The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze

1963 film by Norman Maurer

The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze is the fifth feature film made by The Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly Joe"). Directed by Howard's son in law Norman Maurer, the film was loosely based on the Jules Verne classic Around the World in Eighty Days.

Phileas Fogg III, the great grandson of the renowned adventurer, undertakes a challenge to replicate his ancestor's iconic circumnavigation of the globe. The wager is initiated by Randolph Stuart III, purportedly a descendant of the elder Fogg's historical adversary. Unbeknownst to the participants, Stuart is revealed to be Vicker Cavendish, a notorious confidence trickster employing the bet as a ruse to conceal his embezzlement from the Bank of England, intending to frame Fogg for the crime. Accompanying Cavendish is his cunning Cockney co conspirator, Filch. This venture poses considerable peril for Fogg and his entourage, consisting of the Stooges and the newly acquainted Amelia Carter, whom they rescue during a tumultuous train journey. The narrative unfolds with diverse episodes: an endeavor to purloin a cream pie on a British cargo ship bound for Turkey, an observation of an intricate Indian dance at a maharajah's palace featuring the Stooges, and an arrest in China, where the characters endure Communist brainwashing, leading to their release adrift in a small boat. Exploiting Curly Joe's music induced strength, the group secures sustenance, attire, and passage to San Francisco from the manager of a formidable sumo wrestler in Tokyo. Subsequently, they clandestinely board a moving van ostensibly headed for New York City, leading to their apprehension and subsequent arrest in Canada by a British inspector. Adopting British accents, the Stooges and Amelia contrive to be arrested alongside Fogg. Returning to London, they encounter Cavendish and Filch once more, masquerading as police officers armed with hostile intent. Parallel to the original Phileas Fogg's journey, the descendant narrowly miscalculates, preserving an opportunity. In a final pursuit, Curly Joe propels the police wagon through London, enabling Fogg to triumph in the bet, concluding with a dramatic crash into the Reformer's Club just seconds before the deadline.