''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 appeared ...

and was originally intended as the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

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 A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, 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 Norman Albert Maurer (May 13, 1926 – November 23, 1986) was a comic book artist and writer, and a director and producer of films and television shows. Comic books Maurer's lifelong association with the Three Stooges began about the time ...

, as a weekly television series that would have mixed the Stooges' brand of farce comedy with a documentary

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

format. The concept of the series was that, after 50 years of comic mayhem, the Stooges (Moe,

and

Joe DeRita Joseph Wardell (July 12, 1909 – July 3, 1993), known professionally as Joe DeRita, was an American actor and comedian, who is best known for his stint as a member of The Three Stooges in the persona of Curly Joe DeRita. Early life DeRita wa ...

) have retired and are traveling the world with their dog, Moose,

motor home A motorhome (or motor coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which offers mobile living accommodation. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed or conv ...

, 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 gea ...

(which is transported from place to place via a cargo plane). The 52-minute pilot film 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, including areas of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, 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 south ...

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 Wyom ...

. 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 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 closure to the w ...

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 Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. (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) *

as Curly Joe (final film) * Moose the Dog as Himself *

as camper * Jeffrey Scott as young camper * Michael Maurer as Man carrying suitcases * Lois Goleman as Littering woman *

Emil Sitka Emil Sitka (December 22, 1914January 16, 1998) was a veteran American actor, who appeared in hundreds of movies, short films, and television shows, and is best known for his numerous appearances with The Three Stooges. He is one of only two acto ...

(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 ''Jerks of All Trades'' (identified on the title card only as ''“The Three Stooges”'') is the title of an American television pilot released on October 12, 1949. It was The Three Stooges' first and only pilot made with Shemp Howard in the r ...

'' in 1949, and then ''

The Three Stooges Scrapbook ''Three Stooges Scrapbook'' is an unaired 1960 television pilot starring The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita). In the opening title and Hollywood trade ads, the show's title is spelled without "The," including a promot ...

'' 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, accommodation ...

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