Vagabond Loafers 1949

At Day and Nite Plumbers, the Stooges—three well-meaning but endlessly chaotic plumbers—are called to fix a stubborn leak at the stately home of the Norfleets, where a dinner party is underway to celebrate the acquisition of a valuable Van Brocklin painting. Mrs. Norfleet, Symona Boniface, oversees the preparations, adding a touch of elegance to the mounting tension as the clock ticks toward the guests’ arrival.

In the basement, Moe, Moe Howard, is deeply absorbed in a manual titled How to Be a Plumber as he wrestles with a tangle of pipes. Up in the bathroom, Shemp, Shemp Howard, accidentally traps himself in a labyrinth of tubing, while Larry, Larry Fine, digs up most of the lawn in a misguided search for the water shut-off, turning the yard into a muddy obstacle course.

Shemp’s window into the pipes’ supposed malfunction leads to a goofy theory: the system is clogged with wires. Emboldened by this notion, he and Moe haul out the electrical components from the pipes and connect a water line to the exposed conduit. In the kitchen, the cook, Dudley Dickerson, tries to salvage a grand feast for the Norfleets, only to witness the stove and chandelier erupt in bursts of water, splashing pots, pans, and everyone nearby.

The Norfleets’ television set erupts in a deluge as water pours across the room, setting the stage for a more sinister drama. Two party guests, Mr. Allen, Kenneth MacDonald, and Mrs. Allen, Christine McIntyre, are revealed to be art thieves hoping to swipe the prized Van Brocklin painting right under the noses of the unsuspecting hosts. By sheer happenstance, the Stooges glimpse the theft in progress and spring into action, turning the dinner party into a chaotic battleground where clever clumsiness and quick improvisation thwart the criminals.