''Kook's Tour'' is an American comedy film produced in late 1969 and early 1970. It was the final film to star

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. Six Stooges appear ...

and was originally intended as the pilot for a television series. However, on January 9, 1970, before filming was completed,

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges. Early life Fine was born to a Russian Je ...

suffered a severe stroke, paralyzing the left side of his body. When it became clear that Fine was not expected to recover fully from the stroke, production of the series was cancelled and the ''Kook's Tour'' pilot film was shelved.

Plot

''Kook's Tour'' was conceived by

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

's son-in-law, frequent Three Stooges collaborator Norman Maurer, as a weekly television series that would have mixed the Stooges' brand of farce comedy with a documentary travelogue format. The concept of the series was that, after 50 years of comic mayhem, the Stooges (Moe,

and Joe DeRita) have retired and are traveling the world with their dog, Moose, motor home, and

motor boat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the ge ...

(which is transported from place to place via a cargo plane). The 52-minute

pilot film is a Japanese animated short film directed by Masaaki Ōsumi, which was created around 1969. It is the first animated adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series, created by Monkey Punch in 1967. The 12-minute film was created by Tokyo Movie ...

for the series saw the Stooges exploring the wilderness of the western

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, including areas of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

. In the meantime, Larry keeps getting snubbed when trying to catch a fish and getting a picture of a deer. At the end of the pilot film, Larry, in frustration, throws his hat into the water and fish bite on the fishing hooks attached to it. Larry starts to get excited about catching some fish, but Curly Joe counts the fish and says "One for me, one for Moe, and one for....Moose!" The

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring c ...

shows Moe sitting in an office, discussing the trip and stating that their next destination for the second episode (which was ultimately never produced) was Japan. (Moe makes no reference to Larry's stroke, so it's unknown if this scene was filmed before or after Larry's stroke).

Cast

as Moe (final film) *

as Larry (final film) * Joe DeRita as Curly Joe (final film) * Moose the Dog as Himself * Norman Maurer as camper * Jeffrey Scott as young camper * Michael Maurer as Man carrying suitcases * Lois Goleman as Littering woman * Emil Sitka (archive footage) * John Cliff (archive footage) * Annie Smith as Woman * Roger Thompson as Man

Production notes

''Kook's Tour'' was the third time the Stooges had tried to create a live-action television series, after their first attempt with '' Jerks of All Trades'' in 1949, and then '' The Three Stooges Scrapbook'' in 1960. The name is a pun on the term "Cook's Tour", which was popularized by the

Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was also one of the initial developers of the " package tour" including travel, accommodati ...

travel company. The film also served as a promotional vehicle for the

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

. All the vehicles shown in this movie were produced by Chrysler, Chrysler RV, and Chrysler Marine Division. Following Larry's stroke and the cancellation of ''Kook's Tour'', the film remained unreleased for several years. Director Norman Maurer eventually edited all usable footage into a 52-minute film and released it through Niles Film Products in Super 8 Sound home movie format in 1975. It has since been released in VHS and DVD formats. There is only one known 16mm original master print of ''Kook's Tour'', belonging to a private owner in Florida.

References

External links

* *
''Kook's Tour'' at threestooges.netThree Stooges.com
description {{The Three Stooges 1970 films The Three Stooges films Chrysler 1970 comedy films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Norman Maurer 1970s American films

Plot

Cast

Production notes

See also

References

External links