Great Film overall

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film is tedious and clunky. (Howard J. Green, credited as continuity director, should never have worked in film again.) But one single scene redeems everything else (on the DVD, No. 18, Three Charming Boys). Here the film's storyline (thankfully) comes to a complete halt. In a stationary, medium shot filmed in one take, Ted Healy, Moe, Larry and Shemp recreate a vaudeville routine that is as close to seeing the Stooges live on stage as exists anywhere (unless there's still a 100-year-old audience member still alive and kicking somewhere). When Healy calls his Stoooges into the shot, he takes an instinctive step to his right, as he undoubtedly had done night after night on the live stage. The routine is more rehearsed than anything else in the film (for obvious reasons), illustrated best when Healy reads a letter Shemp has written and Shemp mouths the contents of the letter along with Healy. Stooge aficionados will be particularly interested to note that Shemp, not Moe functions as the boss Stooge.

Everybody commenting here seems to forget about the fine character actor Charles Winninger, who unfortunately is one of the best things about this mediocre picture. Yeah, we Stooges fans only watched this to see our favorite slapstick guys in their very first exposure to film, and most of us already knew that Healy's semi-popularity as a comedian was a mystery. But there are indeed other things going on here, most notably the aforementioned Winninger, who's the funniest person in this film, most assuredly. Watch out for that gigantic boot!

Probably the only reason anyone watches this today is to see the first film appearance of The Three Stooges; and any viewer looking for Stoogic brilliance will necessarily be disappointed. But taken on its own terms, there's a good deal to appreciate in this bizarre little number. The attempt to translate Rube Goldberg's comics to a cinematic format results in some hilarious moments. There are also some big laughs from a comedian named Freddy Sanborne, who ludicrously overplays his role as a gay slapstick fireman (this movie was made prior to the Hayes Code, when the character's obvious homosexuality was permissible comedy fodder). The Stooges themselves are disappointing. Their number included Shemp at this time (this was PRE-Curly), and Larry gets more dialog than Moe. They generate a few nyuks, but if you're after great Stooge viewing, you've come to the wrong place. I give this one 6 stars out of 10.

As an avid fan of silent and early talking films, I saw no harm in wanting to watch this film. I had enjoyed the Three Stooges growing up, and the opportunity to watch a film from 1930 was always welcoming to me.Never before have I been so disappointed in a film from this era. It was absolutely atrocious, and a waste of seventy minutes' time. As for what happened to the actors, I couldn't care less, not that they were doing anything anyway. Somebody should have given some care to this film. The film was not even enjoyably stupid- it was just plain foolish. To think that this 'masterpiece' was preserved makes me question whether someone really didn't just throw money away. To return to the film- do you want to be sickened, made uneasy? Then watch this awful thing! Also, Fred Sanborn- ha! what can one say save that he turns the stomach! To be somewhat fair, there was one good five minute sequence with Healy and the Stooges at a party. As for the rest, it should have rotted away.