I vividly recall one of the first times I saw a Three Stooges short on TV.  It was a weekend afternoon back in 1958 or ’59 when I was nine or ten, and it was called “From Soup to Nuts”. I remember the title specifically because I had never heard of that expression before and didn’t know what it meant.

It was the one where two guys bet each other on whether one of them can turn the Stooges into gentlemen in 60 days, and it has Moe’s tip for how to eat peas, as well as references to the Sword of Damocles and psychic, the first time I had ever heard of either of those.

Given that there is a scene where they are being taught table manners, I think “From Soup to Nuts” is an appropriate title.

Fast forward to a few years ago and I bought the DVD set of the complete Stooges collection, and one of the first shorts I went looking for was “From Soup to Nuts”—except it wasn’t there!

Eventually I did locate the film and discovered it was called “Half-Wits Holiday”, which was not nearly as fitting a title, I thought. So I checked imdb to see if my recollection was correct, that an alternate title for it was “From Soup to Nuts”, but they only have the working title “No Gents, No Cents”, an even worse title.

Further checking revealed that the very first film the Stooges made was named “Soup to Nuts”, but as far as I can see, the short that I recall as one of my first introductions to the Stooges was never called “From Soup to Nuts”.

So I’m posting this here in the vain hope that perhaps somebody out there in Internet-land might come across it and perhaps tell me that I’m not imagining that title for that particular Stooges’ film.

Here are some excerpts:

Note: When you purchase something after clicking Amazon links in my posts, I may earn a small commission. As of this date, I have yet to earn anything. 😎