The Three Stooges (2012 film)

The Three Stooges, also known as The Three Stooges: The Movie, is a 2012 American slapstick comedy film based on the film shorts of the mid-20th century comedy trio of the same name. The movie was produced, written and directed by the Farrelly brothers and co-written by Mike Cerrone, and stars Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes, and Will Sasso, re-creating the eponymous characters played by Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard. The film's story places the Stooges in a modern setting.

After over a decade of casting problems, principal photography took place from May to July 2011. The film was released on April 13, 2012.

Plot

The film is composed of three acts, which are referred to as episodes (a reference to how the original Three Stooges short films were packaged for television by Columbia Pictures).

Act / Episode 1: More Orphan Than Not

In 1977, the children at the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage are playing soccer with an old soda can in the front yard. But then, Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David), the meanest nun in the orphanage gets their attention by telling them to go inside and do their work. The kids sing "Everybody is Special", but she tells the kids to stop and go to work. Later, Moe, Larry and Curly are dumped on the doorstep of the orphanage as babies. Ever since, the trio have wreaked havoc in the place, leaving the nuns who run it utterly terrified, especially Sister Mary-Mengele who has always hated the trio. Ten years later, in 1987, out of desperation, when a prospective couple comes to adopt, the exasperated nuns bring out the trio as being the only three available, eventually adding a fourth when another boy, Teddy, enters the picture. The couple, the Harters (Stephen Collins and Carly Craig), decides to pick Moe, but when he requests Larry and Curly to join him, he is dropped back off at the orphanage, and they choose Teddy instead.

The Three Stooges

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the mid–20th century, best known for their numerous Columbia short subject films that are still syndicated on television. Their hallmark was physical farce and slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names of "Moe, Larry, and Curly", or as "Moe, Larry, and Shemp" (among other lineups, depending on the particular film). There were six active stooges, five of whom performed in the shorts. Moe and Larry were always present, until the final years of the ensemble's run of more than forty years.

The act began as part of a mid-1920s vaudeville comedy act, billed as Ted Healy and his Stooges, consisting of Healy, Moe Howard, his brother Shemp Howard, and Larry Fine. The four made one feature film, Soup to Nuts, before Shemp left to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by his younger brother, Jerome (Curly Howard), in 1932. Two years later, the trio left Healy and signed on to appear in their own short subjects for Columbia, now billed as "The Three Stooges".

The Three Stooges (video game)

The Three Stooges is a video game originally released by Cinemaware in 1987 for the Commodore Amiga personal computer, based on the comedy act of the same name. In the game, players control Stooges Moe, Larry and Curly in minigames based on classic Stooges films with the aim of raising enough money to save an orphanage. The game was later ported for different systems including the Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, NES and Game Boy Advance. A remake of the game was also released for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh. While the game has been praised as a faithful adaptation of the Stooges films, it has been criticized for repetitive gameplay and limited replay value.

Gameplay

Game designer John Cutter designed the game as a kind of board game. The Three Stooges must rescue an old woman's orphanage by earning money in various minigames based on various Three Stooges films. These include cracker-eating contests (based on the Stooges short Dutiful But Dumb) and boxing contests (based on the short Punch Drunks). Players select minigames by timing a button press as a hand randomly points to various symbols representing in-game events, including non-interactive events that can increase the Stooges' cash total. Each event takes up one in-game day - players have thirty in-game days to earn as much money as they can.

The Three Stooges (arcade game)

The Three Stooges, fully titled as The Three Stooges in Brides is Brides on the title screen, is a 1984 arcade game by Mylstar Electronics. It is based on the comedy act of the same name.

Gameplay

The game features digital voice samples. At the start of the game, up to three players control Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard. Players must help the Three Stooges find their fiancees, Cora, Nora and Dora, who were kidnapped by the Mad Scientist. In all rooms, players must find the three hidden keys that unlock the exit. Interfering socialites and cops are dealt within typical Stooges-style: face slaps, hammer hits, and the ever-dependable cream pie throws. In the bonus rounds, players must avoid the sour notes of the opera singer, as well as cops, while collecting the three keys to the exit. In the Mad Scientist's laboratory, the players will be able to save only one fiancee, before players must find the other two fiancees. After all fiancees are saved, the game starts over.