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Rating: 
Summary: Valiant is the Word for Curly
Review: A msjor big budget studio pick of the mid-30s was called "Valiant is the Word for Carrie." Of course, those fantastic guys who wrote the titles for the Stooge pictures hijacked the name and gave it to one of the best shorts the Stooges mdae: "Violent is the Word for Curly." The short wasn't that violent, actually, and had a coherent plot and structure. The thing was, however, Funny, with a capital "F!" A lot of comics today make fun of the Stooges in an ironic way by saying "Oh, and you can enjoy the comedy on so many levels." Of course their point is that there AREN'T any levels upon which to place the one you see on screen. I beg to differ.To me, the Stooges are funny because they have immaculate timing, they are spontaneous (the things were shot almost always in one take -- they HAD to bget it right!), and they are masters of slapstick. But, even more (and here's where those levels come in to play), what's funny is that three guys would act that way! And that the people with whom (or under whom, in the case of work) simply accept their behaviour! And, on yet another level, they woudld occasionally spoof themselves, several times by alluding to the ridiculousness of the gags they were performing, other times more blatantly ("Such levity! You men remind me of the Three Stooges!" "Hey, Hey -- that's an insult! "). And then there's the ridiculous ways they try to extricate themselves from simple situations, like usuing tire irons and extra large mallets to remove a sweater that Curly can't remove because he "might've put on a few pounds" since he first donned the thing. Fleming has written a pretty good book about the Stooges. He tells of their early days, their period with Ted Healy, when they were probably the highest-paid act in vaudeville, he talks of inter-Stooge problems, and he examines their widespread popularity. He doesn't really try to ask why the Stooges appealed to so many, both in the days that the pictures were new, and today, on television, and all the times in between. I think that's a big minus for the book. He also makes a lot of mistakes in names, dates -- you know, factual material. This I found disappointing. He did get some big (and medium) sized names to contribute to the last chapter, and their insights are interesting. But it still would've been nice to know more about the films themselves, things like what iot was like working with Jules White at Columbia, and h0ow the STooges felt as budgets forced them to make more and more modest-looking films. But all in all, I'd recommend the book, because there's just not too much out there giving you and insiders view of this wonderful comedy team. Maybe, someday, someone will undertake an analysis of the Stooge films (much like the one that's been done on Laurel and Hardy). There's a lot more there than people think. Get this book. It's well written, and it tells an interesting story. If you like Hollywood bios, you can't go wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Middling
Review: A nicely packaged book. If you're new to Stooge fandom, then this is a good book for you. But, if you're a longtime fan who wants to read and learn... MOE HOWARD AND THE THREE STOOGES (by Moe Howard himself) *
THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
CURLY (again, co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
THE COMPLETE THREE STOOGES (by Dr. Jon Solomon)... Those are the books you should buy! If you decide otherwise, this book is a nice simple read, with nothing new to offer. There are better ways to learn about the Three Stooges.
Rating:
Summary: Not much here
Review: Fleming's illustrated history isn't much more than a glorified magazine article. There's a factoid here and a factoid there: Moe was a Shakespearean actor on the Mississippi river boats. Larry could've been a concert violinist. Curly had four wives. Shemp was a hypochondriac. The Stooges' father, Solomon, had a bit part in one of their shorts.
The truly interesting stuff--Ted Healy's murder, Curly's stroke, Shemp's sudden death--is given short shrift. The Stooges were in their thirties when they began to make the shorts. I would have liked to know more about their vaudeville careers. Moe's daughter is still alive. I don't think Fleming made full use of her as a source.
Fleming spends a chapter trying to explain why men and boys love the Stooges; whereas, women seem to hate them. Guys like violence. Slapping people is funny. "The Stooges were a beacon of hope to the average underachieving male who could watch a trio of homely midgets with comical haircuts romance stunningly beautiful platinum blondes a foot taller than they, even though they were either unemployed or absolutely incompetent in menial jobs."
Mel Gibson wrote the foreward for the book and Mel Brooks tries to explain Stooge appeal, as does Danny Jacobson, co-creator of MAD ABOUT YOU. The text is complete by page 138. Part three is a capsulization of the 190 shorts the Stooges made. They don't make a whole lot of sense; I don't know if that's Felming's fault or the cobbled together plot lines. All I know is they were really hard to read.
As the title indicates, this is an illustrated history; unfortunately, the illustrations are mainly professional. There is one nice one of the Horwitz brothers' parents, Jennie and Solomon (She looks like Curly, he resembles Moe), but not much else.
Rating:
Summary: Tempted to give it three stars, but no.
Review: Michael Fleming admits that this is his first book, and even though this book is quite an endeavor, it has its short comings, mainly in the organization of the material. Most of the material that was gathered for the book came from court documents and testimonies from the stooges that pertained to their dealings with the motion picture industry. Well, this is nice since we get a close look at their relationships and finances, but the writing becomes repetitious as the "testimonies" are repeated over and over. I became quite bored reading about their salaries. Once is enough; I thirsted for more. What is missing is more personal detail about behind the scenes, things that most stooge fans more or less ponder. For example, who chose the opening music? Why? Details such as this would have been a bit more absorbing. For the synopsis of the episodes, I was hoping for more trivial behind the scenes happenings. There are some, but they are few and far between. Why four stars and not three? Since I live in Europe and the closest Blockbuster is an 11 hour plane flight away, it was a joy to read each synopsis of the shorts. I've seen all of the stooge shorts over and over and over again as a kid, and reading these they played out in my mind; Larry's matter-of-fact drone, the Moe snarl, the whoop whoop whoops. If you buy this book, you'll probably end up looking for more.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting intro to Stooge history
Review: Moe, Curly, and Shemp Howard were born Moses (1897), Jerome (1903), and Samuel (1895) Horwitz -- and were believed for many years to be the three least accomplished sons of their Litvak parents. (Irving and Benjamin, the older brothers sold insurance, and at least, that was a real job, no?) Their parents were second cousins (Jennie and Solomon Gorovitz) which is maybe why the stooges were stooges. Did you know that Moe was a Shakespearean actor? Obviously, Larry Fine (Feinberg), a Philadelphian, was not a Howard brother, but a violinist with an injured arm. He joined the vaudeville act in 1925. This book details with an okay level of accuracy (a good intro), the 190 films by Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Joe Besser and Joe DeRita made from 1934 to 1958, (from Woman Haters in 1934 to Sappy Bullfighters in 1958) with annotations on the number of slaps, eye-pokes, conking heads, pies thrown, etcetra in each. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk. Did you know that the original "Men in Black" was a 1934 Stooges film with the memorable line of "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard."
Rating: 
Summary: The Comprehensive History of the Stooges
Review: My stepson is a Stooge fan and he refers to this book constantly.
It is a great history of the 5 men who appeared as the 3 Stooges.
They were great comedy and ahead of their time.
Rating:
Summary: I see nothing wrong with it
Review: Perhaps the term "craftsmen" is difficult to associate with the Stooges, however they were masters of slapstick and comedy. Physically comedic in appearance, they were underappreciated and underutilized by the Columbia crowd. In the best of the shorts, their timing was impeccable and their delivery delightful. The book provides a great deal of information as to the particulars of their careers and also reminds us of what could have been, especially in the later "Shemp" years, had they been blessed with better quality writing and production values.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have!
Review: This book is a history of the Three Stooges that is literally without peer. It does an excellent job of covering the history of the Stooges, from their births through their marvelous careers, and on to their final curtain calls. After the history, there is a very nice look at the legacy of the Stooges, and the many modern comedians and actors that they influenced. The final chapter of the book is an excellent chronologically organized list of the Stooge's shorts, complete with credits, summary, review, and list of number of Stooges moves (e.g. "Slap Count: 9, Eye Pokes: 1, Conking Heads: 1"). Throughout the whole book, there is a sprinkling of many excellent black-and-white photos. As I hope the summary above shows, this is an excellent book on the Stooges, one that any Stooge fan (such as myself) would be glad to own. It is a must-have!
Rating:
Summary: A worthy purchase
Review: This guy has really done his homework. Giving honest reviews, he doesn't hail every episode as a classic. I found the episode guide the most valuable part of the book, which bits of trivia where available, the cast, and a useful Slap count!
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