Kook's Tour

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 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.

This was it, the last Three Stooges film ever made. It came decades after their heyday in almost 200 Columbia shorts in the 30s and 40s, and just a few years after those shorts being rerun on television lead to a brief revival that had the Stooges staring in several feature length films. It's an essential film for Stooge fans. Unfortunately, it's not very entertaining on its own.

'Kook's Tour' follows Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe as they retire and take their RV and boat to visit the great national parks of the American Northwest. This consists mostly of Moe narrating over footage of the gorgeous natural scenery, some comedy bits where the three attempt to be outdoorsmen, and lots of scenes of them fishing.

The most obvious knock against the movie is the washed out picture quality. The footage was basically shot as a glorified home movie intended to be a pilot for a television series that would follow the same pattern, and was virtually lost and not taken care of for decades. Even by 70s film quality, the picture is hard to watch.

Beyond that, it's just not funny. The Stooges are too old by this point for their trademark physical comedy. Even the comedic dialog falls flat more often than not. There are a few bits that warrant a nostalgic chuckle, but not enough to make up for the rest of it. This is a real shame, since they missed a great opportunity to just have the old stars reminiscing about the old times amongst each other or possibly fans they encounter.

Plans for a show were cancelled when a stroke forced Larry Fine to fully retire before production was complete. Both Moe Howard and Joe DeRita would attempt Three Stooges revivals in the next few years, but none would come to fruition. Moe made some TV appearances but died in 1975, just four months after Larry. Joe DeRita retired from show business due to failing health the same year. With Moe's brothers' Curley and Shemp both long gone by then, that was the end of the Three Stooges.

It's sad to see the end of a legendary career, especially when their last effort proved unremarkable. Stooge fans should definitely seek this out. The casual viewer is unlikely to find anything of value in it, though. If you want a taste of the Stooges, find their shots from the 30s and 40s, and don't bother with 'Kook's Tour.'

This movie would be appreciated by Stooge fans only. The movie starts out by showing some clips of some Stooge movies, all with Curly Jo. We then see the Stooges, in full color talking about their careers and now that they are retired, they will take a vacation and enjoy the places that they have been to but couldn't enjoy because of having to perform. I have to hand it to the camera crew. There are some beautiful landscape shots that are an enjoyment to me. The Stooges travel to some state parks and fish with their dog "Moose". Larry cannot catch a fish and they are poking fun at him because of this. The Stooges use some old lines and there are just a few times that they get hit but that is more for nostalgia than any thing. I think that the funniest part of the movie is when Larry dresses up in a camouflage outfit in order to get a picture of a deer. They loose their dog so they go out to try to find him and no one can see Larry because he blends in with the scenery. Larry never does catch a fish and because of that, Larry speaks his final words on film; "I quit". Larry suffered a stroke during the filming and was unable to finish the project so Norman Maurer had to piece together this hour long film using his own hands to dub for Larry. I gave it a 9 because this film is of great value to us die hard Stooge Fans