The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Joe DeRita
There are many fine Stooge moments here, including Curly Joe doing the “Maha, ya ha?” routine (yes, I know that purists will insist that Curly did it better, but Curly Joe doesn’t try to be Curly. He has his own unique character, and is a funny and fitting final ‘third stooge’. Last and not least, the comedy and the story flow together smoothly, making for a very enjoyable movie.
Phineas Fogg III, great grandson of the original Phineas Fogg, accepts a bet to duplicate his great grandfather’s famous trip around the world in response to a challenge made by Randolph Stuart III, the descendant of the original Fogg’s nemesis. Unbeknownst to anyone, However, “Stuart” is the infamous con man Vicker Cavendish who made the bet in order to cover up his robbing the bank of England by framing Fogg for the crime. This makes for a dangerous journey for Fogg and his servants (the stooges) and Amelia Carter, whom they rescue from thugs during a train ride. Can they make it back to England in time?
Editorial Review of The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, courtesy of Amazon.com
The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963) has some distinction among the few features made by Moe and Larry with Joe DeRita. Basically a retelling of the Jules Verne classic, the plot has the added twist of Phineas Fogg III having to emulate the experience of his ancestor but without paying a penny in doing so. Again there is a bank robbery that is blamed on Fogg, but this time the culprits actively attempt to stop his progress since the perpetrator is the very villain who made the bet to begin with.
A personable Jay Sheffield plays the circumnavigator straight and love interest Joan Freeman does what acting she can, given a stereotyped role. What is interesting is that the Stooges, at least in their opening scenes, try to play English servants, accents and all, but they fall into more familiar patterns as the film progresses. While in India, the three get to reprise the vaudeville routine of the nearly blind Maja who goes “Aha?” (done better by Curly in Three Little Pirates). While in San Francisco, they reprise the fight sequence of Punch Drunks (again surpassed by Curly in the second Stooges short way back in 1934) in which Curly Joe can win only when driven berserk by the sound of “Pop Goes the Weasel” as played by Larry.
In lieu of the expected chase at the end, there is the wild attempt to get to the club just before midnight to win all the side bets Fogg had placed on his 80-days deadline. Their arrival through a solid wall is a fitting ending to a film that just might induce youngsters to read the original book. A very respectable Three Stooges effort. —Frank Behrens
Trivia for The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze
- Moe says “we don’t do that anymore”, after one of the Stooge lookalikes ‘eye pokes’ one of the other lookalikes. This comes from a agreement Moe Howard and Larry Fine made with Joe DeRita at the beginning of the full length movie series. The agreement was that the eye poke would not be used by the group any longer due to the resurgence of the popularity of the comedy trio, especially with kids seeing the shorts during afternoon children’s programming. DeRita was concerned that kids would imitate the eye poke, and not do it correctly (The proper Stooge eye poke move is that the fingers would actually make contact slightly above the eyebrows, but appearing on film that the eyes were actually poked), thus causing real damage to the eyes. Moe and Larry agreed with DeRita, and the eye poke was retired from the act, making this scene a rarity in the later Stooge years.
Funny movie quotes from The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze
Lory Filch: You’re a fine one, Vickers Cavendish. Wasting your time reading when you should be thinking up some scheme to defraud.
[Larry comes in with a waterlogged newspaper and hands it to Moe]
Larry (Larry Fine): They left it in the swimming pool today.
Moe (Moe Howard): Oh, I see. The tadpole edition.
Larry (Larry Fine): Yeah, the tadpole edi…
[Moe whaps Larry with the paper]
Moe (Moe Howard): That’s for now. Remind me to kill you later.
Larry (Larry Fine): I had the brains to steal this from the Duke’s palace next door.
[pulls fresh newspaper from coat]
Larry (Larry Fine): You thought I was stupid, didn’t ya?
Moe (Moe Howard): Now I’m sure of it.
Phileas Fogg III: Moe, about how long would you say I’ve been having kippers for breakfast?
Moe (Moe Howard): Man and boy, I’d say we’ve been eating our kippers every day for, it must be 11 years, sir.
Phileas Fogg III: Time for a change. Starting tomorrow, I’d like sausages.
Moe (Moe Howard): Oh, those ugly little brown – SAUSAGES?
[Curly-Joe opens door just as Moe is coming through; there is a spectacular crash of breakfast dishes and cutlery]
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): I’m sorry, Moe. The door swung and all the dishes broke.
Moe (Moe Howard): Well, don’t distress yourself, lad. You didn’t break everything.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): I didn’t?
Moe (Moe Howard): [Holds up an intact plate] Here’s one you missed.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Hey!
[Moe breaks it over his head]
Getting ready to leave on an extended trip
[the Three Stooges are trying to convince Phileas to take them with him]
Moe (Moe Howard): Who’s going to lay out your day togs for daywear?
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): And your night togs for nightmares?
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Remember, we’re born chiselers.
Larry (Larry Fine): Oh, boy! We’re going around the world on our wits!
Moe (Moe Howard): With your wits, you won’t get past the front door.
[Amelia is using the back of a frying pan as a mirror while Phileas plots their course]
Phileas Fogg III: Now, owing to monsoons at this time of year, we may have trouble getting across this bridge. It could be completely under water.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Don’t worry, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Moe (Moe Howard): [chuckling] Pardon me, may I have the mirror?
Amelia Carter: Why, certainly.
Moe (Moe Howard): You know, a sharp crack deserves a sharp answer.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Yeah.
[Moe whaps Curly-Joe with pan]
[tootling on horn to entice a snake out of its jar]
Larry (Larry Fine): [frustrated] He don’t like my music.
Moe (Moe Howard): He’s not supposed to like it. He’s gotta hate it. Then he comes out, sees you, goes out of his mind, and while he’s out, I clobber him.
Moe (Moe Howard): We are official bodyguards. Also double as man Friday.
Larry (Larry Fine): And Saturday.
Rajah?
Moe (Moe Howard): His pistol record is
[mumbling]
Moe (Moe Howard): shots out of a possible 300.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): That’s without bullets.
Moe (Moe Howard): The rajah says that he will, without the aid of a telescope, shoot a raisin from the top of this gentleman’s head.
Larry (Larry Fine): Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold it. Shoot what raisin from which gentleman’s head?
Moe (Moe Howard): Oh, pardon me for calling you a gentleman, sir.
Moe (Moe Howard): The rajah says that at this time he will throw the razor-edged daggers at random.
Larry (Larry Fine): Random? Get him up here. Hey, Randy, come on.
Moe (Moe Howard): [glowering at Larry] Pardon me, Mister Random.
Larry (Larry Fine): You don’t think I’m going to let that blind bat throw knives at me, do you?
Moe (Moe Howard): Blind bat? Why, he can see better than you can and I can prove it.
Larry (Larry Fine): Well, you better prove it.
[picks up large round tray and holds it up to Curly-Joe’s eyes]
Moe (Moe Howard): Maha.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): [peers in opposite direction] Aha?
Moe (Moe Howard): Rajah!
[Curly-Joe turns around and stares closely at tray]
Moe (Moe Howard): What is this?
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Half a dollar.
Larry (Larry Fine): You’re right. I thought it was a dime.
[Curly-Joe’s thrown knife grazes Larry’s fake mustache]
Moe (Moe Howard): Missed that.
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): Missed that? Impossible!
Larry (Larry Fine): Missed that? What is he aiming at?
Moe (Moe Howard): You’ll find out.
On the road again
[Guards are roughing up Curly-Joe]
Moe (Moe Howard): Wait a minute. You’re gonna hit a man with glasses?
Curly Joe (Curly Joe DeRita): [gratefully, as guards pause] Yeah!
Moe (Moe Howard): [takes away glasses] Go ahead!
[Soldier shouts in Chinese as Phileas and co. sail away]
Chinese Non-Com: [Subtitle] CENSORED. AND DON’T COME BACK!
Moe (Moe Howard): If you keep on trying, you’ll always have a chance.
Larry (Larry Fine): Yeah, and we’ll starve to death in the meantime.
[Everyone is under arrest for stowing away in the back of a truck]
Moe (Moe Howard): Four days directly to New York. And here we are, thanks to you.
Larry (Larry Fine): You don’t have to thank me.
[after a prolonged fight in the dark where everyone keeps hitting the wrong people before finally knocking out the bad guys]
Moe (Moe Howard): I knew you’d get the right ones if you kept on swinging.
Cast of characters
- Joe DeRita … Curly-Joe
- Larry Fine … Larry
- Moe Howard … Moe
- Jay Sheffield (Tammy and the Millionaire) … Phileas Fogg III
- Joan Freeman (The Reluctant Astronaut, Panic in the Year Zero) … Amelia Carter
- Walter Burke (Support Your Local Sheriff) … Lory Filch
- Peter Forster (Escape from the Planet of the Apes) … Vickers Cavendish
- Maurice Dallimore (Shirley Temple’s Storybook) … Scotland Yard Inspector J. B. Crotchet
- Richard Devon (The Undead) … Maharajah
- Anthony Eustrel (The Story of Robin Hood) … Kandu
- Curtis Iaukea … Itchi KitchiKea)
- Robert Kino … Charlie OkumaKino)
- Phil Arnold (The Ghost Talks) … Referee
- Murray Alper (Tricky Dicks) … Gus
- Don Lamond (The Outlaws is Coming) … Bill
- Jack Greening … McPherson
Editor’s note: Updated June 4, 2022
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