''Soup to Nuts'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written by cartoonist, sculptor, author, and inventor Rube Goldberg and directed by

Benjamin Stoloff Benjamin Stoloff (October 6, 1895 – September 8, 1960) was an American film director and producer. He began his career as a director of short films, and he moved into directing and producing feature films. Director filmography 1940s–1950s *' ...

. It was the film debut of the original four members who would later, minus Ted Healy, go on to become known as

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

comic trio ( Shemp Howard, Moe Howard, and

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 4, 1902 – January 24, 1975), better known by his stage name Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges and was often called "The Middle St ...

). Goldberg made a cameo appearance in the film as himself, opening letters in a restaurant. Several other comedians are also featured.

Plot

Ted Healy is a salesman for the Schmidt Costume Shop who likes to hang out at the fire station where Moe (billed as "Harry Howard"), Larry, and Shemp (along with Fred Sanborn) work. Old man Schmidt spends more time building crazy inventions (typical of devices by writer/cartoonist Rube Goldberg) than tending to his business; as a consequence he is bankrupt and his business is taken over by his creditors, who send a young man named Carlson to manage the business. Carlson immediately falls for Schmidt's niece, Louise, but she resists him. Meanwhile, a certain General Avocado wants to organize a revolution in San Stevedore and comes to the costume shop to order uniforms; sadly his army flees in fright without paying at the sound of a child bursting a toy balloon. Ted also swings a deal with the Fire Department to supply costumes for the fireman's ball. Carlson wants to take Louise, so Ted hatches a plan to take Louise, and have himself and Carlson dressed alike, then switch places at the ball. When Louise learns of the switch, she runs back to the shop and locks herself in her room. Carlson chases her home, and unknowingly starts a fire while trying to persuade her to come out. The firemen (the Stooges) arrive to extinguish the blaze — with the unexpected help of one of Old Man Schmidt's inventions — and at last Louise and Carlson are a couple.

Cast

Credited

* Ted Healy as Ted * Frances McCoy as Queenie * Stanley Smith as Richard Carlson * Lucile Browne as Louise * Charles Winninger as Otto Schmidt * Hallam Cooley as D. Quincy Throckmorton * George Bickel as Gus Klein * Shemp Howard as Fireman *

as Fireman * Moe Howard (credited as Harry Howard) as Fireman * William H. Tooker as Ferguson * Fred Sanborn as Mute Fireman

Uncredited

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti; October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast i ...

as Junior * Rube Goldberg as himself (cameo) * Heinie Conklin as Fireman playing checkers * Billy Bletcher as Revolutionary * Bobby Barber as Revolutionary * Jimmy Aubrey as Revolutionary * Mack Swain as first fat diner

The Three Stooges appearance

This film was released before Shemp, Moe & Larry first broke out on their own and toured as "Howard, Fine & Howard: Three Lost Soles" from Fall 1930 to mid-1932. They rejoined Healy in July 1932 for the Broadway revue ''Passing Show of 1932'', but Healy quit during rehearsals, which subsequently prompted Shemp Howard to leave on August 19, 1932 (he remained with ''Passing'' for a time, and then began a solo career, landing at Brooklyn's Vitaphone Studios in May 1933). Younger Howard brother Jerry (Curly) replaced Shemp on August 20, 1932, and Ted Healy's stooges became Moe, Larry & Curly. The Stooges finally split from Healy in March 1934, and became The Three Stooges at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. (When Curly was debilitated by strokes years later, Shemp reluctantly abandoned his solo career and returned to the Stooges). In ''Soup to Nuts'', Shemp appears to be the "leader" of the three. He has most of the dialogue and does a lot of the pushing and hitting, and he was billed before the other two in the credits. Moe was credited as "Harry Howard." In the film, the Stooges use one of their longest running gags. This same gag was used not only in many of their short films but also in their final feature film '' Kook's Tour''. * "Is there gas in the tank?" * "The arrow points half way. I don't know if it's half empty or half full." This is the first film where the Stooges sing

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

style: "You'll Never Know What Tears Are" as well as the only time they sang it in a film with Shemp. Heinie Conklin portrays one of the firemen. Conklin later made appearances in the Stooges' films at Columbia.

Home media

External links

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{{Authority control The Three Stooges films 1930 films 1930 musical comedy films 1930 romantic comedy films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films 1930s romantic musical films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Films about firefighting Films directed by Benjamin Stoloff Fox Film films English-language romantic comedy films English-language romantic musical films English-language musical comedy films