Vagabond Loafers

As others have mentioned, this was a reworking of sorts from the 1940 Stooges film, "A Plumbing We Will Go," which featured Curly instead of Shemp and the boys.

I'm not going to go into too much of the story because they used some stock footage in here or they just did the same gags they had done earlier in the '40 film, which I hate to see as I've probably seen all these shorts many times over. Still, I never cease to laugh at some things, such as Dudley Dickenson's act as the cook doing double-takes and slipping and sliding all over the floor as the kitchen gets flooded, or Larry's head popping out of the ground.

When you see Kenneth MacDonald in a Three Stooges film you know you've just seen the villain. MacDonald who had a tough, film-noir voice and face. They were always good in those roles, as was Christine McIntyre, another regular in these shorts, and Emil Sitka, who usually was innocent victim of something the Stooges did. Another regular, Symona Bonfice, always plays a stuffy socialite who winds up getting ruined by the inept Stooges. As you can see, there are many familiar "Three Stooges" faces in this humorous remake.

Despite the familiarity of this story, it was still a lot of fun to watch.

When Moe jumps back in sheer horror at the unexpected sight of Larry (who just got plastered with a bag of white baking flour all over his face and hair) and then asks the frightfully scary looking stooge at the end of the short: "how much would you charge to haunt a house?" -- and Larry, assuming that Moe must be serious, and not wanting to pass on a good job, responds by asking -- "how many rooms?"; Moe angrily strikes poor Lawrence across the face, making for a truly classic Stooge moment! I laughed at this moment as hard as I laughed at all the great Curly classic moments in other shorts! Larry's contribution to the overall comedic effect of the Stooges is subtle, but very real, as evidenced by this classic moment! See also the short where they are celebrating the fountain of youth that they just invented and are enjoying some cake; Lawrence tries to steal some icing off the top of the cake but he gets caught by Moe as he is about to swallow it, so he wisely decides to ask Moe if he wants a taste as he reaches his hand out to Moe, as if Moe would lick it off his hand -- of course, Moe, looking supremely indignant, is totally mortified and immediately wallops Lawrence with a smack across his outreached hand, pushing the icing and cake into his face while saying, "No, You Keep It" -- the sound effect of this smack across Larry's face (not to mention the sight of all that cake and icing smearing into Lawrence's nose) is so loud and has such a great echo effect that it adds to the humor of the moment beautifully!

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

Vagabond Loafers is a funny Three Stooges short with Shemp! There is another short with alternate scenes called Scheming Schemers. Christine McIntyre and Kenneth MacDonald are really neat a couple. They were also a couple in the two shorts with alternates scenes called Crime on Their Hands and Hot Ice! Symona Boniface, Emil Sitka, Dudley Dickerson, and Herbert Evans also appear in this short! This is great short with Shemp!

Formulaic remake omits the intro trial scene and police chase subplot, and drops the trio into a mansion with a leak during a ritzy dinner party. Here, the three really are plumbers by trade, sort of (Moe is even reading How To Be A Plumber!) Shemp traps himself in a cage built from the water pipes, exactly like Curly did in the original. Never would have expected that. Nor would I have expected to see the footage of the cook from the original, and Larry digging in the yard, lifted whole from the earlier short film.

Everything moves along too quickly here, everything seems rushed to its predictable conclusion. The theft of a valuable painting has been added as a subplot to pad out the run time. Mistaken identities ensue, but it all just ends up distracting and over-complicating what was originally a quite funny, simple story. Emil Sitka has the funniest line, "Short circuit, no doubt!"

Moe, to Larry: "What do you charge to haunt a house?" Larry: "How many rooms?"

VAGABOND LOAFERS is a reworking of the 1940 Curly classic A-PLUMBING WE WILL GO. Scenes from the original are used in this film, such as Larry digging a hole and Dudley Dickerson as a cook in the family kitchen. This short has great gags, but I won't spoil them for those who haven't seen it.

**** out of 4 stars.

Trivia- Remade as SCHEMING SCHEMERS in 1956.