Another Great Collection!, October 10, 2008

This set completes the better Curly shorts, towards the end of this set he started suffering mini-strokes and the effects show on screen. But for the most part, Curly is still full of energy!The 21 shorts are:1943They Stooge to Conga (wartime. Moe disguises as Hitler!)Dizzy DetectivesSpook LouderBack From The Front (wartime)Three Little TwerpsHigher Than A Kite (wartime)I Can Hardly Wait (one of the weaker ones, Curly has a bad tooth)Dizzy Pilots (wartime)Phony ExpressA Gem Of A Jam1944Crash Goes The HashBusy BuddiesThe Yoke's on Me (wartime stereotypes)Idle RoomersGents Without Cents (features "Niagara Falls" routine)No Dough Boys (wartime)1945Three Pests In A Mess (nice cemetery comedy for Halloween)Booby Dupes (wartime joke at the end of this non-wartime comedy. Stooges go fishing.)Idiots Deluxe (first evidence of...

THIS IS A FULLY VIEWED REVIEW OF AN ADVANCED COPY FROM SONY PICTURES RECEIVED ON 9/25/08.A mere five weeks since Sony's third chronological compilationof Three Stooges shorts dropped, along comes Volume 4. Thisset showcases all 21 two reelers from the years 1943-1945.Although it's not essential to view these shorts in chronologicalorder, it does help to see how the Stooges' pacing advanced. Theirearlier shorts had a slower pace to them. By this volume,their manic style of slapstick was at its most feverish pace. Andby viewing them in release order on this set, it is very easy to see thedecline in Curly Howard's health. When viewing the shorts released in1945, it is clear that Curly's performance has been altered noticeably bythe time "Booby Dupes" is screened.The shorts on this set have one distinctive theme: they are morecartoonish than ever before. The plots, such as they are, become...

Sony Pictures is doing an excellent job with releasing the Stooges' films & have done so again in fine fashion with Volume Four! As described on the DVD box, these films represent the final years with Curly before a series of strokes forced him to retire from the act in 1946. This is evidenced in the last couple of shorts from 1945, especially in "If A Body Meets A Body", where it's painfully evident by watching Curly that his mannerisms have slowed & his speech has begun to slur.Hopefully Sony will continue with the remarkable roll they've been on in releasing the shorts in order, especially the ones with Shemp shorts & even with Joe Besser.