Studio: Fox. Runtime: 71 minutes. Production Number 33. Release Date: September 28, 1930. Director: Benjamin Stoloff. Story: Rube Goldberg. Screenplay: Rube Goldberg and Howard J. Green. Cinematographer: Joseph Valentine. Editor: Clyde Carruth. Sound: Alfred Bruzlin. Cast: Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Fred Sanborn (Themselves), Frances McCoy (Queenie), Stanley Smith (Carlsor), Lucille Brown (Louise) Charles Winninger (Schmidt), Hallam Cooley (Throckmorton), George Bickel (Klein), Wm. Tooker (Ferguson). Associate Producer: Al Rockett. Settings: Lewis H. Creber. Lyrics and Music: Cliff Friend, James V. Monaco. Continuity: Howard J. Green. Costumes: Sophie Wachner. Presenter: William Fox. Shooting Days: 24 Days (7-14-1930 to 8-9-1930)
Soup to Nuts marked the Stooges' screen debut. However, it was hardly the start of their career. Moe, Larry and Shemp already had success working on stage. Moe Howard (born June 19, 1897, in Bensonhurst, New York) was an extremely intelligent child, who had been a voracious reader since an early age. His brother Jack would later recall, "I had many Horatio Alger books, and it was Moe's greatest pleasure to read them. They started his imaginative mind working and gave him ideas by the dozen. I think they were instrumental in putting thoughts in his head - to become a person of good character and to become successful." Moe also had an interest in show business from a young age. In school he acted in, dramatized and directed a play of The Story of Nathan Hale. He soon began playing hooky from school to see the melodramas being performed at theaters. This caused a once studious student to go from getting high grades to getting worse grades to never completing his high school education. Moe would later state "I used to stand outside the theatre knowing the truant officer was looking for me. I would stand there 'til someone came along and then ask them to buy my ticket. It was necessary for an adult to accompany a juvenile into the theatre. When I succeeded, I'd give him my ten cents - that's all it cost - and I'd go up to the top of the balcony where I'd put my chin on the rail and watch, spellbound, from the first act to the last. I would usually select the actor I liked the most and follow his performance throughout the play." In 1909 he got a job at a movie studio. He became an errand boy for the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn. He soon began appearing in bit roles in their films. In 1913 Moe and his older brother Shemp (born March 17, 1895, in Brooklyn, New York) started performing as singers in a quartet with bass singer Babe Tuttle and tenor Willie O'Connor. Moe was the baritone and Shemp was the lead. They performed at Sullivan's Saloon until their dad put a stop to it. Later Moe and Shemp were performing a blackface act when in 1922 one of Moe's old friends, Ted Healy (Born October 1, 1896, in Kaufman, Texas) called Moe to have him and Shemp join his act. In 1925, Larry Fine (Born October 5, 1902, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) joined the act and Ted Healy had three stooges in his act.
Ted Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard all performed in a show called A Night in Venice. The show opened in the Shubert Theatre in New York City on May 21, 1929. The show was a revue show, a variety type show that consisted of comedic sketches and musical numbers with no plot connecting them. The revue was directed and choregraphed by none other than Busby Berkley, who would go on to stage elaborate musical numbers for such musical movies as 42nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and Footlight Parade (1933). He would also later direct such films as Babes in Arms (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940) and For Me and My Gal (1942). Though the show got good reviews, it did not last very long running only 175 performances. This was mostly likely due to the Great Depression. Still this show gave the Stooges a newfound popularity. When they were performing at the Palace Theatre in New York in 1930 (which they did from February 22nd to March 7th), Hollywood talent scouts showed up. One of these scouts was from Fox and after seeing the performance, he immediately signed the comedians to star in Soup to Nuts.
Though this movie may not be on the same level as the Stooges' best films, it is an enjoyable little movie in its own right. Though Ted Healy and Charles Winninger are the main stars of this film, it is really the Stooges that steal the show. This may not be their best material but like always the Stooges' energy and likable personalities make it work. For Stooge fans, this movie is a must see for the scene where the Stooges and Ted perform at a party. This is probably the closest we will ever get to seeing what their stage act looked like, making this film an important historical document for classic comedy fans. The scene may not be as funny as the latter Three Stooges films but for Stooges fans, this peak into a forgotten part of their history is just as much fun to watch. Interestingly with the exception of a few slaps, the Stooges' humor here is mostly dialogue based with very little physical comedy. However, the boys prove themselves to be just as adept at this verbal humor as at slapstick. Their bit of business in the diner always puts a smile on my face. There are even a few really good gags in this movie that don't involve the Stooges. One involves an "army" visiting the costume shop and the others all revolve around Otto's wacky inventions. The climatic fire scene is actually laugh out loud funny. The jokes can be very hit and miss throughout this film and quite a few of them fall flat. However, when the movie is funny, it is honestly quite funny. There aren't many song numbers here but the few that are here are a lot of fun. Charles Winninger is also very likable here and he helps give this film a lot of charm.
Unfortunately, the storyline is very simple and even at 71 minutes, it can feel stretched out and longer than it needs to be. This can make the story meander at times and often leave too long of a break between laughs. The romances are also bland and there is no real chemistry between the lovers here.
The director of this film was Benjamin Stoloff. Though forgotten today, Stoloff got his start in the silent era directing comedy shorts for Fox. These short comedies starred the likes of Heinie Conklin (who would later appear in a number of Stooges short films), Oliver Hardy (before teaming with Stan Laurel), James Parrott (brother to comedian and future Stooge director Charley Chase) and Bobby Clark. During the talkie era, he would become a director of B-Westerns, directing such western stars as Tom Mix and Buck Jones. He also directed multiple short films starring baseball legend Babe Ruth. His association with baseball did not end there as he would later direct multiple episodes of the TV series, Home Run Derby. This series would run from 1959 to 1961 that consisted of filmed home run contests between baseball stars. His other work included such movies as The Girl from Havana (1929), Night of Terror (1933), Palooka (1934) and It's a Joke Son (1947). This was his only time directing the stooges.
Better known is this film's main writer, Rube Goldberg. This famous cartoonist is best known for his cartoons featuring elaborate inventions that are created to accomplish simple tasks. At the time of this movie, his cartoon strips were appearing in Collier's Weekly. His famous elaborate inventions (known as Rube Goldberg machines) appear regularly throughout this movie as the inventions that the character of Otto Schimdt creates. Rube even has a brief cameo in this film.
Goldberg's co-writer was Lou Breslow. Fans of classic comedy might be familiar with him. He was a writer on the Laurel and Hardy movies, Great Guns (1941) and A Haunting We Will Go (1942), the Bob Hope film, My Favorite Spy (1951), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), The Ritz Brothers movie, Pack Up Your Troubles (1939), the Red Skelton picture, Merton of the Movies (1947) and an entry in the Blondie B-movie series (one of my favorite B-movie series), Blondie Goes to College (1942). He was also a writer on the Babe Ruth shorts that Benjamin Stoloff directed. Breslow would later direct the Stooge short film, Punch Drunks (1934).
Charles Winninger (who played Otto Schimdt) was a very accomplished character actor, who often appeared in films as a kindly old man (similar to his role here). His filmography includes such beloved movies as Three Smart Girls (1936), Nothing Sacred (1937), Babes in Arms (1939), Destry Rides Again (1939), Ziegfield Girl (1941), State Fair (1945) and Father Was a Bachelor (1950). He also appeared in the underrated Christmas movie, Beyond Tomorrow (1940). When making Soup to Nuts, he was just starting his movie career, though he had been performing in vaudeville since the age of eight. Born on May 26, 1884, he was a veteran entertainer by this time.
The leading lady here is Frances McCoy. McCoy did not appear in many films, though other than Soup to Nuts, she also appeared in a few musical shorts. Little biographical information is available about her. Even information about her birthdate and place differs depending on which source you look at. The Los Angeles Times on October 27, 1930, mentioned her having a nervous breakdown and returning home to New York. The address she would return to is 2390 Davidson Avenue, an address also given to her in the 1933 City Directory. This nervous breakdown seems a likely reason why her movie career was cut so short.
Fred Sanborn's role in this film is almost as a fourth stooge. He is a very wacky character and shares most of his screentime with Moe, Larry and Shemp. Though this is the only film in which he worked with the Stooges, it was not the only time he filled this role as a fourth Stooge. He appeared with them in A Night in Venice as well as some of their other early-stage appearances. In 1930 (the year this film was released), Sanborn performed as part of Ted Healy's act (along with Moe, Larry and Shemp) on January 1-4 at the Majestic Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, January 5-11 at the Subert Detroit Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, January 12-18 at the Shubert Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 1-7 at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, February 8-14 at the Palace Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, February 22 - March 7 at the Palace Theatre in New York City, March 22-28 at Loews State Theatre in New York City, March 29- April 4 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, May 23-25 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angles, California, May 29- June 4 at Loew's State Theatre in Los Angles, California, June 5-11 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California. After his time with Ted Healy, Sanborn would become a solo artist on stage. Sanborn would spend most of his career on stage and appear in very few movies. One of the very few movies he appeared in though were the Olson and Johnson film, Crazy House (1943), which also features Shemp in its cast.
The cinematographer for this movie was Joseph Valentine, who would have a very accomplished career. His filmography includes such films as 7th Heaven (1927), Three Smart Girls (1936), the W.C. Feilds and Mae West picture My Little Chickadee (1940), Abbott and Costello's One Night in the Tropics (1940) and Keep 'Em Flying (1941), The Wolf Man (1941), Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) and Possessed (1947). He would also be the cinematographer on three Alfred Hitchcock movies, Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Rope (1948). He would win an Academy Award for his cinematography in Joan of Arc (1948). He would work on one more film with the Stooges, Myrt and Marge (1933).
Ted Healy gets a song number in this film. The song is called You Can Only Wear One Pair of Pants at a Time. The music for this song was written by James V. Monaco, who wrote the song You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It), originally a hit for Al Jolson in 1913, this song would later be sung by Judy Garland (with new lyrics by Roger Edens) in the movie, Broadway Melody of 1938 (1938). Judy would later perform the song in concert and on her TV show. Country singer Patsy Cline would also have a hit off of You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It). The lyricist was Cliff Friend, who co-wrote (with Dave Franklin) the song The Merry Go Round Broke Down (later the theme music for Looney Tunes). He also co-wrote (with Irving Mills) the song Lovesick Blues, which would later become the signature song for country music legend Hank Williams. The Varsity Eight made a recording of You Can Only Wear One Pair of Pants at a Time on November 3, 1930 (not long after the movie's release). The record advertised this song as being "From 'Soup to Nuts.'"
When he is asked how much gas is left in the firetruck, Shemp responds, "The needle is pointing halfway. I don't know if it's half-empty or half-full". This same gag would reappear in later Stooge films including, False Alarms (1936), Dizzy Pilots (1943) and The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962). The coin toss gag here was later reused in the Stooges short, Restless Knights (1936). At one part in this film, the Stooges sing, "You'll never know, just what tears are..." They would sing the same song in Beer in Pretzels (1933), Dancing Lady (1933), Fugitive Lovers (1934), Horses Collars (1935), Hald Shot Shooters (1936) and A Ducking They Did Go (1939). The Stooges repeated the sandbag gag was repeated on a 1950 episode of Ed Wynn's TV show with Wynn taking the place of Healy. The Stooges are Firefighters in this movie, they would later play firemen again in False Alarms and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
The money Ted Healy received from making this film amounted to $1250 a week. While a third less than his vaudeville salary, it was still a good amount of money for the time. Out of this money Ted paid each of his Stooges $150 a week.
Fox was less than impressed with the movie itself but were very impressed with the talents of Moe, Larry and Shemp. The executives offered the Stooges a seven-year contract to star in a series of feature length comedies. When Healy found out about this, he was furious. He stormed into the office of Winnie Sheehan, Fox's studio head, told him the contract was not valid without his approval and proceeded to physically tear up the contract. The Stooges found out about this and briefly left their old boss. They formed an act called Howard, Fine and Howard and would sometimes bill themselves as "Three Lost Souls." The comics performed at first on the west coast. Their first performance as a trio was at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 28, 1930. In 1931, the trio teamed with performer Jack Walsh as a straight man that was very much a stand in for Ted Healy. The first performed with Walsh at the RKO Boston Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on July 11, 1931. They would reunite with Healy in 1932. Their first performance back with Healy would be at the Memorial, Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on August 7, 1932. It wouldn't be long until Shemp would leave the act and be replaced by his younger brother Curly (Jermone) Howard. Their first performance with Curly would at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio on August 27, 1932. This all happened before the Stooges made another film.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
A Tour De Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road by Gary Lassin
https://billcappello.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-search-offrances-mccoy.html
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
https://www.imdb.com/
https://threestooges.net/filmography/view/198
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| A 1931 Rube Goldberg cartoon |
Goldberg's co-writer was Lou Breslow. Fans of classic comedy might be familiar with him. He was a writer on the Laurel and Hardy movies, Great Guns (1941) and A Haunting We Will Go (1942), the Bob Hope film, My Favorite Spy (1951), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), The Ritz Brothers movie, Pack Up Your Troubles (1939), the Red Skelton picture, Merton of the Movies (1947) and an entry in the Blondie B-movie series (one of my favorite B-movie series), Blondie Goes to College (1942). He was also a writer on the Babe Ruth shorts that Benjamin Stoloff directed. Breslow would later direct the Stooge short film, Punch Drunks (1934).
Charles Winninger (who played Otto Schimdt) was a very accomplished character actor, who often appeared in films as a kindly old man (similar to his role here). His filmography includes such beloved movies as Three Smart Girls (1936), Nothing Sacred (1937), Babes in Arms (1939), Destry Rides Again (1939), Ziegfield Girl (1941), State Fair (1945) and Father Was a Bachelor (1950). He also appeared in the underrated Christmas movie, Beyond Tomorrow (1940). When making Soup to Nuts, he was just starting his movie career, though he had been performing in vaudeville since the age of eight. Born on May 26, 1884, he was a veteran entertainer by this time.
The leading lady here is Frances McCoy. McCoy did not appear in many films, though other than Soup to Nuts, she also appeared in a few musical shorts. Little biographical information is available about her. Even information about her birthdate and place differs depending on which source you look at. The Los Angeles Times on October 27, 1930, mentioned her having a nervous breakdown and returning home to New York. The address she would return to is 2390 Davidson Avenue, an address also given to her in the 1933 City Directory. This nervous breakdown seems a likely reason why her movie career was cut so short.
Fred Sanborn's role in this film is almost as a fourth stooge. He is a very wacky character and shares most of his screentime with Moe, Larry and Shemp. Though this is the only film in which he worked with the Stooges, it was not the only time he filled this role as a fourth Stooge. He appeared with them in A Night in Venice as well as some of their other early-stage appearances. In 1930 (the year this film was released), Sanborn performed as part of Ted Healy's act (along with Moe, Larry and Shemp) on January 1-4 at the Majestic Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, January 5-11 at the Subert Detroit Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, January 12-18 at the Shubert Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 1-7 at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, February 8-14 at the Palace Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, February 22 - March 7 at the Palace Theatre in New York City, March 22-28 at Loews State Theatre in New York City, March 29- April 4 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, May 23-25 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angles, California, May 29- June 4 at Loew's State Theatre in Los Angles, California, June 5-11 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California. After his time with Ted Healy, Sanborn would become a solo artist on stage. Sanborn would spend most of his career on stage and appear in very few movies. One of the very few movies he appeared in though were the Olson and Johnson film, Crazy House (1943), which also features Shemp in its cast.
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| 1929 Night in Venice Postcard featuring Ted Healy, the Stooges and Fred Sanborn |
The cinematographer for this movie was Joseph Valentine, who would have a very accomplished career. His filmography includes such films as 7th Heaven (1927), Three Smart Girls (1936), the W.C. Feilds and Mae West picture My Little Chickadee (1940), Abbott and Costello's One Night in the Tropics (1940) and Keep 'Em Flying (1941), The Wolf Man (1941), Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) and Possessed (1947). He would also be the cinematographer on three Alfred Hitchcock movies, Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Rope (1948). He would win an Academy Award for his cinematography in Joan of Arc (1948). He would work on one more film with the Stooges, Myrt and Marge (1933).
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| The Film Daily, 1930 |
Ted Healy gets a song number in this film. The song is called You Can Only Wear One Pair of Pants at a Time. The music for this song was written by James V. Monaco, who wrote the song You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It), originally a hit for Al Jolson in 1913, this song would later be sung by Judy Garland (with new lyrics by Roger Edens) in the movie, Broadway Melody of 1938 (1938). Judy would later perform the song in concert and on her TV show. Country singer Patsy Cline would also have a hit off of You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It). The lyricist was Cliff Friend, who co-wrote (with Dave Franklin) the song The Merry Go Round Broke Down (later the theme music for Looney Tunes). He also co-wrote (with Irving Mills) the song Lovesick Blues, which would later become the signature song for country music legend Hank Williams. The Varsity Eight made a recording of You Can Only Wear One Pair of Pants at a Time on November 3, 1930 (not long after the movie's release). The record advertised this song as being "From 'Soup to Nuts.'"
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| Exhibitors Daily Review and Motion Pictures Today, 1930 |
When he is asked how much gas is left in the firetruck, Shemp responds, "The needle is pointing halfway. I don't know if it's half-empty or half-full". This same gag would reappear in later Stooge films including, False Alarms (1936), Dizzy Pilots (1943) and The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962). The coin toss gag here was later reused in the Stooges short, Restless Knights (1936). At one part in this film, the Stooges sing, "You'll never know, just what tears are..." They would sing the same song in Beer in Pretzels (1933), Dancing Lady (1933), Fugitive Lovers (1934), Horses Collars (1935), Hald Shot Shooters (1936) and A Ducking They Did Go (1939). The Stooges repeated the sandbag gag was repeated on a 1950 episode of Ed Wynn's TV show with Wynn taking the place of Healy. The Stooges are Firefighters in this movie, they would later play firemen again in False Alarms and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
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| It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) |
The money Ted Healy received from making this film amounted to $1250 a week. While a third less than his vaudeville salary, it was still a good amount of money for the time. Out of this money Ted paid each of his Stooges $150 a week.
Fox was less than impressed with the movie itself but were very impressed with the talents of Moe, Larry and Shemp. The executives offered the Stooges a seven-year contract to star in a series of feature length comedies. When Healy found out about this, he was furious. He stormed into the office of Winnie Sheehan, Fox's studio head, told him the contract was not valid without his approval and proceeded to physically tear up the contract. The Stooges found out about this and briefly left their old boss. They formed an act called Howard, Fine and Howard and would sometimes bill themselves as "Three Lost Souls." The comics performed at first on the west coast. Their first performance as a trio was at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 28, 1930. In 1931, the trio teamed with performer Jack Walsh as a straight man that was very much a stand in for Ted Healy. The first performed with Walsh at the RKO Boston Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on July 11, 1931. They would reunite with Healy in 1932. Their first performance back with Healy would be at the Memorial, Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on August 7, 1932. It wouldn't be long until Shemp would leave the act and be replaced by his younger brother Curly (Jermone) Howard. Their first performance with Curly would at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio on August 27, 1932. This all happened before the Stooges made another film.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg
A Tour De Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road by Gary Lassin
https://billcappello.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-search-offrances-mccoy.html
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
https://www.imdb.com/
https://threestooges.net/filmography/view/198
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