A Plumbing We Will Go (1940) User Reviews

Quite nice

[rbverhoef · 8/10 · 15 March 2005]

I like most of the 'Three Stooges'-short films, this one is no exception. Here they Moe, Larry and Curly are running from a police officer and to escape him for good they pretend to be plumbers. In a rich woman's house they mess up every possible thing they can while only trying to fix a leak in the basement. Total mayhem is what follows, quite hilarious at times.

Although 'A Plumbing We Will Go' is your typical classic short film with the usual jokes you can come up with when things involve water, it has some very good laughs. Especially scenes with a magician, the Niagara Falls and a cook in the kitchen are, even though they are very predictable, terrifically executed. The opening sequence where the stooges are in a courtroom in the witness chair, all three at the same time, is a great start for this pretty funny comedy short.

Classic comedy at its best

[markm-00775 · 9/10 · 4 January 2020]

From start to end, you'll find yourself laughing as the funny just keeps coming. The best moment is the Niagra Falls scene, with the magic boxes a close second. There was also the bathroom scene with Curly that even goes far enough to show him having issues with his stomach in his way. Inwas loving it.

The only reason I gave it a 9, was the scenes in the kitchen with the African American actor who was used as is normal for Hollywood at the time, but in ways that in 2020 are often cringeworthy. Specifically this role wasn't as bad as most, but it was still typecast. I won't rate it lower as it's hard to be critical of older films by 2020 vision.

About as good as you'll get from The Stooges

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 21 June 2007]

This is a very enjoyable Three Stooges effort, thanks to some good writing and to having Curly as the 3rd stooge. The boys are in court on charges of stealing chickens but the nice judge lets them go. However, no sooner did they escape this charge when they were caught fishing in a pet store! The cop gives chase and the stooges hides out in a plumber's truck. When the truck arrives across town, they are mistaken for the plumbers who are to fix a rich society home. Knowing absolutely nothing about plumbing (or anything else), they pretend to be plumbers with plenty of gusto--jumping right in and thinking they can fix it. In the process they make a huge mess of the home and there are lots of cute gags involving mixing up the electrical and plumbing systems. In the end, it turns out this is the judge's house (who else?) and they are chased from the home--leading to a very funny and original concluding scene you probably will enjoy.

Overall, this is one of the better stooge films and even non-fans will probably laugh at some of their antics. Good stuff--really.

A Lead-Pipe Cinch: This Is One Of The Stooges Funniest

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 4 December 2006]

This is hilarious right from the opening scene when the boys are in court and beat the rap for being in "Miss Throttlebottom's chicken coop." They deny the charge and the judge lets them go. Curly doffs his cap and chicken feathers fly everywhere, but they are still free men! The very next scene they are outside of a pet shot with a fishing pole and net, snaring a fish from a fishbowl. "Oh, look, a "barra-cutie!," says Curly as a big fish is nabbed.

This insanity goes on and on with the same cop who wanted to prosecute them hot on their trail. To avoid him, they grab a truck, stop somewhere in the suburbs and out comes a butler saying, "Where have you guys been? We called for the plumbers an hour ago?" They look at the truck, shrug their shoulders and go inside to "fix" the plumbing problems.

No sense going into all the disasters that ensue, inside and outside the house.....but these guys can wreck a house in no time. A highlight is the black cook who provides some great double-takes. This is a great episode and real classic of The Three Stooges.

Three of the Best Plumbers that Ever Plumbed a Plumb

[Sargebri · 12 May 2003]

This is one of the best Stooge comedies. This features the Stooges in one of their favorite situations, posing as repairmen that don't know a thing about what they are supposed to be repairing. Probably the best scene in this short is when Curly traps himself in a cage of pipes and uses a hand drill to try to escape and in the process falls through the floor and lands right on top of Moe. This is the Stooges at their moronic best.

A Plumbing We Will Go

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 10/10 · 3 August 2005]

The stooges bring us another barrel of laughter with "A Pluming We Will Go". This is one of the best Stooge flicks out there I think any fan would enjoy.

The boys get into police trouble once again and run away into a van that is not their's. But this isn't any ordinary van, it's a van for plumbers. When the boys come upon a house that needs plumbing they are forced into it when they are seen by an officer. Of course, being called stooges and not knowing how to plumb, they destroy the house. Causing practically a dam in the basement, a waterfall in the bathroom, and a hurricane in the front room.

This is a great Stooge flick that anyone should enjoy and get more than a few laughs from.

10/10

Fall-on-the-floor laughing Stooges short

[Raine-8 · 10/10 · 20 November 2001]

It was indeed this very short that made me the Stooges fan I am today (which is a considerably large one, by the way). I had just started taking an interest in the Stooges "unique" films when I chanced to view this one. After it was over, I was laughing so hard I wanted to see as many Stooges shorts as possible... if they were all as great as this. Anyway, here's the premise... to escape the police, the Stooges masquerade as plumbers. The residents of a mansion call their bluff and enlist them to repair a decidedly nasty leak in their house. Their plumbing skills are put to the test... and they fail with flying colors. Larry digs a trench in the backyard (to find the shut-off valve) and Moe & Curly connect a plumbing pipe with an electricity pipe causing water to shoot from every electrical outlet in the house. When the Stooges leave, the house is in worse shape than when they arrived. Dudley Dickerson gives a memorable performance as the bedazzled cook ("This house has sure gone crazy"). A must for any Stooge fan. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

One of their best.

[BlackJack_B · 10/10 · 16 April 2012]

This short was reportedly Curly Howard's favourite piece of work with The Three Stooges and it shows him in his full glory.

The boys begin the short defending themselves in court over stealing chickens and somehow get their case dismissed despite incriminating evidence that Curly was in a chicken shack. The boys then resume their criminal activities by trying to steal fish from a pet store. The cop that was in the courthouse with them earlier sees them and goes after The Three Stooges. After an entertaining chase, the boys escape in a plumbing van. When they stop, they so happen to reach a house in need of plumbing...and so, The Three Stooges decide to use their expertise to fix the leak.

Classic Stooge antics are in the offering as the three of them pretty much lay havoc to the abode. I can say this, Moe continues his schtick of thinking he's smart but in reality being just as much of an imbecile as his two buddies. A propos for many people in 2012.

This is one of the their 10 best and a must-watch.

"This house has sho' gone crazy!"

[Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki · 10/10 · 15 August 2013]

Pure hilarity, as the trio poses as plumbers ("Three of the best plumbers that ever plumbed a plumb!") in a mansion to avoid the police. Chaos follows, as Moe bashes pipes in the basement, Larry digs up two thirds of the yard, and Curly basically encases himself in a cage made of pipes in the upstairs shower, which he also quickly turns into a wading pool. The owners of the house decide they've had enough and call the police, or try to, anyway, as their telephone turns into a faucet spraying water at them. The cook has the funniest of many lines, after a light bulb explodes with water, the burners on the stove top turn into a sprinkler system, and the entire kitchen ends up underwater: "This house has sho' gone crazy!"

Considered one of the best stooges shorts of all time.

[horrorbuff · 10/10 · 12 December 2006]

This short is considered by a lot of fans (and by me) as best stooge short of all time. If you talk to people that like the stooges. They always bring up this short by "This house has sure gone crazy". If you want to introduce anybody to the stooges. Always show them this short first. And tell them if they don't like this one they won't like the rest of them. I have been a stooge fan for a many of years every sense I have been a kid. If anyone that doesn't like the stooges. Has ether never really watched them or don't have a sense of humor. Both of my parents love the stooges. Nobody will ever top them. I hope in the future (100 years from now). That they are loved as much as they are now.

hardly the best

[JB_500 · 7/10 · 30 January 2002]

I think that the stooges produced far funnier films than this one. True this short is a good way to kill seventeen minutes if you have nothing better to do, this is not Curly's best. He was far funnier in stuff like Hoi Polloi, Uncivil Warriors, Three Pests in a Mess. Just my humble opinion

rating:6.5/10

One of their most known, but not one of their best (hopefully)

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 11 January 2017]

"A Plumbing We Will Go" is an 18minute short film from 1940, so this one is already over 75 years old. It has sound, but is in black-and-white, a description that is accurate for many of the Three Stooges short films and this is one from their earlier days. They were known to get a bit political at times as well and make fun of Hitler for example, but this one here is entirely unpolitical. The Stooges are at court and the judge decides to free them from all charges. Bad decision. Afterward, the Stooges pose as plumbers and turn a house into a huge mess with water pouring from everywhere you can imagine. But I would not say this was a very funny watch. When they managed an okay scene in terms of entertainment value (Niaga Falls television scene), they follow it up by going way over the top (water telephone) and it costs the film quite a bit. Also in this movie it becomes obvious how they were trying to promote Curly as their big star (a fateful decision with what we know now) as he has by far the most screen time and the most jokes. At times, the other two Stooges almost feel like supporting players only. Pretty disappointing as Moe and Larry have much more comedic talent to be wasted like this. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down.

One of the stooges best!

[ttherman · 12 January 2000]

This is a classic of Stooges comedy. Completely silly and funny as hell. This is a good one to introduce the Stooges to anyone who may not be familiar with their particular and unique form of slapstick comedy.

1 Leak + 3 Stooges = 1 Big Mess!

[rtivey913 · 9/10 · 10 June 2015]

Is this it? Is this really the best Three Stooges short ever made? Well, that's a very broad statement. I agree, it's an extremely funny short, and it would make it into the top 20, but I wouldn't say it's #1, because they're all equally great. This short has be in stitches. I loved the part where the chef was trying to make some food, but the clock was going crazy and it fell in his mixture, and later when he was trying to cook, the stove started spraying with water! I also loved the part where the woman demonstrated the television set that featured Niagara Falls, but then the television broke and a huge gush of water came out! And I also loved the end where a magician was trying to perform his magic trick again (Alluding to earlier in the short) but instead of a woman, out came three stooges, and a bunch of cops, two of which were on motorcycles! This was all thanks to the Three Stooges, who get hired as plumbers in this short. I loved this short, and I would watch it over and over again, and it would never fail to get a good laugh out of me.

"Start Plummin!"

[thejcowboy22 · 8/10 · 27 September 2016]

I remember working for my Father in his boiler business. My job for the day was to set up and drill a hole through concrete and wood with the use of a coring machine. Took the measurements and marked the spot . Made sure the drill was plumb and added water to protect the diamond blades from dulling. The drilling went slowly at first but about twenty minutes later I broke through to the sounds of a crash. The concrete tubular remains hit the bathroom sink below causing a flood. Luckily we shut of the building's water and repaired the broken pipes by capping them off. One of many mishaps in my blue collar career. Spent the next hour moping up the water. My Father never was big on slapstick or comedies but this Three Stooges Shorts was one of his favorites. Avoiding the authorities our Three Slackers steal a plumbing truck and end up at swanky residence. A relieved Butler welcomes them into the home as a plumbing repair is needed to fix a leak in the basement. Moe, Larry and Curly zip into action. Each Stooge does a destructive task in wrecking this house. Moe switches all the utilities. Curly builds a cage of pipes in a bathtub and Larry the hardest worker of the bunch digs till doomsday. Hilarious scenes with the chef as he tries to prepare a meal for the guests but the sink faucet shoots out flames . The stove burners spews water. Raincoat and umbrella optional for this kitchen. Historical note between the laughs, This episode shows the new newfangled invention Television for the first time. Seven years before Television became mainstream but even the Three Stooges pushed the idea back for a long time as they brought Niagara Falls right into their home. My second favorite Stooges episode.

best of Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 9/10 · 11 January 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe are petty thieves. Judge Hadley dismisses the evidence against them as circumstantial and releases the trio. They continue to steal and this time it's fish on the streets. They are pursued by a policeman through a magician's box. They steal a plumber's truck and get mistaken for actual plumbers. They proceed to wreck havoc upon a high class mansion.

This is the best of the Stooges. Curly is at the top of his game. The pipe cage that he constructs is hilarious. There is a lot of great call backs including the final scene. The only minor improvement would be the black servant character. It's funnier if those things happen to a snooty rich person or a stiff upper lip servant. The Niagara Falls bit is great. It's not that big of an issue. This has to be one of the best of the Stooges shorts.

Excellent Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 18 October 2004]

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!

One of My favorite Stooges shorts with Curly is A Plumbing We Will Go! All appearing in this short are Symona Boniface, Monte Collins, Dudley Dickerson, Bess Flowers, Bud Jamison, Eddie Laughton, John Tyrrell! There are so many funny parts here and the scenes with Bud Jamison are is really cool. There are two other Three Stooges shorts with Shemp very similar like this one called Vagabond Loafers and Scheming Schemers. A Plumbing We Will Go is a very hilarious short and I recommend it!

Every Wife's Worst Nightmare

[robert-atkinson4 · 10/10 · 27 September 2023]

This is every wife's worst nightmare (and every husbands' also) which is why it's so funny! Every wife with a "Honey Do" list, and every husband who's been asked to tackle it, or hired an incompetent tradesman to do the work, can see themselves in this episode when their knowledge and skills fall short of the task at hand, in this case, fixing the plumbing! Only the Stooges can make such a disaster so hilarious! This is my favorite Stooges episode of all time, and I think the favorite of many other people as well, IMHO! The only actor who does better than the Stooges in this episode is the actor who plays the cook, who is uncredited, unfortunately. He steals the picture, with his reactions as the consequences of the Stooges incompetence unfold around him! The funniest part is when water pours from the gas stove, and he dons a black raincoat and rain hat to try to stop the mayhem, unsuccessfully, as it turns out!

Posing As Plumbers

[StrictlyConfidential · 8/10 · 1 July 2021]

"A Plumbing We Will Go" was originally released back in 1940.

Anyway - As the story goes - When the Stooges pose as plumbers to elude the police, their ineptness overflows and they almost destroy a mansion, leaving everyone with that sinking feeling.

Curly's All-Time Favorite and Considered One of Stooges' Best

[springfieldrental · 10/10 · 5 May 2024]

Although The Three Stooges were one of the more successful comedy entertainers between 1922 and 1970, the trio's three years, from 1940 to 1943, with Moe, Larry and Curly, have been tagged 'The Golden Age of the Stooges.' Cited as one of their best Columbia Pictures short films was April 1940's "A Plumbing We Will Go." The mayhem they created in a mansion by pretending they're plumbers has created an indelible picture in the mind of viewers of the immense talent they had possessed.

By this time in their film careers, the Stooges' shorts were relegated to two directors, Jules White and Del Lord, the later handled "A Plumbing We Will Go." The three comedians found themselves comfortably in a cohesive rhythm, their skits sharpened by each successive short. Curly ranked this film, the Stooges' 46th, as his favorite. Film reviewer Dennis Schwartz writes, "What makes this solid entertainment is that The Three Stooges execute to perfection a well-conceived sight gag." That sight gag is Curly's, one of the three pseudo-plumbers who finds himself encased in a circle of pipes while attempting to staunch a water leak in a bathtub. The Stooges' film was a remake of a 1934 short, 'Plumbing for Gold,' whose focus was a search for a lost ring. There have been several remakes of this Stooges' classic as well as reprises of a Stooge stuck in a maze of pipes, most notably Joe DeRita in the Stooges' late feature film, 1959's "Have Rocket Will Travel."

"A Plumbing We Will Go" contains a scene where the host of a party where the Stooges are busting pipes is introducing a television broadcast of Niagara Falls on her newly-purchased TV set. Although the television seen in the Stooges' film is simply a prop, the electronics company Dumont was selling televisions (not many) in the late 1930s with a price tag adjusted for inflation for over $7,500. NBC and CBS were early broadcasters on their New York City experimental stations, with the first major league baseball game sent over the airwaves in August 1939, followed by the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that November. African American actor Dudley Dickerson as the cook displays his dexterity confronting a water spray from his kitchen stove since the Stooges had hooked up a water pipe to the electricity pipes in the house. Dudley looks up and sees the ceiling lightbulb filling up with water before bursting. The scene inspired director Sam Raimi, known for his love of The Stooges, to duplicate a similar situation in his 1981 horror classic 'The Evil Dead,' showing a light bulb filling up with blood.

Excellent!

[The Peacemaker · 16 May 2000]

A great short. I like how there is magic mayhem, and it looks like they've turned the stooges into women. Another great scene has the stooges wrapping shirts around a pipe to stop gas from escaping. I think people should see this show. It's pretty good (not the best show on earth, mind you).

An unforgettable Stooge comedy

[slymusic · 11 September 2007]

"A Plumbing We Will Go" is a Three Stooges classic directed by Del Lord, and it's one of the few Stooge films to cast the boys as "bad guys." In order to avoid getting arrested, Moe, Larry, and Curly make the biggest mistake of their lives when they pose as plumbers and arrive at a swank mansion to fix a simple leak.

Highlights from "A Plumbing We Will Go" include the following (DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this short). How could anybody possibly forget Curly's classic maze-of-pipes scene? The African-American cook (Dudley Dickerson) manages to steal the show as he tries to control the malfunctioning kitchen appliances. The television screen shows a majestic scene of Niagara Falls, but because the Stooges have wrecked the plumbing, water gushes through the screen and douses some of the houseguests. The ending depicts a magician (Monty Collins) who makes a pretty lady disappear from one booth to another; the magician fires a gunshot, opens a booth door, and out rushes the girl, the Stooges, several policemen, the butler of the house the boys wrecked, the judge (John Tyrrell) who put the boys on trial, and a few cops on motorcycles.

To sum up, "A Plumbing We Will Go" is one of the best of the classic Three Stooges shorts, and it was Curly Howard's favorite Stooge film as well. Curly's maze-of-pipes bit was reused in a few later Stooge films: "Swing Parade of 1946" (1946), "Vagabond Loafers" (1949), "Scheming Schemers" (1956), and "Have Rocket--Will Travel" (1959).

The Boys are at it again: You will Laugh !!!

[dozanddoz · 11 January 2003]

This entry was done during the Stooge/Curley prime, 1940. Due to stealing Watermelons, the cops are after the boys so they disguise themselves as plumbers, and completely destroy a mansion in the process. Not the best Stooge short but certainly funny and worthy of repeated viewing. Funny, wild, and Dudley Dickerson in the kitchen is "Sure gone Crazy" Great Stuff.

Bottom Line: One of the Top 10 Stooge shorts. 8 out of 10

Hilarious Short from the Stooges

[Michael_Elliott · 29 June 2011]

Plumbing We Will Go, A (1940)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This here is one of the best loved shorts from the Three Stooges and it's easy to see why. The boys are trying to get away from a cop trying to arrest them so they steal a plumbing truck, which just happens to stop by a rich house who recently called plumbers. Inside the house there is a small leak, which soon turns to a very big one once the Stooges try to fix it. A PLUMBING WE WILL GO is without question one of the most enjoyable films in the series thanks to some great writing and of course the three men going all out and delivering one fine laugh after another. There are many highlights to be found in the film but one has to be a sequence where Curly starts putting one pipe together after another to try and fix the leak only to soon find himself trapped inside all the metal. Another funny bit has Moe and Larry working in the basement trying to fix a leak only to then bust a steam pipe, which just leads to more trouble. The screenplay makes sure to keep the boys constantly moving from room to room where more trouble just follows. Some of the funniest moments in the film happen with a cook in the kitchen starts to have everything around him fall apart thanks to the idiots trying to fix the leak. All three men are in top-form but the special mention has to go to Curly who really goes all out with those maniac expressions.