"Stooges Among Us" - Book Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis: In this paparazzi-inundated world, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when genuine movie stars were accessible to ordinary members of the public. That was certainly the case in the 1970s with surviving members of the Three Stooges comedy team. Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly-Joe DeRita and Joe Besser routinely corresponded with their young admirers, invited them into their homes, and forged genuine friendships.

 

"Stooges Among Us" by Lon and Debra Davis is a record of these unique relationships told in the words of the fans themselves.

 

Also sharing their insights are Stooges' family members, colleagues and close personal friends. Leonard Maltin, the renowned film critic and historian, provides the foreword to this often candid, always affectionate tribute.

 

"Stooges Among Us" is a kind of back-stage pass to vaudeville theatres, movie sets, television studios and even a high school auditorium which featured performances by "The Boys." You will be there for touching, personal moments, as well as hilarious antics in which life mirrors the on-screen Stooge personas.

 

Critique: Featuring never-before published photographs and interviews with the Stooges, "Stooges Among Us" is impressively informative and essential reading for their legions of fans, as well as a core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Cinematic History & Biography collection and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Stooges Among Us" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

 

Editorial Note: Lon & Debra Davis have been collaborating on writing projects since they first met in college in 1978. Their first major endeavor was penning King of the Movies, the authorized biography of silent screen legend Francis X. Bushman, which was published to critical acclaim in 2009. Their other book collaborations include Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era (2008), Stooges Among Us (2008), CHASE! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops (2020), and Ma and Pa Kettle on Film (2021). In 2021, their documentary film This is Francis X. Bushman was released on Blu-ray by Flicker Alley.