Off Again, on Again

When Christine McIntyre calls off their wedding, Shemp Howard tries to kill himself. Failing, he gets gangster Dick Curtis to kill him, but to do it as a surprise.... whereupon Miss McIntyre returns, and so does Shemp's desire for life.

Movie comics have been trying to kill themselves at least since Max Linder's 1905 short, LE PENDU; Harold Lloyd made several attempts on his own life and although the Production Code cut down on that sort of thing. This short is based on a Charley Chase short, TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE; given that Chase redid the same situation every eight years or so, it probably wasn't the first time for him.

There are some very strong gags early on, when Shemp and Miss McIntyre are in a hardware store that sells wedding cakes. After that it turns more conventional and your enjoyment will be based on how much you enjoy Shemp's tic-filled reactions.