David Elliott interviewed in San Diego Magazine
July 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks
I’d like to say good evening, and how do you do, ladies and gentlemen. Kup’s world ends tonight with a bunch of bon mots from the lovely Ginette Vicot. (I’d like to point out that long before Jesse Jackson’s corresponding verse, this rhymin’ Hyman had such a funny meter to the roar of his repeater, if you catch my drift.)
It’s been pointed out to yours truly, that not unlike legendary prankster Red ” Aaron Chwatt” Buttons, my friend Donald, err, uhh, David, I should say, Elliott never got a dinner.
You can’t blame a guy for wanting to throw back a few farewell stingers with Burl Stiff and his fellow penman at the Tickled Trout. More than sedi…cough…sentiment and supper, I mean, Dave wanted a chance to bid farewell to his loyal readers who couldn’t wait to rip open the Night and Day section to peruse his latest cinematic missives.
I gotta’ tell you that David was always a good man when we worked together at the Chicago Sun-Times, and according to Essee a very capable wordsmith. I preferred schmoozing with the stars to watching their dreck pictures where I frequently caught some shuteye. If only Elliott had written more about Bears great Sid Luckman, because I never was big on movie reviews. Besides, who am I to critique someone else’s writing? Truth be told, Essee writes most of this crap…Anyway, I’d like to go on record as personally thanking Dave for never letting it be known that I once let loose a trouser fillip in his presence while ascending the Chicago Theatre in their cramped elevator. Yes sir, two rode together and one blew! Heh! Heh!
Since I already ran a photo of Dave and his lovely daughter Samantha, I found it only fitting to publish a shot of his son Tarvis. That Elliott is one loyal foot soldier. I don’t care how much Marshall Field paid me, you’ wouldn’t catch me dead wearing a chazarai Sun-Times t-shirt. Only Manny’s in Elmhurst for this reporter!
Now Ivan Bunny, there’s one for movies! I tell ya’ he sees everything. He was the one that saw Meet Dave. You know, just recently, Bunny’s bald spot finally filled in. I’ll never forget the day he performed a self-inflicted Larry Fine in my office. It was right after he read where Elliott proclaimed The Road to Perdition “the greatest gangster film since The Godfather.” Now I going to stick up for the man because for this reporter’s money Perdition far outclassed Marty Scorceske’s Goodfellows or Casino. I think it was even better than Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot and Feds. (By the way, Mary Gross is a Chicago gal, I might add.)
Continue reading David Elliott interviewed in San Diego Magazine
Tags: Burl Stiff, Chicago, Chicago Sun-Times, David Elliott, David Elliott Interview, Film Critic, Ginette Vicot, Irv Kupcinet, Jesse Jackson, Kup, Kups Column, Kups World, Larry Fine, Red Buttons, San Diego, San Diego Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune, Sid LuckmanFiled Under Interviews, News
New Photos added: Jerry Lewis, TAXI DRIVER, Betty Boop, Jean Arthur, The 3 Stooges and more!
April 5th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Is nothing sacred?
For the past month, Emulsion Compulsion’s burgeoning Image Vault underwent some minor tweaking to smooth a few kinks in the system. Now it’s back up to speed and better than ever with over 10,000 photos for your entertainment pleasure!
Every weekend, I will post a list of all the pictures added to the Image Gallery during the previous week. It’s a bountiful harvest this week. Enjoy!
- Jean Arthur - 16 Photos
- Cartoon All-Stars - 15 Photos (Betty Boop, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Felix the Cat, etc.)
- Vera Ellen for Bur-Mil’s Cameo Stockings
- Signed 1963 LIFE Magazine ad featuring Irv Kupcinet for Meister Brau Beer
- The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon- 6 Photos
- Jerry Lewis - 56 Photos
- Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
- Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor (1963) - 8 Lobby Cards and 4 Ads
- Raging Bull - 29 Photos
- See the Movie, Read the Book - 4 Vintage Paperbacks (Pal Joey, Charlie Chaplin, The Hustler and The Blues Brothers)
- Travis Bickle goes to the movies in Taxi Driver
- The 3 Stooges - 19 Photos from Larry Fine’s autobiography Stroke of Luck
Filed Under News
The Three Stooges: A study guide to “Pop Goes the Easel”
March 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Pop Goes the Easel marked the seventh of almost 200 two-reelers the boys made for Columbia pictures. Produced with minuscule budgets and equally tight shooting schedules it’s a miracle they were able to salvage enough footage to adhere to a movie screen for 17 minutes.
It’s always been my contention that The Three Stooges function best as a vacation from brainwork for hardcore cinephiles. Budding auteurs will learn more from studying the Three Stooges than they would from all the world’s film schools combined as these shorts are textbook examples of everything a filmmaker shouldn’t do.
This short has been with me since birth. I’ve seen it more times than I did my maternal grandparents. While it’s not the funniest Stooge opus, it is easily one of the most inept.
Sadly, the copy on You Tube was not taken from the remastered DVD so a couple of the finer aesthetic points will be lost in the translation. It’s also been sliced into three parts, so you’ll have to watch it on the installment plan.
00:59 Continuity: Larry stands next to the car holding his placard and in the next shot he’s leaning on the passenger door.
01:23 Enjoy Curly’s flood pants.
02:40 There was never time for re-takes on a Stooge short. The force of the sign connecting with Moe must have loosened his clip-on tie. As he whistles for Larry and Curly, watch as his tie proceeds to fall loose into his jacket.
03:53 Continuity: In one shot the boys play hopscotch on a residential street and in the next they’re running down a commercial boulevard.
04:26 It sure takes the cop a long time to open that door.
05:40 Bookmark Curly’s dubbed in reaction sound when Moe gouges his eyes. This “inner dialogue” will come into play shortly.
05:55 Forget about the foreground action. The real laughs come from Curly’s background continuity.
06:35 Enjoy the way Moe steps into his brutal slap to Larry’s face.
01:11 Much has been made in Stooge circles of Moe and Curly’s “look at the grouse” exchange. I tolerate it while awaiting Larry’s hilarious squeal as he steps through the window.
01:25 Is there anything funnier than a fermished Larry?
02:10 Either that dumb flatfoot can’t figure out how to open a door or editor James Sweeney needs tightening lessons.
02:27 When left to his own resources, Moe’s dialog can be painfully unfunny. It’s worth wading through to get to Yiddish Swami Larry and a deaf and dumb Curly.
03:23 A prime example of the pay off justifying the set-up. Ballerina Phyllis Crane’s upside-down “It’s a boat” revelation is basically an excuse for Curly to let fly another “grouse.” This unexpected cutaway of Crane still balanced on her noggin is the closest the Stooges ever came to surrealism.
03:27 No time to re-take Moe’s flubbed line.
04:04 Love it any time Larry is punished for being enthusiastic.
No pain, no gain
04:40 Is Moe poking Curly in the eyes or giving him devil horns from the front? Moe generally tried to pull his punches, but this is ridiculous!
04:48 Pay attention to the painting of the woman hanging above Moe. The art director obviously didn’t because when the boys run onto the next set the exact same portrait graces the wall.
04:51 Literally painted in a corner, the boys stand perplexed in front of a picture-covered wall. As soon as the cop comes snooping, the student’s artwork is inexplicably replaced by a black door.
05:02 So much ineptitude in so little time! In addition to the magic painting and black door, note that the Stooges exit a freshly painted floor and leave no footprints as they enter the next scene.
05:40 Watch the set shake after Curly shoves the cop.
05:59 “My sister Crumbette…”
06:26 Remember the dubbed in Curly reaction I asked you to remember in Part 1? Here’s your repeat reward!
00:05 Another stunningly obvious dubbed in Curly reaction sound.
00:09 & 01:05 The remarkable Larry-ism, “I”ll show you guys a pitcher what is a pitcher.”
00:36 & 02:03 Pop goes the same shot twice!
01:30 What Larry does best: absorbing Moe’s abuse just seconds after giggling over pain inflicted upon fellow Stooge Curly (or Shemp).
02:09 It is imperative that any Stooge shoot has a bust perched on a high shelf that’s waiting to fall on the enemy’s head.
02:12 For me, Jack Duffy’s questioning cameo still draws the short’s biggest laugh.
02:15 Another rule of Stoogedom: Toupees will be launched off bald heads by either hunks of clay or a pie.
02:29 Stooge math: White clay + Black Dress + Woman’s Chest = Big Laffs!
02:40 Second biggest laugh: Professor Fuller mistaking pounding clay for someone at the door.
03:05 More Stooge math: White clay + Black Dress + Deaf woman’s rump = Bigger Laffs!
Videos: Part One, Part Two, Part Three
Photos: The Three Stooges
Vote for a Stooge on Super Tuesday!
February 5th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Listen you knuckleheads, since there’s been a lamebrain in office for the past 8 years why not keep the momentum going by replacing Bush with a real Stooge? Forget about impeachment as a form of punishment. If Larry acts out of turn by sending thousands more American soldiers to be slaughtered, just slap him a few times, poke him in the eyes and pull out a swatch of hair.
Even though Laura, Hillary and Condi pose a triple threat, they have nothing on Stooge women like Aggie, Maggie and Baggie that would frequent the White House. Larry has a thick pubic mound atop his head (unlike Obama) and gosh only knows how much better the Stooge in the middle would look in a pants suit than Hillary. And when was the last time either Barack or Hillary serenaded you with a violin solo? Send Larry to Iraq, have him play a few bars of Pop Goes the Easel for our boys and watch the bodies pile up.
I’m warning you, our country is in trouble and we need a Stooge to guide us. I don’t know about you, but I am voting the straight Stooge ticket, which I guess leaves Joe “Not So Hard” Besser out.
Tags: Election, Larry Fine, President, Presidental Election, Super Tuesday, The 3 Stooges, The Three Stooges, VotingFiled Under Rants
The Larry Fine Hair Club for Stooges®
September 26th, 2007 by Scott Marks
Hey, you knuckleheads! If you’re tired of looking like a hunk of broadloom landed on your head try the Larry Fine Hair Club for Stooges®.
It’s so easy to maintain. Wash your hair semi-annually (just like Larry), toss lightly and you’re all set to have friends, loved ones or Moe yank it out at the roots.
I’m warning you, accept no imitations!
Tags: Larry Fine, The Three StoogesFiled Under Image Blog, Rants
Scent of a Stooge
May 30th, 2007 by Scott Marks
GIVE YOUR PERSONAL SPACE THAT UNMISTAKABLE STENCH OF STOOGE!
In StockItem Number: OU812
Price: $4.49 QTY: 41144
Why you! One whiff of this and you’ll think of Curly at a chili festival or Shemp waking up in a pool of his own waste. P. U.! Make you car, boat, bathroom, office, Clay Department, Nazy bomber, suite at the Hotel Costa Plente, mikpah, or home smell like a 4-foot yiddeshe-kup with filthy frizz who probably hasn’t bathed in a week. I’m warning you, stock up before these scram off the shelves.
Tags: Larry Fine, The 3 Stooges, The Three StoogesFiled Under Rants
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