The only thing memorable about director Benjamin Stoloff's otherwise forgettable comedy "Soup to Nuts" is that it offered audiences their first glimpse of the Three Stooges. Unfortunately, this tepid laffer about a down-on-his-luck costume store owner who goes bankrupt provides the Stooges with only modest exposure. Wisecracking, know-it-all, Schmidt Costume Shop salesman Ted (vaudeville comic Ted Healy of "Bombshell") prefers to hang out with his low wattage pals at the local fire station. They are Shemp, Moe, and Larry who formed the Three Stooges. They don't get a chance to indulge in their slapstick as they would in their later shorts and feature films. Basically, they are fireman who cavort on their ladder fire truck. Cartoonist Rube Goldberg penned the plot for this absurd adventure. It appears that Otto Schmidt (Charles Winninger of "Ziegfeld Girl")lavishes too much time on idle projects, like self-tipping hat, a burglar alarm that involves several gadgets, and complicated device that sweetens coffee. He goes bankrupt and has to turn his costume shop over to creditors. Richard Carlson (Stanley Smith) takes over the store, while Otto takes a job as a waiter at Gus's restaurant. Under no circumstances does Otto want his niece Louise (Lucile Browne) to get wind of his misfortune. Naturally, Louise learns about it at about the same time that Richard lays eyes on her and knows that she is the gal for him. Predictably, Louise wants nothing to do with the dastardly Richard who spends the bulk of this 71-minute epic struggling to win her approval. "Soup to Nuts" contains a rather thin plot with a romantic subplot. Recommended only for die-hard Three Stooges fans because the humor here is creaky.
Review of Soup to Nuts
