Description:

Moe Howard
n.p., ca. 1975
Moe Howard Lengthy ALS re: The Last Three Stooges Film, Plus Bonus Press Photo
ALS
A lengthy letter from Moe Howard to friend and lifelong Three Stooges fan John Ewaniuk. 4pp on personal stationary, measuring 6" x 8.75", n.p., ca. 1975. Accompanied by a press photo depicting Shemp and Moe with actor Stanley Blystone (1894-1956) in a still from their 1947 short "Out West". Featuring Columbia Pictures backstamp and caption on verso, with docketing present in pencil. Exhibits varying degrees of surface creasing, uneven toning, and tearing throughout. Good to fair overall with fantastic contents!

Within, Moe discusses shorts made by Larry, Curly, and Shemp, as well as performances they did with other famous comedians. He also notably references the Stooges' last film "Kook's Tour", which had yet to be released at the time of writing. Reading in part:

"Larry & Curly Joe never do any answering as much but they do read it all. I regret to inform you that Larry had a stroke a short time ago, he is improving slowly and is at the Motion Picture Country House in Calabasas, Calf. I will attempt to answer what questions I can that you have asked. First of all Curly Joe's address is Curly Joe DeRita, 10611 Moorpark Street, North Hollywood, Calif. And by the way Larry's last name is Fine and don't let the boys know that I gave you their address.…

My brother Curly made 104 of the comedies, Shemp, my older brother made 84 and Joe Besser made 16. Before Shemp rejoined us he was under contract to Universal Pictures and made many independent films with the Dead End Kids and others…

Our contract at Columbia Studio only permitted us one picture in an outside studio and we selected it because it was in color and I liked it. We didn't work in any films with any of the stars you mention, but we did appear in Vaudeville with Burns and Allen, Ritz Brothers & the Marx Brothers… and did a T.V. special years ago with Frank Sinatra….

We did finish a one hour comedy travelogue before Larry got sick, it was called 'Kook's Tour' and will most likely be out on T.V. some time next spring."

On January 9, 1970, in the midst of filming "Kook's Tour", Larry Fine would suffer a debilitating stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body, marking the end of his performance career. The production was originally set to be the pilot for a new television series, but Fine's health had put a stop to the project. It was not until several years later that its director, Norman Maurer, assumed the responsibility of condensing the salvageable material into a 52-minute film, distributed in 1975. Indeed, based on the details Moe writes of, it can be surmised that the letter was likely written the same year. Similar to his co-star Curly, Fine suffered a number of additional strokes before his death on January 24, 1975 at the age of 72. Moe would die just four months later in May of that year.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 6" x 8.75"
  • Medium: ALS

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