Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), a crook who stole a large sum from a tuna factory years earlier, is making his break from the police and speeding along a California highway, ultimately crashing his car down a steep, craggy slope. Four vehicles stop to render aid. The first contains J. Russell Finch (Milton Berle), his wife and mother-in-law (Ethel Merman), the second has Melville Crump (Sid Caesar) and his wife, the third holds Dingy Bell (Mickey Rooney) and Benji Benjamin (Buddy Hackett), and the last contains Lennie Pike (Jonathan Winters). The five men descend the slope to look for survivors, finding Smiler near death. Smiler, realizing he is about to die, tells them of a buried treasure ("350 G's!") that's been lying under a big "W" in the Rosita Beach State Park for 15 years. The group tries to come up with a way to divide up the money, and failing that, it's every man for himself!
The trip becomes a madcap, cross-country race to the park. Captain Culpeper (Spencer Tracy) of the Santa Rosita Police Department has the group under surveillance, waiting to see who finds the dough. As they begin to converge on the park, Culpeper tries to swing a deal with the Police Chief for a bonus in solving the case, but when that fails, decides to steal the money for himself.
Filmed in UltraPanavision (Cinerama) and TechniColor.
September 1963, Normandy Productions and Columbia co-distributed the original, unsold THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (1960) color television pilot in theaters, as two short subjects... a 14-minute short incorporating the first 2/3 of the film, and a 10-minute short with the final third. This is the 10-minute short.
Moe, Larry and Curly Joe are hosts on the set of THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK, a children's television show, to introduce their new cartoon, THE SPAIN MUTINY. In this animated adventure, the Stooges answer a want ad from Christopher Columbus, and join him on his sea journey to prove that the world is not square. But Chris decides to nap for the duration, leaving Moe, Larry and Curly Joe to deal with a mutinous parrot named Feathers (Mel Blanc).
A stagecoach delivering money to Galveston is ambushed by a gang led by a hired killer named Matson (Charles Bronson), but they're fought off by Zack Thomas (Frank Sinatra) and Joe Jarrett (Dean Martin). The stage wrecks and Joe makes off with money, leaving Zack in the dust. Zack was to use the funds to purchase an old riverboat and turn it into Galveston's gambling jewel of the Gulf Coast, a business arrangement with town banker Harvey Burden (Victor Buono). Jarrett arrives in town with the same plan, and meets widow Max Richter (Ursula Andress), owner of the coveted, broken-down boat. Jarrett & Max, and Zack & Elya Carlson (Anita Ekberg), Galveston's high society madam, begin a game of one-upmanship to gain final control of the vessel. Unknown to our heroes, Burden wants it all for himself, and he's the man behind Matson. Opening night arrives, and Joe and Zack engage in a winner-take-all brawl, but Matson is laying in wait to assassinate both.
The Three Stooges guest star as inept delivery men, who run afoul of two elderly ladies (Ellen Corby, Jesslyn Fax) protesting the delivery of a nude painting to the riverboat lounge. Moe, Larry & Curly Joe perform the "point to the right" and "he's from Texas" routines.
Both a spoof and faithful sequel adaptation of Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days, Phileas Fogg III, the great-grandson of Verne's hero, finds himself taking on the same wager as his anecestor. Conman Vickers Cavendish assumes the identity of 'Mr. Stuart,' the original adversary's great-grandson, and along with members of the Reformers Club, bets Phileas III's fortune that he cannot travel the globe in 80 days without the use of his substantial means. But Cavendish is actually using the wager to stage a bank robbery, and frame Fogg for the theft.
Fogg and his three servants Moe, Larry and Curly Joe begin their trip around the world stowing away on a freighter bound for Turkey, where our heroes are captured and detained. But Cavendish and his partner Lory Filch have plans to follow the world travellers and kill them, so their frameup cannot be uncovered. Escaping, Fogg and the Stooges head for India and come to the rescue of a stranded American beauty, Amelia Carter of Council Bluffs IA, with whom Fogg is immediately smitten. Arriving at the palace of the Maharajah of Karengore, they assume the identity of Indian noblemen. Discovering they are wanted men, the boys flee once more, crossing the Chinese border into the hands of the military and accused of being spies. Turning the tables on their Chinese torturers, they're set adrift at sea until they land in Tokyo, and enter the world of Sumo wrestling. With Curly Joe posing as a champion wrestler, the Stooges receive passage to San Francisco for the world sumo wrestling championship bout. But stranded to hitchhike the length of the United States, Fogg, Amelia and the Stooges stowaway in a moving van. Finally, Scotland Yard finally catches up to our heroes... but Cavendish and Filch are laying in wait at London's airport to eliminate our heroes. Can the villains be defeated, and Fogg make it to the Reformers in time to win his wager?
The Stooges work at Dimsel's Drug Store where they befriend Schuyler Davis, the owner of the shop next door, who is attempting to build a time machine. With the boys "help," the machine transports the boys, Schuyler and his girlfriend Diane back in time to ancient Greece during the reign of the lecherous King Oedious, an ancestor of Dimsel. The King has a yearning for Diane, and banishes Schuyler and the boys to the galleys after they free the rightful King Ulysses from Oedious' jail. Schuyler builds impressive muscles from constant rowing, and after escaping following a shipwreck, the Stooges start billing Schuyler as Hercules at a local gladiator arena. The real Hercules, Odious' henchman, gets wind of their game and confronts them, but the Stooges convince Hercules to join the "good guys" and help them rescue Diane.
While rehearsing a new opening bit for their children's television program THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK, Moe, Larry and Curly Joe are evicted by their landlady for cooking in the rooming house. Searching for a new apartment, the Stooges travel to Professor Danforth's (Emil Sitka) house in Lompoc. Professor Danforth is convinced that Martians will soon invade Earth, and persuades the boys to help him guard his new invention... a military craft with the ability to move on the ground like a tank, in the air like a helicopter, in the water like a submarine, and even orbit like a spacecraft. Danforth's butler is a Martian spy in human disguise, and he attempts, successfully, to frighten the Stooges away. Fleeing to their television studio, the Stooges learn that their ratings are falling, and the producer doesn't care for any of their new animation ideas. He gives them 10 days to come up with a ratings gimmick, or he'll cancel the show. Danforth arrives on the scene with a deal: he'll create a new "electronic animation" machine for them to use in their TV show, if they return to his house and help with the helio-tank invention. Meanwhile, the Martians have sent two more spies, Ogg and Zogg, to prepare for the invasion. After Danforth's vehicle is finished and given a test run by the Stooges, the Martians steal it and mount their own "ray gun,", to destroy selected Earth targets. The Stooges sneak onto the craft and attempt to stop the Martians!
The Three Stooges starred in this series of 156 TV cartoons, packaged as 39 syndicated half-hour episodes, with each episode consisting of four 5 minute cartoons with live action wrap-around sequences. 41 live action wrap-arounds were filmed, and 40 were reused several times each with different cartoons; the first wrap-around, Soldiers, was used only once.
Rance Roden plans to kill off all the buffalo, causing the Indians to riot and destroy the US Cavalry, and allowing the Roden gang to take over the West.
Meanwhile, a Boston magazine gets wind of the buffalo slaughter and sends Ken Cabot and his Stooge associates to Casper, WY to investigate. Once there, Ken's shooting skill, secretly aided by Annie Oakley, earns him the job of Sheriff. Rance calls on his band of famous outlaws to kill Cabot and the Stooges, but Moe, Larry and Curly Joe sneak into the gang's hideout while they're asleep and glue their firearms to their holsters. When Cabot confronts the bad guys and wins, the outlaws (with Stooge-like prompting from the boys) decide that a life of justice is better than crime. Falling back to Plan B, Rance and Trigger attempt to sell firearms and a war wagon to the Indians, and the Stooges set out to foil this plan by snapping a picture of them in the act.
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