Rating: 
Summary: Dont Look And Laugh At This
Review: Following their successful return to films at Columbia Pictures."The Three Stooges"were invitied to make a sequel to":"Have Rocket Will Travel"but for less monies and they were not to be given any creative control over their next film.Moe nixed the deal and the boys left for 20th Century Fox(To appear in the forgetable:"Snow White & The Three Stooges!")and to create their own studio:Normany Productions with Moe's Son In Law:Norman Maurer as their guiding genius.When Columbia couldn't get the team to make another movie? They simply put together scenes from old "Three Stooges"Shorts from the 1930's and 40's:Starring Moe,Larry & Curly.And they hired Ventriloquist/Entertainer/Cartoon VO performer:Paul Winchell,"The Marquis Chimps"and NYC based Kids tv wraparound host/performer:"Officer Joe"Bolton(At the time that this film went into production."Officer Joe"was still hosting "The Three Stooges'Funhouse!"Weekday evenings on WPIX TV Ch.11 in NYC.The movie wasn't even filmed at Columbia Pix' in Hollywood,Ca.It was filmed at The 20th Century Fox Studios on NYC's Upper West Side.)and the released:"Stop,Look & Laugh!"to the movie going public.Columbia had hoped that "The Stooges'"Fans would love this compilation.But this film is nothing more than a feature film like tv comedy special.With the boys making guest appearances by proxiy.Mr.Winchell's narrations are forgetable to say the least and "The Cinderella"Spoof that features "The Marquis Chimps"(with the voices of the chimps provided by Ms.June Foray)is also a waiste of time and talent.Even "Officer Joe's"cameo in this mess does little to endear this piece of Hollywoodized film comedy fans and Stooge Devoutees.To those fans of "The Three Stooges",Paul Winchell and "Officer Joe"? Please don't wasite your monies and buy this video.It's Not worth the money.Kevin S.Butler.
Rating: 
Summary: Monkey Gets Hit With a Pie
Review: Funny 3 Stooges clips tied around Paul Winchell, Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smith skits. One of a kind. Just seeing the smiling monkey get hit in the face with a pie at the beginning is by itself worth the price of this one. Don't think they could get away with that anymore.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Stab In The Back...
Review: I didn't like this film from the first time I saw it over 20 years ago. This is basically a rehashed hodge-podge of some 1930's shorts featuring Curly, hosted by comedian/ventriloquist Paul Winchell and "featuring" The Marquis Chimps; the average Stooges fan already owns most if not all of the shorts included here, so you won't be seeing anything new by any means. I'm not knocking Paul Winchell, because he was also popular in his own right at the time and cannot be faulted completely for agreeing to this film; the brainiacs at Columbia must've felt that a combination of Winchell's kiddie matinee schtick and the Three Stooges would obviously sell, but the result is nothing short of bizarre and pointless. The Stooges were not with Columbia in 1960 when this was produced, as the boys were unceremoniously handed their walking papers in 1957 after 24 years at Columbia, who took the Stooges to the cleaners every chance they had (and obviously STILL are). This was a blatant attempt on the part of Columbia to capitalize on the massive success the Stooges enjoyed in the late 50's & early 60's when the old shorts featuring Curly were released to TV; in fact, the Stooges themselves were so infuriated with this move that they immediately sought legal action to stop it's release. Columbia was then forced to withdraw the film and "apologize" publicly to the Stooges and their management. Ironically, Columbia then re-signed the Stooges to a feature film contract shortly after this and went on to make 6 features; something the boys had been wanting to do throughout their initial 24 years at the studio! Fast forward 43 years...once again the Stooges are getting "dissed" by Columbia with the re-release of this stupid film...only now, all of the Stooges are dead and unable to defend themselves. The only reason I or basically anyone would buy this DVD is for the inclusion of the short "A Bird In The Head", but that's exactly what Columbia WANTS. In yet another shrewd marketing scheme, they're sticking it to the fans and preying on their loyalty in the assumption that they'll purchase this DVD just to get this included short! "Stop Look & Laugh" is a real stab in the back to the Stooges as well as their fans. Don't waste your time or money with this.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Puppetry
Review: I love this movie because I love Paul Winchell and the Art of Puppetry and ventriliqiolism (ok i can't spell). It is just hilarious. I wasn't a fan of the Stooges, but this movie made me one.
Rating:
Summary: From an avid Paul Winchell fan
Review: I remember as a child seeing this film and returning every time a local theater revived it for the typical Saturday morning kids' feature. While I generally enjoyed the Stooges, my real enthusiasm was for Paul Winchell and his cast of wooden characters. To this day, at age 52, I still laugh out loud when Paul Winchell pulls a "Danny Thomas" with his coffee after reading the oral thermometer Jerry Mahoney had just treated with a match. Of all the popular ventriloquist acts from Bergen to today, except for the Muppets, I believe Jerry, Knucklehead, et al were the only ones of their era who moved their arms as well as their mouths and eyes. Winchell was and still is a genius. Forget the Stooges in this one. Jerry Mahoney is the star of the show, and this movie is a great piece of early 60's nostalgia, if not one terrific bit of brain candy.
Rating:
Summary: intolerable
Review: I wish there were a way I could return this after opening. It is one of the few dvd's, books, or cd's that I want to throw away without even seeing the entire thing. This is nothing more than cuts taken out of various Three Stooges shorts and new music being added. The new music is annoying. About the only useful part of this dvd is the bonus track "Bird in the Head". This short is shown in its entirety with no annoying additional sound track. Overall however, the dvd is nothing more than an attempt to squeeze out a little more revenue from fans by rearranging parts of shorts and trying to make them a movie --but the attempt failed. This is not even for the most avid collectors.
Rating:
Summary: intolerable
Review: I wish there were a way I could return this after opening. It is one of the few dvd's, books, or cd's that I want to throw away without even seeing the entire thing. This is nothing more than cuts taken out of various Three Stooges shorts and new music being added. The new music is annoying. About the only useful part of this dvd is the bonus track "Bird in the Head". This short is shown in its entirety with no annoying additional sound track. Overall however, the dvd is nothing more than an attempt to squeeze out a little more revenue from fans by rearranging parts of shorts and trying to make them a movie --but the attempt failed. This is not even for the most avid collectors.
Rating:
Summary: The Three Stooges and the Ventriloquist.
Review: I'm going out on a limb with this review. This is a funny little movie. Paul Winchell and his wise cracking dummy, Jerry Mahoney, are a hoot. Almost as good is the lovably wacky Knucklehead Smiff. Notice how lunch counter-man Knuck deals with Winch's slice of suspicious raisin bread. The spliced in scenes of various Three Stooges comedies are fun, if somewhat diluted for staunch Stooge fanatics. Everything moves along nicely. The laughs are frequent. Does anyone really care that it's all low budget nonsense? Observe as Winch teaches Jerry appropriate table etiquette, especially the correct method of consuming an ear of corn. The plumbing segment is also hilarious. First time viewers beware, about three-quarters along the way, there is a terrible bump in the road. The Marquis Chimps do Cinderella in hokey costumes. What was the producer thinking? Even for a cheesy movie freak such as me, this 10-minute interlude is too much schlock. Fast-forward through this mistake, and preserve your sanity. This little movie is good for nostalgia buffs, and middle-age kiddies everywhere. From this point forward, you are on your own. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: The Three Stooges and the Ventriloquist.
Review: I'm going out on a limb with this review. This is a funny little movie. Paul Winchell and his wise cracking dummy, Jerry Mahoney, are a hoot. Almost as good is the lovably wacky Knucklehead Smiff. Notice how lunch counter-man Knuck deals with Winch's slice of suspicious raisin bread. The spliced in scenes of various Three Stooges comedies are fun, if somewhat diluted for staunch Stooge fanatics. Everything moves along nicely. The laughs are frequent. Does anyone really care that it's all low budget nonsense? Observe as Winch teaches Jerry appropriate table etiquette, especially the correct method of consuming an ear of corn. The plumbing segment is also hilarious. First time viewers beware, about three-quarters along the way, there is a terrible bump in the road. The Marquis Chimps do Cinderella in hokey costumes. What was the producer thinking? Even for a cheesy movie freak such as me, this 10-minute interlude is too much schlock. Fast-forward through this mistake, and preserve your sanity. This little movie is good for nostalgia buffs, and middle-age kiddies everywhere. From this point forward, you are on your own. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Funny
Review: I've read some very harsh (and probably deserved) criticisms of "Stop! Look! and Laugh!". I suppose to really enjoy a little exploitation film like this, you'd have to know about the background. You see, when the Stooges had a comeback in 1959, former Stooge directors Jules White and Harry Romm pieced together clips from some very funny Stooge comedies with Curly with some scenes with Paul Winchell and his dummies (Knucklhead Smiff and Jerry Mahoney). If you didn't know that beforehand, I can imagine being very betrayed by this film. But I kinda liked it.
I thought the Stooge clips, while edited and given strange new music, were as amusing as ever, and I was especially surprised by the Paul Winchell scenes, which were pretty darn funny. The only real flaw of this film is the Marquis Chimps' rendition of Cinderella (which comes near the end of the film).
The DVD presents "Stop! Look! And Laugh!" in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The Paul Winchell and Marquis Chimps scenes look very clear and sharp, with only minor scratches. The Stooges scens are obviously slightly scratchier, but look very above average (some of them look better than they did on seperate DVDs, uncut).
As a special feature, the 1946 comedy "A Bird in the Head" is included. While a very sickly looking Curly Howard does not give one of his better performances, the short is well crafted and has some very funny moments. It looks remarkably clear and almost free of scratches.
A theatrical trailer (which can be seen on Anchor Bay's "Three Stooges Greatest Hits and Rarities") or some production notes would have been nice, but other than that, this is a very nice package.
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