WITH Columbia Pictures' release of most of their backlog of Comedy Shorts from their now defunct and then closing down Short Subjects Department in 1959, a whole new generation of fans, kids that is, was introduced to the work of people like former Silent Screen Mack Sennett Player, Andy Clyde, latter day sound shorts cone by "the Great Stone Face", Buster Keaton and lastly, some guys named Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp, who were four of the six guys who at one time or another were members of the act called THE 3 STOOGES. (Luckily, they didn't show us any of those latter day ones that ran right about up to the time when they made that Television Release Package that featured Joe Besser.)
NAMES like Jules White, Clyde Bruckman, Felix Adler, Charley Chase (Writer/Directors) and Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, Benny Rubin, Christine McIntyre, Simona Boniface, Edward Brends, Emil Sitka Jack "Tiny" Lipson, Casey Colombo, Al Hill and Dorothy Appleby; supporting players parr excellance all!
BUT the greatest beneficiaries (other than us Baby Boomer Generation kids) were the Stooges themselves.
NOT more than a couple of years had elapsed between the time that the last STOOGES Comedy featuring Joe Besser as the third guy had been put in the can (completed) to that day when all of those stations around the country began playing the comedies. In our fair town of Chicago, Illinois, it was the Chicago Tribune's own station of WGN TV, Channel 9 that played the shorts hosted by Bob Bell as old Andy Starr, caretaker of the old Odeon Theatre.
BEFORE the year was out, the 3 Stooges ) now with Joe DeRita as the third numbskull, rechristened "Curly Joe". They had a very successful personal appearance tour and were able to ink a new picture deal with their old home studio, Columbia Pictures Corporation.
INASMUCH as the old Short Subjects Department/Division was now gone; the deal called for the Stooges to now make some starring, kiddie oriented Feature Films. In order to handle the business end of the deal, Moe's Son-in-Law, Norman Maurer became their producer. They formed their own company, Norman Maurer Productions (Later called Normandy Productions).
THEIR first movie, HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL (Norman Maurer Productions/Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1959) hit the neighborhood shows in the Autumn of that year and was highly successful. Others followed: THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES, THE THREE STOOGES GO AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE, SNOW WHITE AND THE 3 STOOGES, THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT, THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK as well as guest starring appearances in 4 FOR Texas and IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.
AND if you can believe it, the humor was just about the same in these. They consistently borrowed from what seemed to be the best source, their old films. But even steak can get boring if eaten too often. So they set out to make a Stooges feature for the youngster that was a little better and different.
THE resulting movie, THE OUTLAWS IS COMING (Norman Maurer/Columbia, 1965) was not only an excellent outlet for the 3 Stooges own brand of outrageous comedy; but also was original, lampooned the Westerns (that were all over the TV Tube in those Days) and gave an opportunity to have a relatively large guest cast. At the same time it managed to kid the old Horatio Alger/Horace Greeley train of American thoroughly and philosophy.
COSTARRING with the boys was our old friend, Adam West (who the following year would be the hit of the tear on the twice weekly BATMAN TV Series.) Also in the Female Lead, we have Miss Nancy Kovack as Annie Oakley. Miss Nancy would also be featured on the BATMAN Show as the Joker's Gun Mall, Queenie in the first 2 part Joker escapade: "BATMAN IS RILED"/"THE JOKER IS WILD". (We think she may also have had a small, part in the premiere 2 parter, "HI RIDDLE DIDDLE" "SMACK IN THE MIDDLE" as a patron of the new Discothèque.
ALTHOUGH the picture would have figured to change the Stooges Movie format somewhat for the better, the steam was starting to run out on the theatrical releases after about six or so good years. Television still beckoned; but not as the none paid in residuals for the old shorts. They were still in demand as guests and the old careers got a boost with the hybrid of part animated, part live action TV Series of THE NEW 3 STOOGES (Normandy Productions/Cambria Animation, 1965).
BUT that my dear Schultz, is another story! (P.S. See our really neato review, elsewhere in IMDb.com.)
POODLE SCHNITZ!!
