Written by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, & Greg Lenburg
SUMMARY:
First published in 1982, this 356-page softcover edition was re-released through Chicago Review Press in 2012. Starting with bios, the seven pivotal players in Stooges history are separately profiled: Ted Healy; Moe Howard; Larry Fine; “Curly” Howard; Shemp Howard; Joe Besser; and Joe DeRita.
Subsequent chapters are devoted to a historical overview; merchandising; comic books; television; the Stooges’ recording career (including a team-up with Yogi Bear) and other related music; impersonators and pop culture homages; and the Stooges’ enduring fandom, which is described as “a growing cult.” The book ends with an extensive filmography (93 pages!) on the Stooges’ combined careers.
REVIEW:
For die-hard Stooge fans, this comprehensive reference guide (including an impressive collection of rare photos) is a must-have. Beyond overlapping biographical details, the book’s insightful narrative benefits from accounts by various family members (i.e. Moe’s son-in-law, Norman Maurer) and long-time colleagues (i.e. director Edward Bernds and actor Emil Sitka). As predictably fawning as one can expect, it fairly acknowledges that some Stooge shorts weren’t in good taste, and that the trio was quietly involved in numerous lawsuits for various reasons.
Further, the off-screen portrayals of a free-wheeling Larry and Curly’s man-child personality by acquaintances and/or family members doesn’t always paint them in the best light. Rather, it conveys a more intimate picture of who Larry and Curly really were. For instance, Larry’s suggestion that he, Moe, and Shemp set aside part of their salaries to help cover an ailing Curly’s medical bills speaks of his generosity as the Howards’ ‘surrogate brother.’ The book also gives fair due to Shemp Howard as a gentlemanly elder brother to Moe & Curly, who put aside his prolific solo career to rejoin the team.
For that matter, the memories (i.e. an amateur wine-making disaster) that Joan Howard Maurer and her brother shares of their father, Moe, are often poignant. Besides an interesting profile on Ted Healy, one should ponder tidbits from Joe DeRita and Joe Besser re: their tenures as Stooges. DeRita’s candid admission that that he didn’t actually consider the Stooges as “funny” is eye-opening, as is the practical reasoning for adopting his “Curly-Joe” persona.
As for Besser, his fond recollections are somewhat offset by a revelation that Besser’s contract evidently included a clause that neither Larry nor Moe could hit him much. It’s not a surprise that the two Joes weren’t particularly close to Larry & Moe off-screen.
Yet, the commentary from Norman Maurer offers the book’s most even-handed viewpoint of the Stooges, especially re: their later careers. The various chapters on the Stooges outside their films (the merchandising; public appearances, etc.) offer intriguing details of their enduring popularity.
The same applies to various film and TV projects that regularly fell through or that the Stooges were ultimately cut out of. At nearly a hundred pages, the exhaustive filmography may well be this guidebook’s most valuable feature. Including minute details, such as working titles, production notes, observations, and miscellaneous bits, the filmography offers countless nostalgic insights into the Stooges’ quarter-century tenure at Columbia Pictures and other studios.
Readers will inevitably spot some minor contradictions (i.e. someone’s age doesn’t add up — based upon their birth year), but the glaring one is on-and-off claims that the Stooges’ popularity never faltered. In reality, as the book acknowledges elsewhere, the Stooges endured slow cycles, most notably when an aging Moe and Larry were long past their prime in the mid-to-late 1950’s. Still, the well-written Three Stooges Scrapbook references virtually everything a Stooge fan could imagine in terms of nostalgic reading material.
To the co-authors’ credit, its wealth of historical details ensures that it is likely the most complete Stooge literary resource available.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
Updated in 1988, Besser’s one-page foreword summarizes his thoughts on his life as a Stooge. This edition includes a preface, acknowledgments, and quick bios re: the co-authors. However, an index isn’t offered, as it may well have been impossible to effectively cross-reference this guidebook.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars
Note: For supplemental reading, either version of Moe Howard’s autobiography: Moe Howard and The Three Stooges or the subsequent I Stooged to Conquer are ideal choices. The primary difference in the two versions are variations on which photos (and/or their sizes) are included. I Stooged to Conquer (a title Moe evidently fancied) sports a further advantage in a foreword by his daughter, Joan Howard Maurer. She also provides corrections re: erroneous text printed in the other book.
