When Shemp Howard (above) died unexpectedly in 1955, Columbia forced the remaining stooges (Moe Howard and Larry Fine) to complete their then-current contract for four more films.
They considered becoming "The Two Stooges", but then figured it would be cheaper to use stock footage from earlier films, and a "Shemp" body double (Joe Palma) for new scenes. (They'd already been doing remakes using stock footage for years).
The results can be viewed here. (I watched these for years as a kid, and never suspected a thing!)
