Kook's Tour

This was the last film made by The Three Stooges. The story line deals with the Stooges, long retired, going on a camping trip to relax after their long careers. My favorite scene is when Larry tries to catch the fish. Larry was always my favorite stooge which made it sad for me to watch knowing that he suffered a stroke during the filming. Knowing that, it's really hard to laugh at this. It's still a great film to watch and interesting to see the Stooges in color. Watch this, because there will never be anything like it again. A 10/10.

Watching Kook's Tour on DVD is not going to stretch the capabilities of your player. The colors are washed out, and the sound is terrible. In fact, it looks and plays just like an old pre-video home movie! This actually works to the film's benefit, as the footage of the aging Three Stooges meeting fans and messing about in their favorite boat isn't too far off the type of shenanegans captured in the Stooges' real-life home movies that are also included on the DVD release.

It's hard to tell whether Kook's Tour would have made it as a series if Larry hadn't had his stroke. It is funny in places, but as Moe himself says, by this point in the game they were simply too old to do the eye-poke routines anymore. Yet for once the trio aren't stuck on some studio backlot - they're actually on location! And if a second episode had been made, it seems it would have been filmed in Japan. Once the bugs were worked out, the Three Stooges could well have provided TV with an early comedy-travel-reality TV hybrid!

Still, even in its reedited form, Kook's Tour has a fun spirit about it, and even with the padding, it makes for an interesting hour of viewing. It isn't their funniest work by any means, and Larry's fate makes it difficult for some fans to watch, but it's worth checking out at least once.

The 3 Stooges are now living in retirement and are out to take it easy, even though some things do wrong, prompting Moe, always the boss to get mad. But hey, they are in retirement, so no more poking the eyes or any hair pulling.

What makes KOOK'S TOUR so maddening is that it isn't really very funny. Yet it is still an essential part of every Stooge fan's collection.

This film is, after all, the swan song of the 3 Stooges as a comedy act. The picture quality is poor because the only copy found of KOOK'S TOUR is an old 16 mm film and the color has deteriorated over time, as a grim reminder that this film is indeed something out of the distant past. It's even sadder yet when one realizes that Larry, during the filming, would suffer a stroke that would cripple him and ultimately result in his death in only 5 years.

At least one could smile at the thought that the 3 Stooges in KOOK'S TOUR are finally taking it easy and enjoying themselves in their final days as an act.

I bought a DVD called "The Three Stooges: All Time Favorites" that had "Kook's Tour" on it. I was very excited because I knew it was the Stooges' last film, although I did know that it wasn't very good. Not very good was an understatement: it's a mess. The Stooges look pretty tired and don't seem to be having much fun, and they don't do anything that made them famous. No eye pokes. No face slaps. No "Knuckleheads". Not even any witty verbal banter. This is sad.

I did not watch this with the expectation that Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe would be performing as The Stooges, so I wasn't so disappointed as some. In fact, although I would have liked more bumbling and funny situations, I wished that they had been LESS "Stooge" like, and showed even more warmth and camaraderie toward each other; I was GLAD that there was no hitting. (I do rather wish Moe and Larry had worn their usual hairstyles, since it made them look a little younger and funnier, but that's no big deal.)

In my opinion, Maurer did an excellent job of making a "complete" film out of the footage, in spite of Larry's incapacitation. Being a dog-lover, I was highly amused at Moose's "adventure", particularly in the water. With all three Stooges being front-and-center in the final shot, and Larry offering the last words, the movie seemed quite nicely finished, and with a good ending joke. If I'd watched the movie without reading about it ahead of time, I would not have guessed there was a problem.

If the cinematography had been truly excellent, Disney-like, I think it would have been quite a fine travelogue-hosted-by-the-Stooges (what a concept!). Or too bad it wasn't more of a Vincent Minnelli "Long, Long Trailer" kind of thing. But it wasn't. As it is, if you accept it as a sort of giant, well-made home movie, it comes off best for you.

It is indeed poignant to muse that this was IT, after which there would be no more 3 Stooges, but isn't it nice to think that they got to be all together to make one last film, and did so in America's most beautiful natural parklands. It is pleasant to think that Larry got to experience this while he could still ambulate and move about so well. They certainly seem to be happily running around out in the woods and boating through the lakes; falling down, getting wet, watching geysers and playing with the dog. We all should be so lucky to have such a great final outing amongst our best friends.