Stoogemania
Encyclopedia
Stoogemania is a 1986 film about a fan of the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...

. It was directed by Chuck Workman
Chuck Workman
Chuck Workman is a documentary filmmaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. His 1986 film Precious Images won an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film; his work has also been nominated for Emmy Awards, Sundance Film Festival awards, and the Taos Talking Film Festival awards.Workman frequently...

, and starred Josh Mostel
Josh Mostel
Joshua "Josh" Mostel is an American actor who is best known for his roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and two Adam Sandler films .-Life and career:...

. The film experienced an extremely small theatrical release and was poorly received by critics. It has been out of print since the 1980s, and has been released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 and Beta
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...

. As of February 2007, it hasn't been made available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

.

Plot

The film centers on Howard F. Howard (Mostel), a casual Three Stooges fan. He's engaged to his girlfriend (Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff is an American actress. Among her most prominent roles are her voice role in Rugrats, her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980–1982, and on the early 1990s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose....

), and life seems to be going well. More recently, he's been starting to see the Stooges wherever he goes. To save his life and his relationship, he seeks the help of a renowned Stooge psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

 (portrayed by Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...

, one of the stars of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...

, which featured the Stooges in a cameo as firefighters). Unfortunately for him, this is a very serious epidemic which has apparently swept the nation. The doctor gives him medicine, which unfortunately are the wrong ones and are in fact sleeping pills. To his dismay, Howard still sees the Stooges everywhere. He ends up going to "Stooge Row", a seedy part of Los Angeles located between the fictional "Shet Up St." and "Nyuk Nyuk Blvd." To combat this, a sanitarium known as Stooge Hills is created. While in an all-Stooge burlesque house, members of Stooge Hills (including a young James Avery
James L. Avery, Sr.
James L. Avery, Sr. is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the patriarch and attorney Philip Banks in the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, whom Will Smith's character affectionately called "Uncle Phil." This character was ranked #34 in TV Guides "50 Greatest TV Dads of All...

) commit everyone in there to the sanitarium. Over a rigorous program, everyone is deemed cured. During the graduation ceremony, to prove that the Three Stooges are no longer funny, they play a few shorts. However, everyone comes to terms and realize "we love these guys". Howard gets married, and the film ends on a happy note.

History

Stoogemania was made in an attempt to cash in on the Three Stooges' sudden resurgence in popularity during the 1980s, thanks to syndication and Jump N the Saddle Band's The Curly Shuffle
The Curly Shuffle
"The Curly Shuffle" is a novelty song by the group Jump 'N the Saddle Band first released in late 1983, an homage to The Three Stooges film comedy team. Jump 'N the Saddle Band had one of the biggest novelty hits of the early 1980s with the song...

. The film was in no way endorsed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

 or the Three Stooges trademark holders. Only four shorts are shown throughout the film, all of which are in the public domain: Sing a Song of Six Pants
Sing a Song of Six Pants
Sing a Song of Six Pants is the 102nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.- Plot :...

, Malice in the Palace
Malice in the Palace
Malice in the Palace is the 117th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...

, Brideless Groom
Brideless Groom
Brideless Groom is the 101st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...

, and Disorder in the Court
Disorder in the Court
Disorder in the Court is the 15th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...

.

Further reading


External links

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