Vagabond Loafers

1949 American short film by Edward Bernds

October 6, 1949 (1949-10-06) (U.S.)

Running time

15:51CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Vagabond Loafers is a 1949 short subject directed by Edward Bernds starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 118th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who appeared in 190 shorts at the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

Employed as plumbers at Day and Nite Plumbers, the Stooges encounter a predicament when tasked with repairing a leaky pipe at the residence of the affluent Norfleets, who are hosting a dinner party to celebrate the acquisition of a valuable Van Brocklin painting. Moe, engrossed in studying How to Be a Plumber, grapples with the pipes in the basement, while Shemp becomes ensnared in a complex network of pipes in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Larry endeavors to locate the water cutoff, resorting to extensive excavation of the lawn in pursuit of this objective.

Amidst their efforts, Shemp speculates that the malfunctioning pipes are obstructed by wires. Subsequently, Shemp and Moe embark on a misguided endeavor to extract the electrical system from the pipes and connect a water pipe to the exposed conduit. The scene unfolds in the presence of the bewildered cook, who observes with incredulity as water inundates the stove and chandelier, disrupting his culinary preparations.

As the situation escalates, the Norfleet's residence is engulfed in a deluge akin to Niagara Falls, providing a chaotic backdrop for the nefarious activities of two party guests, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, who are revealed as art thieves intent on pilfering the prized Van Brocklin painting. Despite their scheme, the Stooges discern the true nature of the Allens' intentions and successfully thwart their efforts to abscond with the artwork.

Cast

Credited

Moe Howard as Moe
Larry Fine as Larry
Shemp Howard as Shemp
Christine McIntyre as Mrs. Allen
Kenneth MacDonald as Mr. Allen
Symona Boniface as Mrs. Norfleet
Emil Sitka as Walter Norfleet
Dudley Dickerson as The Cook
Herbert Evans as Wilkes, the butler^[1]

Uncredited

Judy Malcolm, Celia Travers, Cosmo Sardo, Alfred Paix as Party guests^[1]

Production notes

Vagabond Loafers was filmed January 25–28, 1949; the film title parodies the romantic expression "vagabond lovers."^[2]

Vagabond Loafers is a remake of 1940's A Plumbing We Will Go, and would itself be remade in 1956 as Scheming Schemers. Shemp was teamed with comedian El Brendel for the non-Stooge film Pick a Peck of Plumbers (1944), which in itself was a remake of Sidney and Murray's Plumbing for Gold (1934).^[2]

Vagabond Loafers marked the final appearances of two prolific Stooge supporting actors: Symona Boniface and Dudley Dickerson. Dickerson reprises his role as the startled cook from A Plumbing We Will Go using a mixture of stock footage from that short and new material, something of a rarity in later patchwork Stooges shorts. However, their faces would be seen in several more Stooge films when footage featuring the actors was recycled for future productions.^[2]

This was the first Stooges short to start with a modified opening title card, which now had "Columbia Pictures Corporation Presents" at the top and a new logo for the Stooges (with one "o" on a different level from the other).^[3] This opening title card would remain in effect on all but the two 3-D films (Spooks! and Pardon My Backfire) the Stooges would make through the last short featuring footage of Shemp (Commotion on the Ocean) in 1956.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Vagabond Loafers at threestooges.net
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 354–355. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
^ Vagabond Loafers (Part 1) on YouTube. Retrieved 2011-04-11.