Having taped this movie from AMC's Third Annual Film Preservation Festival when the subject was comedy, I was very anxious to see the film debut of The Three Stooges with Ted Healy as their original leader and Shemp Howard in the original group before quitting, allowing younger brother Curly to take his place. Written by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who makes a cameo here, the story-about an elderly costume store owner (Charles Winninger) about to lose his place-is nothing special but has some amusing visual humor when we see some of Winninger's inventions like the complicated ways to wake up and stop a robber involving a cat and a giant boot. This and other weird gadgets are what Goldberg is famous for drawing. As for the Stooges, they play firemen who Ted hangs around with when he's not constantly arguing with his girlfriend (Frances McCoy). Legend has it that Fox studio head Winfred Sheehan wanted the Stooges without Ted, who was angered and stormed off taking the boys with him, signed to a long-term contract and that's why Shemp went out on his own after a brief split soon afterwards. So this is the only time on film he's with Healy who performs along with his brother Moe (credited as Harry) and Larry Fine, none of whom have the wild hair they became known for. The reason Sheehan may have only wanted Howard, Fine, and Howard might have been the scene where they order such bizarre things like a "ham and corn beef sandwich on white on rye" or a "baloney with whipped cream"! That and a later routine with Ted in which the boys perform "The Elevator Dance" (in which Larry stands still while Moe hand pops his mouth and Shemp rubs sandpaper together) which has "no steps to it" are the funniest parts of the movie. Nearly everything else is "eh" though there's also some entertaining xylophone playing by another comic foil named Fred Sanborn and a little kid named Billy Barty amusingly attempts to pop a balloon as he keeps somersaulting. Worth a look for Three Stooges fans and anyone interested in the early talkies. By the way, those were the Stooges' real-life wives with them in the fire-truck moving sequences.