Let's look back at Mel Gibson's Three Stooges biopic from 2000. Written, Presented & Compiled by Joe Ramoni / joeramoni / hatsoffjoe Please consider supporting me on Patreon: / hatsoffentertainment
Thanks for reviewing this. I was Michael Chiklis' stand in for this movie. If you go to 2.45 in your video, I'm the first one in line, slapping my head as another Curly wannabe (Aussie actor John Batchelor) is coming out the door. This was a great experience and was a period where I was actually making a living as an actor - which surprised me more than anyone, as I've never thought of myself as an actor. I was taking every chance I could to talk to director James Frawley. I was mainly being a fan boy, as he directed about half of all the episodes of 'The Monkees', but also talking to him about other movies he directed including 'The Muppet Movie' and his experience of working with Mel Brooks. He told me about a little conflict he had with Mel in the muppet movie. Mel wanted to appear as Adolf Hitler, and was convinced he was right. Jim Frawley had to explain two things to Mel. Firstly, that he was the director and secondly, it's the world of the muppets and there is no Hitler there. I also made a sound friendship with the director of photography, Rob Draper. Rob has worked in Hollywood for decades, but is Australian and his resume is extensive. Again, thanks. You've reminded me of a great time in my life. Maybe I should call my old agent see what's happening... ;)
I worked on this picture. And yes It was shot in Sydney Australia, but it did have some great period correct locations that are seen all through the film, yes Mel knew that because he grew up in Sydney. Yep when this film was made the Australian dollar was very low Vs the American dollar, so the bang for buck was double at the time. I did the fireworks scene at the beach. From memory the location was Palm Beach. Years later I did work with him later on Hacksaw Ridge which was also shot in Sydney and had Mel Gibson as director.
I will say that the scene with Curley in the hospital really tore me to shreds as a teenager. One of the few things that still brings a tear to my eye.
@@RubberChickenFilms I thought that Stan and Ollie was very touching! They did a good job portraying their partnership and friendship onstage and off! The part where Stan had to cancel the stage performances while Oliver was ill forshadowed his retirement after Hardy's death.
I remember being shocked at how they almost completely skipped Shemp's post-Curly career. Shemp was probably not a weakling, but I have read that his multiple phobias were "the stuff of legend".
There's a youtube series (9 episodes if I remember correctly) called "Hey Moe Hey Dad" Which is absolutely amazing. It's presented by Moe's Son and goes from the birth of the Howard Brothers right through to Moe's death and the legacy they left behind. I'd recommend it to anyone who remotely likes the Stooges.
If you really want to experience acting whiplash, watch Michael Chiklis in this and then watch his performance as a darkly complex Vic Mackey on the Shield. Its a testament to the guy's genuine talent that pulls off both so naturally.
Actually, AMC aired Three Stooges shorts BEFORE the biopic aired. I remember, because the AMC airings were how I got hooked on the stooges, which got me excited for the biopic.
Yep. I remember waking up on New year day 2000 and putting on AMC (that and TCM were my go to channels as a teen) and watching a three stooges marathon hosted by Leslie Nielsen. I'm not sure if that was the first time they were aired, but I don't remember him hosting it in 1999.
That bit with Leslie Nielsen blows my mind because he’s so genuinely great as a comedian and for the longest time he was a straight man. Just that little bit is fun to watch. Imagine he had never been in Airplane! and just kept being serious 😳
I remember watching this when this first came out and being really baffled by the depiction of Moe, considering that he was a famously sweet and blatantly kind hearted guy.
It wasn't until I read Moe's autobiography that I realized how inaccurate they depicted Moe in the film. In real life Moe never worked as a gopher at the studio after their contract expired. He was never angry and jaded about his career as depicted. He actually looked back fondly as his days as a Stooge.
The recreation scenes really made me appreciate the non-stooge actors in the original. All the extras in the biopic sound like they’re trying to speed run all their lines, especially the court clerk in the "disorder in the court" remake. Also yes the Michael Fleming stooge book is fantastic, one of my favorites growing up
I cried when Curly gets attacked at the hotel snd Moe helps him and when Moe made him sign the papers to give up the act. My god that performance is underrated
Speaking of that scene at the hotel, I really can't believe that Moe would stand by and watch as Curly got attacked. He was very protective of his brother in real life, so if anybody messed with him, Moe would kick their asses, regardless if they were male or female.
One of the things I noticed in this biopic of the Three Stooges when I recently saw it was the scene of Curly's last Stooges short 'Half Wits Holiday'. Curly has his stroke during when they're filming a earlier scene for the short. In reality, Curly actually suffered his stroke while sitting in the director's chair waiting to film the last scene.
If you're ignoring Larry, you're not a true fan buddo. He is that special ingredient you can't leave out because if you do, it's just not the same. Shit, that's why it's so damn hard to find anyone to portray/imitate the man. He's a god tier subtle genius and single handedly the most vital and important of all the Stooges. in the words of Walter Sobchak. AMIWRONG????
Larry was secretly the glue that held the Stooges together: they could replace Curly, Shemp and Joe, but not Larry. As soon as Larry died, the Stooges were over.
In November of 2019, with practically zero prep time, I was told I would be moderating the Saturday and Sunday panels at a local convention for John Kassir, aka the voice of the Cryptkeeper. I skimmed his imdb page and made a note to ask him about playing Shemp in this. He spoke at length about the life and quirks of Shemp Howard, as if I'd invited him to be a guest lecturer at a Stooge-centric panel. I asked him the next morning did he want to do anything differently from the Saturday panel, he said he thought what we'd done the previous day was great, and we should do it again. When I got to the portion about Shemp, he told some of the same anecdotes but also, solely for my benefit, branched into additional details and stories. He even pulled up a pic on his phone of the main cast with Mel Gibson, and seeing our small Sunday audience, walked from person to person and let them study the picture as long as they wanted, while he still told stories about the movie and I peppered in questions. He was an absolute delight as a interviewee and a real Shemp scholar even almost twenty years later.
Damn, that's awesome! That warms my heart to know he has a personal love for Shemp, and it wasn't just a paycheck doing the movie. Any chance you got video of that panel?
@@srhays I think the con organizers did shoot video of most if not all of the panels, but I personally don't have a copy. By the way, Saturday night at the after-party, the improv comedy troupe that I co-founded was performing, and John Kassir hopped onstage with them and played some games. (Our troupe's event organizer had invited all of the celebs to do so throughout the first day of the con.) I was unable to attend, so I began the Sunday panel by telling him I was mad at him because I'd missed the coolest thing to ever happen to our troupe.
@@LextheRobot Wow, John Kassir sounds like such a cool guy. Too bad you missed the improv, but so cool you got to interview him. (I would love to ask him about his epic cameo (as the Cryptkeeper) in Casper, and if he has any cool stories from that)..... What was the name of the convention? Maybe there's video on youtube?
@@srhays They called it Con-Fuzion that year, since it was under new management. I forget what it was called the previous year, which I attended but did not host any panels. They didn't have one for 2020 because of the pandemic. Not sure if they'll do it this year or not. I didn't think to ask about Casper, but he did cover the genesis of the Cryptkeeper's laugh. In his standup days, he'd done a one-man Wizard of Oz routine, and the CK's laugh is his Wicked Witch of the West cackle from that. The cool thing was, I said to the audience, "I think we'd all like to see that," and it took no prompting from them whatsoever, he jumped up from his chair and did a few seconds of his one-man Oz bit. Plus he mentioned how the puppet's eyes were recycled from Chucky (from Child's Play). So if you take Chucky's eyes and the Wicked Witch's cackle, you've got part of the Cryptkeeper's DNA right there.
@@LextheRobot Thanks. I couldn't find any video of the panel, but that must've been awesome to hear him talk about Shemp. And yeah, I can definitely hear the Wicked Witch influence on the Cryptkeeper. I never knew John Kassir was quite so versatile, to play the Cryptkeeper, Shemp Howard, and the entire cast of Wizard of Oz, too? Somebody give this man an Oscar.
I would LOVE a Sam Raimi Three Stooges movie. For now, we'll have to settle for Crimewave, which is basically a Three Stooges movie without the Three Stooges.
There are a LOT of inaccuracies in the movie. Curly's debilitating stroke didn't happen during the filming of a scene; rather he was sitting in a chair waiting for filming to resume. They only realized something was wrong when they called him to the stage and he didn't respond. Also, as somewhat alluded to, the film makes it seem like Moe was in poor financial shape in his later years, when in fact he was the most fiscally responsible and stable of the group. Another thing is after Joe Besser argues with the director, it's implied that Columbia got sick of his antics and decided to bring in Joe DeRita instead. In fact it was Moe who wanted Joe DeRita to replace Shemp, but Columbia refused because they wanted someone who was already under contract and thus wouldn't have to hire someone new - that was where Besser came in. Also, when the Stooges went back out on tour doing live shows as a result of their renewed popularity from the shorts being shown on TV, Moe invited Besser to rejoin the act. Besser declined as his wife was having health problems and he did not want to leave her; it was then that DeRita finally joined. One thing the film gets very much right, however, is the fact that they were largely screwed by Columbia. The Stooge shorts made the studio a TON of money, yet the Stooges only make $20K a year each. Now that was still a very comfortable salary back in those days, but it was only a fraction of what they were worth.
Another thing the film gets wrong is Shemp's age at his sudden death on November 22,1955 claiming he was 59 when he was 60. The Film also depicts Moe and Larry hearing and learning of Shemp's passing on the Radio, when in Actuality, Morton called his Uncle on the Phone Wednesday Morning November 23,1955 and informed him that Shemp had suffered a Fatal Heart Attack Tuesday Night. And Joan Howard Maurer vividly recall "The Somber and Sad look of my Dad when he got the Telephone call that Uncle Shemp had passed and was gone".
Thank you so much for breaking this down. I was five when this came out and being able to watch it as an adult warms my heart. While all your points were valid, I am still so grateful it was made. The last scene of them on the stage still makes me cry. What a group of legends they all are!
Although Shemp was a bed wetter in real life I don't believe that the scene on the train actually happened. Shemp actually was offered a contract to go solo. He was more fed up with the way Healy was treating them than with any rough stuff from Moe. But still the scene on the train broke my heart too.
I first got into the Stooges during rhe early mid 90's when TBS would run their Stooge A Thons... And I'd record them, commercials and all on VHS... I might even still have some of those tapes....
I got into them in the mid-80s when they were a part of their cartoon blocks. The summer between first and second grade, TBS had a contest where you would send a postcard when you noted the time that a bug popped up on the screen (I think it was for the contest specifically), and I won a third prize, which was a Three Stooges home game for VHS.
As a kid, I used to have a VHS tape of this that I recorded off of television. It definitely made me appreciate the shorts much more, as my dad had grown up with them and tried to get me into the Stooges as well. This movie was quite melodramatic in retrospect, but it definitely served to humanize the people in those old black and white slapstick shorts. It gave me a deeper appreciation for the Stooges as genuine artists.
This is what amazes me as you create content for me and 104k other people, you are able to use a clear smooth pace as you are talking, most other RU-vidrs oftentimes go very fast because they may have little or no time to get into their points (and videos). All and all, you are probably one of the greatest RU-vidrs I know of! Never stop making these videos, (they are very satisfying!).
Funnily enough, Chiklis also played John Belushi in a universally panned biopic. He’s often the highlight of lacklustre things like Fantastic Four and AHS: Freakshow. Dude deserves more than just The Shield.
In 1962 my father brought me and a few of my siblings to the RKO theater in New Rochelle, New York, USA. The latest Three Stooges movie was playing "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules." This theater had a capacity of maybe three thousand seats. The theater was packed with kids! We stood in a side area because the main section and balcony were full. Before the movie started out came Moe, Larry and Curly Joe! The crowd erupted as Moe said "Hiya Boy and Girls!" They did some of their classic schtick, eye-pokes and all. It was all over in about five minutes. My dad asked if we wanted to stay and watch the movie, we didn't want to because we would have to stand during the movie. I didn't see that movie until just a few years ago. It wasn't great. The Mel Gibson biopic was okay. I recorded it off the air and have it on my computer. I think their story deserves a mini-series.
@@madamefeast4824 That's cool. I was born in 86 and have pretty much the same taste. I do like some things from the 30s and 40s, also. The Stooges have always been my favorite comedy team and Larry has always been my favorite Stooge.
I watched this for the first time during the shutdown. My favorite bit was the part where Curly, reeling in from a night of partying, ran into some sailors and their girlfriends in the hotel lobby. They immediately started doing the slapping and poking routines on him--and it HURT him, because those routines onscreen were choreographed and carefully monitored, and they just don't work that way in real life.
This is the second time Michael Chickis has a played a comedy legend in Biopic, the first was as John Belushi in Wired! I'm glad I'm not the only person who watched the show on AMC with Leslie Neilsen! Nobody can do a Larry impression like Billy West!
It's been right at 100 years since the Stooges were created. You tube has an interview with Moe in 1973 or 74 and Moe explained how they started. He also did a skit in these appearances. He was just as able bodied as ever ( at about 75 years old in these appearances). The Mike Douglas show was where I seen it .
Andy Pagana, Chris Durmic and Brad ( Curly G.) server are the closest this world will ever see to the Stooges. They are steamier by oddly having two Brilliant Curlys and piecing together a Larry
0:38 "...was produced by long-time Three Stooges fanatic Mel Gibson." He showcased that fandom in the Lethal Weapon series - in the first one, Martin Riggs uses moves of the Three Stooges in an early scene with some drug dealers, and in the third one Riggs plays a Three Stooges video game.
I remember my dad taped this when it first appeared on TV. When I got older and learned more about the Stooges I watched the biopic a lot less because of the inaccuracies, but also because I wished that they had given more time to Shemp's return to the Stooges after Curly's stroke
I still have the VHS tape of this my parents recorded off of the broadcast in early 2000. Never knew it took them so long to finally give this a proper home video release. (Good thing we held onto that tape for as long as we did! And I can't believe you're only a year or two older than me!)
Michael Chicklis (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong) is such an awesome actor. One of my favorites. He knocks everything out of the park. I'll have to check this out.
Had a lot of personal experience on this project, as I was up for the role of Moe, a process which took up several months of my life. It was a nationwide casting call. Of course, in the end it went to Ben Victor, for better or for worse.
You somehow managed to find a diamond in the rough and take what could have been a less than stellar biopic and point out how the good intentions outweighed the bad. Thank you for sharing your love for The Stooges and helping keep these wonderful comedians alive and forever relevant.
I was in my twenties when this movie came out and boy did I like it yes I knew there were inaccurate stuff going on but still found it to be a very good biopic can't imagine how it would have been being just 8 years old and being able to comprehend all the different real life stuff going on probably just would have laughed at the slapstick and been bored with all the other stuff going on .Good to see this movie peaked intrest in a whole new generation of stooge fans I'm glad for you young man .keep up the great videos!
Never saw this movie, but growing up my Saturday mornings were all about the 3 stooges on AMC, and after them classics by John Wayne, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, and the like
I really didnt like how this movie made it seem like Moe was trying distance himself from his Stooge years when he got older, when you look at archive footage and interviews of him when he was older he clearly loved being remembered as a Stooge.
@@melissacooper4282 I could not figure that out, either. As you said, it seems like he really embraced his role in the Stooges. I guess there had to be some kind of underlying storyline to lust forward the film? Beats me. I still liked it a lot, though.
This film was a pretty good effort and made by people who really appreciated the Stooges. Michael Chiklis combined his acting skills with his intense childhood and beyond viewing of all the shorts as so many of us did to make for a memorable Curly. I also appreciated the fact that Shemp played a significant role in the film as they got it right that Shemp was key to their initial development and in saving the act after Curly's unfortunate demise. There was plenty of playing with the facts (example: Columbia, MGM and Warner Bros. competing early on for the Stooges services whereas Larry had actually signed a contract for the three stooges at Universal at the same time Moe signed them to Columbia and this had to be sorted out in real life and this could have been a better scene IMO, yet Universal was never even mentioned in this particular actual scene) However, they got most of the big items correct and Moe really was the leader both on and off screen of the team. Also, while they mentioned in the end credits their comeback in the 60's, this would have been great to explore further as it really was an amazing comeback.
It didn't make sense that MGM was offering them a contract the same time as Columbia and Warner Brothers. The Stooges had already worked for MGM when they were still with Ted Healy. Also the scene where The Three Stooges were in Harry Cohen's office for the first time. Cohen said that Buster Keaton was making shorts for Columbia Pictures. While the scene takes place in 1934 Keaton didn't work for Columbia until 1939!
@@melissacooper4282 Yes, the movie contracts with those companies at that time was fanciful. Warner Bros. never offered them a contract. According to Moe's biography, Larry signed a contract for the team with Universal minutes after Moe signed them to Columbia and so Columbia got them. Funny how Universal was not even in the movie as a competitor for their services even though they actually were.
Dude , I love all of your videos . The way you convey your feelings about actors and shows that have left the world and lime light never ceases to almost bring a tear to my eye. Thank you.
Being a life long Stooge fan, I loved this TV movie. I remember being 13 years old and watching it. I wish it was more known. I'm glad that people can find it on different platforms. Great RU-vid channel!
Wow, you're on fire lately dropping the Nothing but trouble vid the day before Shock G's passing and doing a retrospective on this little if slightly flawed gem which popped into my head last week when a podcast I listened to was doging Chiklis for his part in the 2000's Fantastic 4 franchise. Side note: Even barring this as an example of his range, I'll even argue his Ben Grimm was spot on for the thankless material/ makeup he had to work in the Tim Story Duology. The strangest thing this was his second time portraying a comedy great, the first as John Belushi in the much reviled 1989's Wired that nearly stalled his career. Well in reality I have to concede that both are mostly coincidental but maybe there's something to appreciate about consistently putting out great work and by some virtue tapping into nostalia zeitgeist/algorithm. Keep up the great work, this channel is quickly becoming one of my drop everything and watch rituals.
@@HarryBuddhaPalm oh pssh mel's not antisemitic.he's just catholic and blissfully unaware of how antisemitic catholicism is. and yknow, when you're under pressure to not say the wrong thing, at times of stress you tend to just blurt out whatever the wrongest possible thing would be. naw it's michael jackson who said shit like that and _meant_ it. but he in turn was just buying the hype about the blame. It's not as if he imagined his life being screwed over, he just incorrectly thought it was jews.
@@HarryBuddhaPalm despite what popular phrases might tell you, the shit you say when you're drunk isn't what you really feel. it's just what you usually aren't allowed to say. and real hatred doesn't use cutesy terms, that's just humor. oven-dodger doesn't really make a lot of sense but it's still slightly funny.
@@KairuHakubi ironically, one of the stereotypes of Jewish people (According to my Jewish brethren) is that they either become atheists or convert to Catholicism
This will always hold a special place in my heart. I know it’s pretty inaccurate but this came out when I was 6 and was a huge Three Stooges fan (still am).
You make me feel old, haha....I was 37 when the tv movie aired....and I've been watching The Stooges since the shorts were run on TV in the early 1970s....my friends and I loved them, of course...and often imitated them! What you have to remember is that not only is this a "biopic", with all it's inherent inaccuracies, but a "Made For TV" biopic! So...double that! TV has much more constraints on time than film, as well as a need to make sure things are sufficiently dramatic. Put these factors together and you get the kind of writing and editing that plays around with the facts. For the most part, the generalities are fairly accurate...it's the details that take a real beating....however, a lot of those are pretty close, from info I've gathered over the years. As was implied, it does give a good idea of what The Three Stooges were about.....I enjoyed it...I just watched it before finding this. *I have the dvd box set of everything they did for Columbia.....including films that Shemp did before rejoining Moe and Larry....and the movies they did with "Curly" Joe DeRita (Except Snow White And The Three Stooges....I don't think that was Columbia). I also have "Soup To Nuts."
With all due respect, I'm one of those people who are partial to Joe Besser as the third Stooge. Yes, he was an established comic before joining the Three Stooges, having appeared alongside the likes of Abbott & Costello and Olsen & Johnson, among others, on film. He even had his own series of two-reel comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures (the Stooges' studio) between 1949 and 1956. The later Besser solo shorts featured Jim Hawthorne, later a DJ and TV host, as the straight man. One of my favorite Besser solo entries is 1955's Hook a Crook (a remade of an earlier short, Fraidy Cat, released in 1951), where he and Hawthorne are detectives who search for a stolen necklace. In fact, the gorilla (in the remake) was played by Dan Blocker, the future Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza.
Joe Besser was a very funny man in his own right, especially as an extra for Abbott and Costello. I never could get the hang of him being the third Stooge, and he is my least favorite of the six who were in the group. But I still thought he held his own I suspect it is because he had to fill some huge shoes, that is why he is not cared for as a Stooge. But he was very funny!
I always felt bad for Chiklis. He really did a good job as Belushi but that movie was so horrible. The estate wanted nothing to do with it. Dude who played Aykroyd was good too.
I remember watching this when it first aired, with my mother. It made me realize, that there were people that actually thought the eye pokes were real, and that the original Curly died midway through Moe and Larry's career.
I still enjoy this film, I even rewatched it the other week. The scene where Curly reads Moe's letter still hits me every time I see it. I agree that Moe wasn't portrayed as well as he could have, because they made it feel like he was ashamed or wanted to get that part of his life away when really, he embraced it and loved talking about the Stooges based on his interviews and public appearances. It's funny how you mentioned how Larry is "just there" when some people actually feel that way about him in the actual shorts and films. Overall, I still like the film and glad it gave more exposure to the stooges.
i remember when this aired originally. It was a huge event and we taped it off the TV. Though not perfect, everyone in the family was crying by the end.
For all its flaws this movie is still really great, Mel did a good job for the budget he had and probably what the producers wanted to have in the film. I still remember this film fondly when I caught it on tv back when I was 8 years old. I am gonna have to watch it again soon thanks for reminding me of it.
I LOVED that movie back in the day! I haven't seen it in almost twenty years, though, so I definitely need to rewatch it. I also had that same book, with Mel Gibson's introduction (he almost blinded his kid brother with the eye-poke!), but never knew that Mel Gibson actually produced the TV movie. I used to read the book all the time, in addition to watching the reruns with Leslie Nielsen, whose sketches we used to quote incessantly ("Remember, class, it's all fun and games until somebody gets their eyes poked out… then it's hilarious"). All of those things -- the movie, the book, and the reruns -- contributed to making me a hardcore stooges fan. Plus, my dad grew up as a big stooges fan, and we used to watch the reruns together.
Hear me out. I’ve had an idea for a new version of a Three Stooges biopic but in the form of a mini/limited series. It would allow a lot more room for other moments in the history of The Three Stooges. It would also be a good opportunity to show more accurate depictions of events and people. I’ve actually been doing research on them to try and write it myself. I even came up with a cast. In addition to Chris Diamontopoulos, Sean Hayes, and Will Sasso as Moe, Larry, and Curly repectivly, I also came up with these. Mikey Day - Shemp Louis Mustillo - Joe Besser Billy Gardell - Curly Joe DeRita Bruce Campbell - Joe Palma (Shemp's stand in)(Also as a "Fake Shemp" reference) Ted Raimi - Jules White Tobey Maguire - Ted Healy I know. Sounds rather expensive but what do you think?
