''Soup to Nuts'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written by cartoonist, sculptor, author, and inventor

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

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 short film comedy director and gradually moved into feature film directing and production later in his career. Directo ...

. It was the film debut of the original four members who would later, minus

Ted Healy Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy th ...

, 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. Six Stooges appeared ...

comic trio (

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent. He is ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

). 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 Fred Sanborn (November 23, 1899March 9, 1961) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and musician. He was most notable as a member of Ted Healy's comedy troupe ''Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen'' (a group which included the trio that ...

) work. Old man Schmidt spends more time building crazy inventions (typical of devices by writer/cartoonist

) 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 Mr. 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

as Ted * Frances McCoy as Queenie * Stanley Smith as Richard Carlson *

Lucile Browne Lucile Ruth Browne (March 18, 1907 – May 10, 1976) was an American film actress. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1935 films '' Texas Terror'' and '' Rainbow Valley''. Personal life The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Browne, ...

as Louise *

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

as Otto Schmidt *

Hallam Cooley Hallam Cooley (February 8, 1895 – March 20, 1971) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1913 and 1936. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and died in Tiburon, California. Cooley attended Nor ...

as D. Quincy Throckmorton * George Bickel as Gus Klein *

as Fireman *

(credited as Harry Howard) as Fireman * William H. Tooker as Ferguson *

as Mute Fireman *

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 ...

as Junior (uncredited) *

as himself (uncredited and cameo) *

Heinie Conklin Heinie Conklin (born Charles John Conklin; July 16, 1880July 30, 1959) was an American actor and comedian whose career began in the silent film era. Early years Conklin was born Charles John Conklin on July 16, 1880, in San Francisco, Califor ...

as Fireman playing checkers (uncredited) *

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disne ...

as Revolutionary (uncredited) *

Bobby Barber Bobby Barber (December 18, 1894 – May 24, 1976) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films. Barber is notable for his work as a foil for Abbott and Costello on and off screen. Biography Barber was born Robert S. Barbera in New York. ...

as Revolutionary (uncredited) *

Jimmy Aubrey Jimmy Aubrey (23 October 1887 – 2 September 1983) was an English actor who worked with both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, having gone with Fred Karno's theatrical company to America in 1908. However he left to start on his own in v ...

as Revolutionary (uncredited)

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

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 Studios. (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. Plus, Shemp was billed before the other two in the credits. Also note that 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 ''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 and was originally intended as the pilot for a television series. However, on January 9, 1970, before filming was co ...

''. * "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 ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

style: "You'll Never Know What Tears Are" as well as the only time they sang it in a film with Shemp.

portrays one of the firemen. Conklin later made appearances in the Stooges' films at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

External links

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

Plot

Cast

The Three Stooges appearance

See also

External links