gone, man!

... as well as a short gag bit with a "short lady" who is sick in bed, and I do remember this person being in many a classic short as well.

Sadly, I cannot remember any of thier names, but I'm sure someone will fill in the blanks in replies.

The pace never lets up! This is a short that even dyed in the wool Stooge haters would find at least funny in one regard or another!

Columbia, thank God, realized that they could market the full shorts, thanks to the success of the 200ft editions that they had earlier released.

This was one of the Many Columbia releases of these shorts, and the quality is truly outstanding. It's not so hard to understand, as Columbia was using thier own negatives for these releases, (and you can have some fun actually looking at the leader on many of these films, which is even, in most cases, vintage to it's original release), but without a good film lab, even great negatives can look terrible.

Not in the case of these prints!

As other have commented on, every category concerning these prints are a good notch above almost any other companies, including Blackhawk.

The grain on these prints (in general, including this short) is quite fine. The sharpness truly rival's 16MM prints of these very same titles. The contrast (grey tones) are also spectacular. The sound is also equally good.

These are well worth collecting for the Stooge-phile and I can heartily reccomend these shorts.

Now, Columbia wasn't the only person to release some of these. "Disorder in the Court", a popular Curly Stooge short, has been released by other companies, NIles Films for instance.
(it should be said that the Niles printing is not up to the official Columbia issue). However, this short, from the original Columbia negatives, looks great! A Lot of the public domain editions of this short, (which pops up on every low budget DVD and video cassette of the Stooges) have varyingly bad grain, contrast and such. The official Columbia
release of this particular short has rich contrast with a full "spectrum" of grays.

Where you can, pick up these marvelous Columbia shorts!

Long live the Stooges!

Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk! (bonk) OW!!

as always ... LONG LIVE SUPER 8!!!

[ March 23, 2011, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Osi Osgood ]

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on March 21, 2011, 02:17 PM:

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop! Why soitenly!

Niagra Falls slowly I turned, step by step.

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on March 21, 2011, 07:15 PM:

Billy Gilbert plays the insane man.

This is the only Stooges in my collection where I am disappointed in the image quality. It looks more like an early L&H Blackhawk.

I'm not a big fan of the movie -- it's interesting -- but not nearly as funny as, for example, PARDON MY SCOTCH or UNCIVIL WARRIORS.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on March 22, 2011, 08:03 AM:

My super 8 print is nice and sharp...looks almost exactly like my 16mm print of it... However, compared to some of the later Stooges films, Men in Black never looked quite as good as others in the series. Nonetheless....from what I've seen of this one on TV and on my 16 print, the super 8 is about the same...with the exception that the sound is nicer...clearer than the 16 print . I have all the Super 8 Columbia Stooges films and have never gotten anything that wasn't darn near perfect.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 22, 2011, 10:33 AM:

By the way folks, I just realized that I did an additional review of this short in the past.

When you start repeating your reviews, I think you need to be in there with Billy!

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on March 22, 2011, 08:03 PM:

I, too, have this one and must say the sound is just fine, but the sharpness is just wee softer than the other stooges titles from Columbia that I have. Overall it's still better than many of the Blackhawk L&H titles I have in Super 8 as far as picture quality is concerned.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 23, 2011, 12:50 PM:

Folks ...

I edited in the material from the original review into this review, so you might wish to give it a re-read.

OSI

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on March 23, 2011, 01:59 PM:

According to a past friend of mine who worked with the Stooges during their live stage act, Curly actually shot himself in the leg while out hunting with an uncle. Osi, you're correct with it not being treated properly. The doctor who came to his uncle's house was a newbie (just having graduated from med school) and was still in "Learner" mode. Walking was always painful throughout the rest of his life and, yes, he suffered from a permanent limp. He related some funny anecdotes about how Curly and Larry were dear fellows. He told me that Moe was, without a doubt, the boss both on screen and off. Moe apparently could be a very difficult man to deal with and often had quite the "potty" mouth. He couldn't recall any time when Moe was never in a sour mood backstage, but, was quite the performer once the curtain went up. He did recollect that Moe, Larry and Curly were simply terrific with any kids that were fortunate to meet them after a show. My friend, who has since passed away, owned a blooper reel comprised entirely of stooges censored footage and what I wouldn't give to get my hands on that reel today. It was quite an eye-opener to hear Curly actually exclaim "O'h S***! - That hurt" after Moe's fingers slipped and he actually got poked in the eyes. There was alot of "Son-Of-A-B****"es throughout the reel. No naughty language from the ladies - it was always the gents.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 24, 2011, 10:32 AM:

Brad ....

What a wonderful bit O recollections about the Stooges! Thank U very much!

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on July 06, 2011, 07:36 AM:

Probably my favourite Stooges short. I know that is a big call, but it is just manic and non-stop throughout.

My Super 8 Columbia copy is good, certianly better than some others that followed.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 06, 2011, 10:27 AM:

Your quite correct! One of my other favorites is "Three Sappy People", and while the contrast (great greys) and sound is very good, the sharpness is certainly lacking, compared to "Men in Black"

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