Soup to Nuts

I grew up watching The Three Stooges, and I'll always love them. Most fans know of their comedy shorts, usually running about 15-20 minutes, but their movie careers? Not nearly as well known. Their later movies with Curley Joe DeRita are readily available, even popping up on TV occasionally, but the same can't be said for their early entries prior to their Columbia shorts. Their feature debut? A 1930 comedy called Soup to Nuts.

Working at a costume shop, Ted (Ted Healy) isn't much of a worker, instead hanging out with three of his friends (The Three Stooges) as they work at a local firehouse. That costume shop is in trouble though, the owners sending in a new young businessman, Carlson (Stanley Smith), to clean things up and get the business back on track. Wouldn't you know it though? Carlson falls madly in love with the older owner's daughter, Louise (Lucile Browne), and we've got an issue. At the same time, Ted is trying to appease his whiny girlfriend, Queenie (Frances McCoy), who seems to be interested in him because he can pay for an occasional dinner. Whatever will all these crazy folks do? Can everything be fixed?!?

Does anything jump out from that plot description? One, it doesn't sound very funny. Two, the Stooges aren't in it much. From director Benjamin Stoloff, this 1930 comedy clocks in at a slim 70 minutes and for lack of a better description, is light on actual laughs. This is still very early in the sound era, and it shows. Studios and writers were still figuring out how to transition stage and theatrical work to feature films, what worked and didn't work. The end result is an odd middle ground that's neither theater or film. The humor is broad and not so funny, and the story drifts from one uninteresting subplot to another. Win-win, huh?

I watched this one because of the Three Stooges in their feature debut. For several years before they really took off, the Stooges worked with Ted Healy, the trio acting as sidekicks to the better known comedian. Thankfully by 1934, their contract ended with Healy, and they were able to branch out on their own. They never looked back, becoming an integral, iconic part of American pop culture. Forty-plus years since they released anything -- shorts, films, TV cartoons -- and they're still an instantly recognizable group. Another fact that gets lost in the shuffle at times? The original Stooges were Moe Howard, Larry Fine and.....Shemp Howard, not Curly. Shemp eventually went solo, Curly replacing him in the act, in the process becoming the most popular of all the Stooges. So at this early point in their career, it was the Howard brothers, Moe and Shemp, working with Larry so don't be too surprised if you check this one out.

Take the Stooges out of this movie, and you've got one of thousands of movies that have generally been forgotten by Hollywood, studios and fans over the years. With them? Because they're underused and/or ignored, it's barely watchable. I was fast-forwarding like crazy when they weren't on-screen. The potential is there for the trio though. When they're on-screen, it's fun to watch from the fast-paced dialogue, the physical humor as the trio slaps and hits each other into oblivion. It's all there. A highlight late in the movie has them doing their routine with Ted Healy in front of an audience, the quartet showing they were good together. Too bad there wasn't more of the Stooges. There's also an odd fourth Stooge (played by Fred Sanborn), a mute, bow-legged fireman with some incredibly bushy eyebrows. So about that....yeah, they made the right decision sticking with three rather than four.

Let's keep this short. Do you like The Three Stooges? Give this one a shot with very modest to low expectations. This is not the way to introduce yourself to the comedy legends. If you're looking to do that, check out some of their early Columbia shorts. I've got a feeling if this is your first introduction, it's probably going to be your last. Besides, they're only on-screen for about 15-20 minutes.

Soup to Nuts (1930): */****

The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze

Between the years 1934 and 1959, The Three Stooges were one of the most prolific comedy teams working in Hollywood.  Over that 25-year span, the trio (with five overall Stooges) made 220 shorts for which they are most famous for.  Even now in 2011, they still are popular among audiences and are shown in syndication while also boasting impressive DVD sales.  Eventually though, the demand for shorts ran out, and the Stooges turned to film like so many other actors and comedic teams.

With their shorts running in syndication on television starting in 1959, the Stooges saw a boost in their popularity as a whole new generation was introduced to the comedy team. Between 1959 and 1965, they made six feature films and appeared in cameo parts in several other movies, most notably 4 For Texas and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  As someone who grew up watching the Stooge shorts, the movies were never as good, but it is still The Three Stooges. So when I saw 1963's The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze pop up on TCM's schedule, I had to give it a watch if nothing else.

The great-great grandson of the famous Phileas Fogg who traveled around the world in 80 days, young Londoner Phileas Fogg III (Jay Sheffield) is unknowingly conned into trying to repeat the feat. Two crooks and con men, Vickers Cavendish (Peter Forster) and Lory Filch (Walter Burke) plan on robbing a bank and using Fogg as a dupe. Fogg agrees on the bet and prepares for his around the world journey. His three American servants, Moe (Moe Howard), Larry (Larry Fine) and Curley Joe (Joe DeRita), plan on traveling with him, helping whenever and wherever they can. The con hasn't worked though because Fogg has caught the attention of Scotland Yard. Now instead of just focusing on traveling, Fogg and the boys now have to worry about Cavendish and Filch too coming after them to shut them up.

After years of watching the Columbia shorts the Stooges made, it still feels odd watching feature-length films. You're so used to watching 15-20 minute shorts that I always wonder how long they'll be able to keep the momentum up.  As I mentioned before though, it is still The Three Stooges, and if you are a fan of them, you're going to get some enjoyment out of a movie no matter how long it is.  If anything, it can be fun to see them out of their element in such a different venue. Traveling with Fogg, they start in London and visit Istanbul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hawaii, San Francisco, Ottawa and finally back to London. Part of the fun is just seeing these screw-ups traveling along, finding new ways of getting into trouble along the way. It's the Three Stooges for goodness sake!

By 1963, comedian Joe DeRita was filling out the ranks of the trio after Joe Besser left the group. DeRita starred in all six of the Stooges movies.  There isn't the same energy there was with Curly or Shemp, but DeRita is a capable fill-in for the group. If nothing else, he isn't Besser, the hated and even despised temporary replacement after Shemp's death.  With Moe and Larry still around though, you don't notice it much. All the physical and slapstick humor that made them famous is back although Moe does have a great line about their infamous eye-gouging, stating "We don't do that anymore" because young impressionable TV audiences didn't need to see that.  Short or feature, it's always good to see the Stooges doing their routines no matter which three is around.

Fans of the Stooges will appreciate several recycled bits from previous Columbia shorts here in 'Daze.' The most famous is probably the 'Maja?...Aha...Raja' routine made famous by the 1946 short Three Little Pirates with Moe playing the same part and Curley Joe taking over Curly's part of the act. Watch the original bit HERE. Another bit -- this time from the classic 1934 short Punch Drunks -- has Larry playing Pop Goes the Weasel, sending Curley Joe into a fit that no one can stop.  One of my favorites that was used in several shorts has a fight going on in a darkened room. Someone always manages to turn on a light or light a match just in time for someone to get whacked over the head.  The pay-offs aren't as good here -- no 'Here I am, Moe!' -- but the routine works no matter how you figure it.

This is the longest of the six Stooge movies at 94 minutes, but the pacing is never slowed down. Sheffield is a suitable tag-along as the younger Fogg, a necessary part of the story who is required to not get in the way and provide some lines that move the story along. He falls for American tourist Amelia (Joan Freeman) and not surprisingly falls in love. In the meantime, the Stooges fight sumo wrestlers, escape a Turkish prison (you read that right), stowaway on an ocean liner, hide out in a closely packed train, and in general, are up to their old shenanigans. Is it as good as the classic Columbia shorts? No, but it's still an enjoyable ride.

The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze <---TCM trailer (1963): ***/****