Soup to Nuts
About Soup to Nuts
Otto Schmidt would rather tinker with Rube Goldberg machines than run his costume shop, so the creditors take it over and send Richard Carlson in as manager. Carlson falls for Schmidt's niece Louise, who will not have him. Salesman Ted Healy, who spends his spare time with three bungling firemen, books costumes for the firemen's ball and tries to switch clothes with Carlson so he can dance with Louise. She catches the trick, locks herself in at the shop, and Carlson starts a fire while trying to talk her out. The firemen arrive, one of Schmidt's machines helps put the blaze out, and Louise and Carlson make up.
Cast & crew
More about Soup to Nuts
Benjamin Stoloff directed the Fox comedy from a script by Rube Goldberg, with Howard J. Green also credited on the scenario. A. L. Rocket produced. Joseph Valentine photographed it, Clyde Carruth edited, Alfred Bruzlin recorded the sound, and Cliff Friend and James Monaco wrote the songs.
Themes
Background
Fox released the comedy in September 1930, early in the sound period and before the Production Code was enforced.
In film history
It is the first film of the act that, minus Ted Healy and with Curly in Shemp's place, became The Three Stooges.
Making
After this picture the Howard-Fine trio toured without Healy as Howard, Fine and Howard. They rejoined him in 1932, Shemp left, Jerry 'Curly' Howard took his place, and in 1934 Moe, Larry, and Curly split from Healy and signed with Columbia.
Look
Joseph Valentine was director of photography on the Fox sound stages, covering both the costume-shop interiors and the firehouse knockabout.
Music
Cliff Friend and James Monaco wrote the songs, among them 'You'll Never Know What Tears Are,' which the firemen sing unaccompanied.
Preservation
A complete print survives. The U.S. copyright expired and the film entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.
Notes
- Moe Howard, billed as Harry Howard, Shemp Howard, and Larry Fine make their film debut as firemen alongside Ted Healy. Shemp has most of the lines and is billed ahead of the other two.
- Rube Goldberg appears as himself, opening letters in a restaurant.
- The firemen run a gag later reused by the Stooges: asked if there is gas in the tank, one answers that the arrow points halfway and he cannot tell whether it is half empty or half full.
- They sing 'You'll Never Know What Tears Are' a cappella. It is the only time that song turns up in a film with Shemp.
- Heinie Conklin plays a fireman and later worked in the Stooges' Columbia shorts.
- The U.S. copyright expired and the film entered the public domain on 1 January 2026.
Scenes
- General Avocado orders uniforms for a revolution in San Stevedore, then his unpaid army bolts when a child pops a toy balloon.
- Schmidt's machine helps the firemen put out the blaze Carlson started outside Louise's room.
Influenced by
- Ted Healy's vaudeville act with Moe Howard, Shemp Howard, and Larry Fine
- Rube Goldberg's invention cartoons
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Soup to Nuts (1930).webm)
Quotes
Is there gas in the tank? The arrow points halfway. I don't know if it's half empty or half full.
