If you thought that The Three Stooges: Volume Three was funny, Volume Four will have you in hysterics! Mind you, you must be the kind of person that thinks that this sort of comedy is funny in the first place. But really, how could you not find exchanges like this amusing: The Three Stooges encounter a gorilla. At first they think it’s a man in a fur coat, until Curly yells:  “It’s real! A real chimminy-panzee!” He yells “Whoob whoob whoob whoob!” then runs in the other direction, knocking over the other two Stooges in his haste. I’ll take this over dreck like Flavor of Love or Brooke Knows Best any day of the week.

Though totally hysterical, this set contains both the best and the worst of the Stooges. “They Stooge To Conga” (1943) contains some too-politically-incorrect for TV impressions, including typical wartime depictions of the Japanese, caricatured here as buck-toothed, bespectacled monsters. The Germans fare no better, their evil scheming regularly foiled by our innocently idiotic trio. Moe resumes his ridiculous impression of Hitler, while Larry must be the ugliest cross-dresser ever filmed. Released during the last few years of World War II, the Stooges were infusing their act with their own brand of patriotism, often with these now-uncomfortable results.

This set contains 21 digitally remastered shorts, all in their original release order. Running 360 minutes, that’s six whole hours of Stooge-mania. If the Three Stooges were the Beatles, then this set would be their “Sgt. Pepper”. This set reflects Larry, Moe and Curly at their creative peak, and it shows. Though everything is really funny, remember that the set is peppered by those difficult portrayals of wartime enemies, so parents should probably watch the shorts before plopping down the youngins. When the coast is clear, let it rip: The Three Stooges: Volume Four is the greatest Stooges set ever released.