Soup to Nuts

Probably the only reason anyone watches this today is to see the first film appearance of The Three Stooges; and any viewer looking for Stoogic brilliance will necessarily be disappointed. But taken on its own terms, there's a good deal to appreciate in this bizarre little number. The attempt to translate Rube Goldberg's comics to a cinematic format results in some hilarious moments. There are also some big laughs from a comedian named Freddy Sanborne, who ludicrously overplays his role as a gay slapstick fireman (this movie was made prior to the Hayes Code, when the character's obvious homosexuality was permissible comedy fodder). The Stooges themselves are disappointing. Their number included Shemp at this time (this was PRE-Curly), and Larry gets more dialog than Moe. They generate a few nyuks, but if you're after great Stooge viewing, you've come to the wrong place. I give this one 6 stars out of 10.

"Soup To Nuts" marks the debut of the legendary comedy team the Three Stooges. Here, the Stooges are comprised of Larry, Moe, and Shemp. Along for the ride is a fourth comic, a gentleman named Fred Sanborn, who's silent character is reminiscent of Harpo Marx. It suggests some Marxian thought may have gone into this, though I have no proof of this.

The plot is a bit of nonsense involving a costume shop that is swimming in red ink, and how Ted & the Stooges will save it. The Stooges are nominal firemen, while Healy works at the store. Everyone else, save for actor Charles Winniger, have been lost to time. Considering the year this is being done (1930), they're not too, too bad. Still, if you're looking for "Citizen Kane"-style performances, you've come to the wrong place.

Allow me to say something about Ted Healy. Most people have the impression that Healy was some kind of monster figure who the Stooges had to break free of. Yet something is wrong here. On one hand, the Stooges never spoke negatively of Healy after his passing, and they all worked in Hollywood for 40 more years. In addition, one can see little spots in their work with Healy that indicate some of the Stooges later routines were already in use during their Healy days. This seems to indicate that Healy had some sort of talent for at least devising comic material, if not for delivering it. This film may do little to redeem him as a comic, though you may see it different. However, if you are to believe some of the plaudits handed down to the man by others, then it is clear that we may be missing something regarding this man.

Hope you enjoy the film!

"Soup to Nuts" is far from a brilliant comedy and I only scored it a mediocre 6. So why do I STILL recommend you see it? Well, it's because it is important historically, as it's the first Three Stooges film...of sorts. I say 'of sorts' because it's not exactly the Stooges you might expect. While many will remember Curly as one of the original Stooges, this really isn't the case. His older brother, Shemp, was originally one of the Four Stooges. Four? Well, I'll get to that in a second. As for Curly, he replaced Shemp as Shemp had film offers on his own and only returned to the Stooges after Curly had a stroke in 1946. Now about the four....for a brief time, Fred Sanborn played a mute Stooge...sort of like a Harpo Marx character. But after making "From Soup to Nuts" he, like Shemp, went out on his own...in this case to pursue his musical career. Additionally, through their stage act to about 1933, the Stooges were billed as Ted Healy and His Stooges. After completing this film for Fox, the group went to MGM, briefly, and Moe, Larry and Curly soon left to go to Columbia and their careers took off. As for Healy, he stayed with MGM and was beaten to death outside a nightclub only a few years later.

So, if you want to see the earliest incarnation of the Stooges on film, "Soup to Nuts" is it....though the style sure isn't what you'd expect from the boys. Ted Healy is THE act and Moe, Larry and Shemp really have little to do and Moe isn't the boss...so they all slap each other or get slapped by Healy. As for Sanborn, despite soon leaving the group, he received much more screen time than Moe, Larry and Shemp...much more. He was occasionally funny.

The plot seems only ancillary to all the weirdness and high energy. Otto owns a costume shop and it's a financial mess...so much so that the company is being taken over by creditors. The man's daughter is angry and hates the man who has come to run things....though he's actually a nice guy and helps the family tremendously...though it took the entire film for her to realize it. In the interim, there's a lot of silliness, some Rube Goldberg style inventions and a bit of music. All in all, reasonably pleasant but a bit incoherent when it comes to plot.

By the way, if you do watch, note a couple other actors in the film. In the restaurant scene, note the rotund guy. He's Mack Swain, the foil for Chaplin in many of his films, including "The Gold Rush". Also, the 'baby' doing summersaults is actually 6 year-old Billy Barty.

What we appear to have here are some vaudeville comedians trying to bring their acts to the screen assisted by a story from comic strip artist Rube Goldberg. It doesn't seem likely that any of them knew much about making movies no matter how good they may have been at making people laugh in their normal venues. The result is a mostly haphazard collection of lame gags with a few totally inane scenes thrown in for "plot" development. It isn't a total loss, however, because this fundamental weakness turns out also to be the film's greatest strength. Not knowing what they were doing, they manage to create a movie with a truly unusual and unique approach to film comedy. No matter how bad it may be, there are a few moments of hilarity delivered in a style you'll not see anywhere else.

What really makes this worthwhile for most viewers, however, is it being the film debut of the 3 Stooges. Their skit near the end of the movie is basically a filmed vaudeville routine and is quite a bit different from the familiar act they eventually developed for their later shorts, but it's probably the closest we'll ever come to seeing what they originally looked like when performing on stage (and our only chance to see bizarre "fourth stooge" Fred Sanborn). No 3 Stooges fan should ever consider passing up the opportunity to see this.

Let me also say that many of the other reviews here seem very unfair to Ted Healy, the Stooges original leader. From what I've read, the Stooges always thought very highly of his talents, but eventually got tired of his drunken binges and not being given the credit (or money) they deserved. In fact, it was after an early split with Healy that Shemp refused to return to work for him, thus requiring younger brother Curly to be brought in as a replacement (although much maligned by Stooge fans, Shemp does go on to be the only one of them with a successful film career independent of being a stooge). Healy, a big vaudeville star, seemed on his way to becoming a big film star before being killed in a bar fight during one of his drunken binges. Having never had the chance to see him in vaudeville, it hardly seems fair to judge him based on a few movies he made while still learning how to make the transition.

Ted Healy was one of vaudeville's most popular performer. His talents were so great in the 1920s he became the highest paid act in vaudeville, pulling down an astronomical $9,000 a week on the stage. A childhood friend, Moses Horwitz (a.k.a. Moe Howard), had briefly joined Healy, born Ernest Nash, on the stage in the mid-1910s when both were just teenagers before they split. Healy developed a revue with a cast including his wife, acrobats and singers. When the tumblers left his act, Healy thought of a comedy routine where hecklers in the audience were invited on the stage. Moe answered an ad Healy placed in the local paper, and the pair's working relationship was renewed. Moe's older brother, Shemp, later joined Healy's act in 1924 after he too proved to be a great heckler. The trio's on and off schtick eventually brought a fourth comedian to the team, Larry Fine, the lead performer at a popular Chicago nightclub. Called "Ted Healy & the Southern Gentlemen," they were hired by Fox Films to star in September 1930's "Soup to Nuts." The movie was the film debut for Healy and the soon-to-be-named 'The Three Stooges.'

Healy is a costume attire salesman who likes to hang out at the local fire station, where the stooges work. A love triangle develops between Healy and businessman Carlson (Stanley Smith), vying for the interests of a bankrupt inventor's niece, Louise (Lucile Browne). Wedged amongst a number of comic sketches at the fire house with the stooges and the finale where they respond to a fire in which Louise is trapped in, Healy and Carlson battle one another for her loving cup.

Fox Films loved the Howards' and Fine's repertoire in "Soup to Nuts" so much the studio offered them a contract. Healy, left out of the offer, argued with the studio the three comics were under his employ. And he refused to release them. The trio split from Healy and went on their own way. Performing as 'The Three Lost Soles' and 'Howard, Fine, and Howard,' they joined the RKO vaudeville circuit, taking on Jack Walsh as their straight man. Meanwhile, Healy hired three replacements, which weren't nearly as talented as the Howards/Fine package.

Two years later, with Moe as the act's business manager, Healy, not happy with the stooges' replacements, ate crow and approached them to appear in a Jacob Shubert's theatre revue. Moe, crunching the numbers, saw Healy's financial position was strong with the Shubert contact. The three joined Healy in July 1932, only to see Shemp walk out after several rehearsals. Moe's older brother was tired of Healy's temper, drinking and abusive behavior and accepted an offer with Vitaphone Studios. Moe and Larry stuck with Healy, and convinced Moe's younger brother, Jerry, to join them. In the next year, Healy inked a movie contract with MGM, where he and the three sidekicks, including newbie Jerry, who took the stage name Curly, began to really gain the attention of a nationwide audience.