| Scheming Schemers | |
| Director: | Jules White Edward Bernds (stock footage) |
| Screenplay: | Jack White |
| Story: | Elwood Ullman |
| Starring: | Moe Howard Larry Fine Shemp Howard Joe Palma Emil Sitka Kenneth MacDonald Christine McIntyre Symona Boniface Dudley Dickerson |
| Cinematography: | Ray Cory |
| Editing: | Harold White |
| Producer: | Jules White |
| Distributor: | Columbia Pictures |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Scheming Schemers is a 1956 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 173rd entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Stooges are novice plumbers tasked with the retrieval of a valuable ring lost within the labyrinthine confines of the drainage system at the opulent residence of the Norfleet family. Despite initial success in locating the ring, a calamitous mishap precipitated by Larry inadvertently propels the prized object back into the depths of the drain. Determined to rectify their blunder, the Stooges embark on a quest to navigate the subterranean infrastructure, endeavoring to halt the deluge wrought by the malfunctioning plumbing.
Larry's misguided efforts to locate the water cutoff result in a comically futile excavation of the lawn, exacerbating the chaos within the Norfleet domicile. Shemp's intuitive deduction of the underlying issue – the obstruction of the plumbing system by electrical wires – prompts a creative yet unorthodox solution: the removal of the electrical components to facilitate the restoration of water flow. The ensuing spectacle is then characterized by an inundation of water from unexpected sources.
Amidst the chaos, the theft of the prized Van Brocklin painting by party guests Mr. and Mrs. Allen further complicates the situation, escalating tensions within the Norfleet household. However, the Stooges, amidst a pie-fueled melee, emerge as unlikely heroes, successfully thwarting the art heist and reclaiming the stolen painting. Mr. Norfleet, duly impressed by their valor, elects to reward the Stooges for their valorous actions.
However, the whereabouts of Shemp remain shrouded in mystery until it is revealed that he remains ensnared in the tangled labyrinth of pipes.
Scheming Schemers is a remake of Vagabond Loafers, which in itself was a remake of A Plumbing We Will Go with former Stooge Curly Howard; additional pie fight footage was borrowed from Half-Wits Holiday. This makes Scheming Schemers the only Three Stooges short to use footage from three previous short subjects. This film is also the last to contain new footage with longtime Stooges supporting actor Kenneth MacDonald.
See main article: Fake Shemp. Shemp Howard died in 1955 after completing four Stooge comedies for that year, but Columbia was legally bound to deliver eight. So producer Jules White manufactured four more shorts "with Shemp" by using old footage of Howard and new footage of stand-in Joe Palma.[1] This method of using a body double to complete an unfinished film has become known as Fake Shemp, coined by producer Sam Raimi for his feature film The Evil Dead.[2]
For Scheming Schemers, Joe Palma appears for the shot of "Shemp" with his back to the camera, honking the horn of the Stooges' jeep. Palma then gathers several pipes, obstructing his face. Palma's one line of dialogue — "Hold yer horses, will ya?" — is Shemp's voice borrowed from the soundtrack of a recent Stooge short, Creeps (originally filmed in 1949 for The Ghost Talks). This new footage was shot on January 16, 1956, only six weeks after Shemp's death.[3]