I enjoy the live action wrap around segments in these cartoons. Sure they are softer and less violent (than the original films) but that's because they are made for kids. But because they are such short pieces they do a good job of getting in a bunch of laughs and then end quickly. I've always felt that the best way to use these all but forgotten segments would be to show them as commercial bumpers between a showcase of the classic short films.
@albanybeardguy Moe was also toning his nastiness down when he realized that many children were watching him perform. He's defintely not the violent, crab-ass that he was during the Curly and Shemp era.
@RegistrationCop And Curly-Joe Derita had no personality at all and he brought nothing to the act. Despite generating a few laughs in those films, Moe and Larry were well past their prime.
@primerodimus1 And Curly-Joe had no personality at all and he brought nothing to the act. And, by that period, Moe and Larry were well past their prime.
@RegistrationCop Joe Besser could have been a good thrid stooge but he was given crap to work with and he refused to be involved in the amount of slapstick that Curly and Shemp endured. Except for a few shining moments, the Joe Besser shorts do not even come close to matching the comedic heights of the Curly and Shemp films. The Curly-Joe Deritia era was nearly a total a waste at least in terms of the six feature films that were made. There's no energy or conviction in those movies at all.
@RegistrationCop Moe especially seemed to lose his timing- Larry was still pretty funny. Joe de Rita was a talented guy, but not the right personality- they must have hired him for looks, same as Joe Besser.
Emil Sitka is the guy sitting in the chair at the table getting polished up. I hate to say but the Stooges were never the same after Curly and Shemp died. Just not funny.
It also helped the producer that the silent movie footage took up more time than it would have cost to create new animation [Cambria Studios was among the cheapest cartoon producers in the '60s- among their TV series was the immortal "CLUTCH CARGO", which barely used "animation" at all!].
The same, 'Return'. Sitka was a close friend of the Howard brothers- he appeared as a supporting player in most of their Columbia two-reelers from the mid-'40s through 1959, and the live sequences in this series as well....
Even though there were 156 cartoons filmed, only 40 live-action "wraparounds" were produced- and they were repeated throughout the series; Emil Sitka {long-time Stooges' friend and associate} and Margaret Kerry Brown {wife of Cambria Studio's Dick Brown} appear as the reluctant couple being waited on...
