By Ed Adamczyk
CNHI
NORTH TONAWANDA —
There are myriad end-of-summer traditions, and at North Tonawanda’s Riviera Theater it’s the 19th annual retrospective of the cinematic work of the Three Stooges.
“Stoogefest XIX”, with Roman numerals affixed to reflect the event’s significance and durability, will be conducted Saturday evening within the glamorous and beautifully restored movie house that likely showed these Columbia Pictures “short subjects” when they were fresh.
There is much more going on at this event than seven or so Stooge episodes strung together and tossed onto the theater’s wide screen. Impresario Len Potwora, in his trademark tuxedo, will offer trivia contests, door prizes, an en masse “act like a Stooge” moment and a variety of other diversions that make this night more like a tribal gathering of enthusiasts than a simple night for vintage movies.
It offers a night for camaraderie and for celebration. The Three Stooges made 190 short films from 1934 to 1958, all of which became TV programs (their length made them perfect for 30-minute time slots) and later videotape and DVD material. They have never gone away and have never gone out of style (and can currently be seen on cable’s AMC); hence it is not unusual to see four generations of a family showing up at the Riviera for this evening of entertainment and reminiscence.
Imagine 1,100 people of all ages laughing, essentially non-stop, for 2 1/2 hours at fast-moving pratfalls, low-grade violence and a simmering undercurrent of class warfare — as Curly Howard, Larry Fine and Moe Howard are hired as plumbers, psychiatrists, product pitchmen and other dubious career choices— and typically proceed to make bad situations worse.
Anyone who has ever made a dollar through comedy owes something to the Three Stooges, and their annual night at the Riviera is an homage, a tribute and an opportunity to wear Stooge regalia in the company of a wife or a date who otherwise would prefer not to be seen outdoors with you.
Not that Stoogefest is a guy thing.
“It used to be all men in attendance,” Potwora said. “But now it’s guys with their wives. It’s children. It’s grandchildren.”
Watching the knockabout vaudeville-style action of the Three Stooges coupled with the desperation of the Depression the films often depict and that grim, anything-to-make-a-buck ethos, has a salutary effect on theatergoers’ memories. Whatever the viewers’ age, he or she likely remembers being younger and first being exposed to this material.
Most in the audience are familiar with the Stooges’ entire oeuvre and tend to know what’s coming: who’s about to get slapped, who will accidentally get his foot nailed to the floor, who’ll recite the line about the Corona cigar — “It used to be a Corona- Corona, but I already smoked half of it”. However, Potwora points out that, at each show, “I ask how many people are here for the first time, and hundreds of hands go up. Last year, I met a lady 91 years old (who was) here for the first time.”
These films seem so far away in memory yet so familiar: Curly preparing a turkey and overloading it with one ingredient or another; Moe, in a dining room, inexplicably sitting on a bear trap; Larry, ordered by Moe to “be careful with that thing,” whatever it is, inadvertently stepping on it or setting it on fire.
They live in a world of cars with running boards and telephones with dials, but when one drops his nickel onto the floor of a wooden phone booth with a folding glass door and gets trapped, you empathize, even if you’ve never seen a phone booth.
Potwora is typically tightlipped about the episodes that will be screened Saturday, but points out they’re all “solid classics,” and one just might feature Shemp Howard, brother to Moe and Curly who filled in for several years (1946-1955) while Curly was incapacitated with a stroke.
“Shemp is always invited to the party,” he said.
Indeed, Stoogefest is a party. Everyone there will have something in common and will be exhausted from laughing by the end of the evening. Factor in that feeling of old Hollywood the Riviera offers, and it’s a night to savor — just like when you were young and watched these films with your kids and your friends.
IF YOU GO
• WHAT: “Stoogefest XIX”
• WHERE: Riviera Theater, 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda
• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28
• MORE INFORMATION: Call 692-2413 or visit rivieratheater.org
