The Three Stooges: A Guide to Their Public Domain Shorts
How Moe, Larry, and Curly's slapstick became one of comedy's most-watched libraries
The Three Stooges — Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and rotating third Stooges (Curly Howard, Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, Joe DeRita) — produced one of the largest, most-watched comedy libraries in Hollywood history. Between 1934 and 1959, they made 190 short subjects for Columbia Pictures, plus several features. A meaningful slice of those shorts is now in the public domain.
Why so many are free
Columbia Pictures, like most studios, had to renew copyrights at the 28-year mark to maintain rights. By the late 1960s, with the Stooges still touring and their shorts running on television, Columbia let several copyrights lapse — they were considered low-value, ephemeral product. The public-domain shorts include some of the team's best work.
The essential public-domain shorts
Disorder in the Court (1936) — Curly-era, in front of a courtroom. One of the team's most quoted entries, with the legendary "swearing in" scene where Curly is asked to put his hand on the Bible.
Malice in the Palace (1949) — Shemp-era, set in a fictional Middle Eastern restaurant. The team chase a diamond, and the production design is more lavish than the typical Stooges short.
Brideless Groom (1947) — Shemp-era. Shemp must marry within hours to claim an inheritance, and the bachelor-party riot that follows is the team at peak chaos.
Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947) — Shemp-era. The Stooges run a tailor shop and accidentally tangle with bank robbers. Beautifully paced, with one of Larry's best physical-comedy showcases.
Punch Drunks (1934) — One of the team's earliest shorts and the only one for which all three Stooges share a story credit. Moe trains Curly into a boxer who fights to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel."
Which era is which
The Stooges had four phases:
Curly era (1934–1946) — Considered the team's creative peak. Curly's improvisations and physical timing made these shorts more popular than the others. He suffered a debilitating stroke in 1946 and never recovered.
Shemp era (1947–1955) — Curly's older brother Shemp Howard had been in the team's original vaudeville act and stepped in after Curly's stroke. The Shemp era is underrated; many fans now prefer it.
Joe Besser era (1956–1957) — The shortest and weakest phase. Besser's softer comic persona didn't blend well with Moe's harshness.
Joe DeRita era (1958–1970s) — Mostly features and television appearances after the Columbia shorts contract ended.
How to watch
The public-domain shorts have circulated in countless DVD compilations and now stream freely on platforms across the internet. Print quality varies wildly — some prints are pristine restorations from original 35mm elements, others are blurry dupes from VHS-era TV broadcasts. When watching free Stooges content, source matters.
Our archive collects the strongest available prints of the public-domain entries, organized by era so you can sample each lineup. If you've never watched a Stooges short, start with Disorder in the Court — it's representative of their peak Curly-era style and runs only 17 minutes.
