A Plumbing We Will Go

A Plumbing We Will Go
Directed by Del Lord
Produced by Del Lord
Hugh McCollum
Written by Elwood Ullman
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Curly Howard
Bess Flowers
Dudley Dickerson
John Tyrrell
Bud Jamison
Monte Collins
Eddie Laughton
Cinematography Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by Art Seid
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • April 19, 1940 (1940-04-19) (U.S.)
Running time
 17:31
Country United States
Language English

A Plumbing We Will Go is the 46th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1940 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

After being acquitted on a charge of chicken stealing, the Stooges attempt to catch a live fish from a pet store aquarium tank. A beat cop (Bud Jamison) catches them in action and gives chase, forcing the boys to pose as plumbers to avoid being incarcerated.

The Stooges manage to destroy the entire plumbing system in the home in grand fashion. Curly attempts to repair a leak in the upstairs bathroom and ends up constructing a maze of pipes that traps him. Larry digs up the front lawn in search of the water shutoff valve. In addition, Moe and Curly end up connecting a water pipe with another nearby pipe housing electrical wires, leading to water exiting every electrical appliance in the mansion. When a hostess invites her guests to watch Niagara Falls on her new television set, the whole company gets doused with water (therefore leading to the invention of 4-D television).

The homeowner arrives to see his house in shambles and accidentally undoes the Stooges' convoluted repair work. As they are about to reprimand him, it becomes clear that the homeowner happens to be the judge who found them innocent a few hours earlier and The Judge, his butler and The police go after the Stooges.

Production notes

A Plumbing We Will Go was filmed on December 13–18, 1939. It was the last Stooge short filmed in the 1930s.[1] It was a remake of Sidney & Murray's 1934, short Plumbing for Gold and would be remade again with El Brendel and Shemp Howard as Pick a Peck of Plumbers in 1944. The Stooges remade A Plumbing We Will Go as Vagabond Loafers and Scheming Schemers using stock footage. Interestingly, the original story in Plumbing for Gold involved searching for a lost ring which the Stooges did not use until Scheming Schemers.[2]

Curly would recreate the maze-of-pipes gag six year later in Swing Parade of 1946. Shemp Howard attempted it as well in Vagabond Loafers and Scheming Schemers, while Joe DeRita also attempted the gag in Have Rocket, Will Travel.[2] The chicken-stealing segment that opens the film was also reworked in Listen, Judge.[2]

Aside from the aforementioned reworked films, footage from A Plumbing We Will Go also reappeared in the 1960 compilation feature film Stop! Look! and Laugh!.[2]

Like A Ducking They Did Go, the title is a play on the children's song, "A-Hunting We Will Go".[2]

At the time of this short, television sets had been on the market for a few years. A typical set, such as DuMont model 183X, would have cost about $445. Using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics formula, adjusting for inflation, the same television would cost over $7,600 in 2015.[3] The set being demonstrated is merely a prop, consisting of a box with knobs attached for the "screen" sitting atop a radio console.

Reception

A Plumbing We Will Go is considered a quintessential Three Stooges film. Ranking as a consistent fan favorite, the film was also a favorite of star Curly Howard.[4]

As of 2010, A Plumbing We Will Go is the highest-rated Three Stooges film on the Internet Movie Database.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pauley, Jim (2012). The Three Stooges Hollywood Filming Locations. Solana Beach, California: Santa Monica Press, LLC. p. 209. ISBN 9781595800701.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 171–172. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4.
  3. ↑ http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
  4. ↑ Howard Maurer, Joan; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (2012) [1982]. The Three Stooges Scrapbook. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-1613740743.
  5. ↑ A Plumbing We Will Go on IMDb
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