<p> Emerging from the lower end of vaudeville, the Three Stooges were among the most familiar faces from Golden Age Hollywood and remain instantly recognizable even today. They lacked the sophisticated satire of the Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy's capacity for sweetness, and if you want an analogy to now, they were the Adam Sandler of their daycrude, rude and hilarious with the right material. </p> <p>The DVD set “A Three Stooges Celebration: A Collection of their Classic Shorts” includes a 1970s-era made for TV documentary outlining their story. A scorecard is needed to track lineup changes from the '20s onward as well as rival Stooges acts created to capitalize on their success. There were actually two classic trios of StoogesMoe, Larry and Curly from 1934 through 1946 (when Curly suffered a stroke) and Moe, Larry and original member Shemp through 1955 (when the latter died). But the Stooges marched on with Curly Joe until Larry's stroke in the late '60s. </p> <p>At the time the documentary was shot, the Three Stooges had become popular with a younger generation through various TV shows and newer movies and were sharing midnight movie marquees with <em>Pink Flamingos</em>. Why their endurance? Mayhem without injury can be funny, as is the sight four-year olds in men's bodies running amok. Their timing, honed on the vaudeville stage, was spot on. </p> <p>The disc includes a gaggle of short films by Three Stooges from the '30s and '40s. The early ones are interesting as career footnotes: in the randy musical “Henry the Ache” they are barely discernible and in “The Knife of the Party” there appear to be Five Stooges. The trio hit its stride with “Disorder in the Court” in the classic scene where Curly is being sworn to testify, unable to keep his hat off and raise his right hand at the same time. The Marx Brothers would have loved that one. </p>
