Pop Goes the Easel

Many times the theme of the Great Depression begins one of the Three Stooges films, and that's certainly the case here as the boys are all out on the streets wearing big signs proclaiming their plight. Their signs are corny but the message is the same on all three: need a job and money. As usual, though, they don't have much luck getting either.

A rich man stops in front of Curly and inquires about him. "I haven't had a bite of food in three days, mister," says Curly. "Well," the man answers, "I wouldn't worry about it. It still tastes the same." Wow - it's a cold world out there!

The boys, through circumstances, wind up being chased by a cop, a familiar storyline, filled with gags as the latter is never able to catch our three heroes. The guys wind up in an art studio posing as artists....and the cornball jokes and sight gags really begin in earnest. Most of them, to be honest, aren't the greatest.

However, the story is redeemed in the last three minutes when a mud- fight (at least it looks like big gobs of mud) ensues in the studio and all mayhem breaks loose, leading to some funny slapstick.

Larry, Curly, and Moe are unemployed and looking for work on the streets. They decide to sweep the streets but the store owner accuses them of stealing his brooms. The boys are chased up to an arts school where they are mistaken for students. They are especially mean-spirited to each other in this one. Tricking Larry out the window is the worst and the best. Curly in drag is simply adorable hilarity. This is stupid and mean in the right way.

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 the most hilarious Three Stooges shorts is Pop goes the Easel. In this short are Bobby Burns, Phyllis Crane, Lew Davis, Jack Duffy, Phyllis Fine, Joan Howard, William Irving, Leo White, Geneva Mitchell, and Al Thompson. The acting by these actors are good especially by Dent, and Schindell. There are many funny scenes here that I think most Three Stooges fans will love! In My opinion this one of the most different Three Stooges shorts. I recommend this one to all!

This review is of the seventh of The Three Stooges' shorts they made for Columbia Pictures. In this one, they're three men looking for work with each individually having signs on them on certain corners saying something similar on them. After a while, they team up to take brooms from a nearby store and pretend to clean up hoping to impress the proprietor standing in front. Unfortunately, he thinks they're stealing his items and calls a cop. That cop gives chase after the boys and guess where they wind up? I'll stop there and just say there are plenty of funny gags and lines that mostly kept one laughing almost non-stop especially when Moe, Larry, and Curley (as his name was spelled at the time) dressed up in drag for the first time (with the latter doing a hilarious impersonation of Mae West) or when they did a clay fight that would later evolve into the pie fights of later years. I should also note that the little girls playing hopscotch as the boys are being chased are Moe's daughter Joan and Larry's daughter Phyllis. So on that note, Pop Goes the Easel comes highly recommended.

This short is important in stooge history for many reasons, not the least of which is that it's the first to establish the basic character personae that would follow them through their entire careers.

It begins with the stooges as beggars, trying to find food or work on the street. This is the first time where we see them as common men, trying to make sense of the real world--a recurring theme in most of their movies. Chased by cops, they end up in an art school and soon create chaos with a clay-throwing fight, a precursor to the pie-throwing spectacles which became their trademark throughout their careers. We see the boys mixing with high society and dragging it down to their level, another common theme.

This short also shows the beginning of how their characters evolved in relation to each other. We clearly see Moe and Curly (or Curley) as adversaries, with Larry as the man in the middle, for the first time. We also see Moe adding his familiar--and painful--slapstick reaction each time Larry or Curly makes a wisecrack. We hear Curly saying "I'm a victim of coicumstance!" and Moe's trademark windmill bonk on the top of the head for the first time. And it's the first time we hear Larry say "Sorry, Moe, it was an accident!", a line that was repeated throughout his entire career. It also lets us know that Moe is the team's leader--and the one to be afraid of.

About the only thing that tips us off that this is still an early short is that Curly is not yet using his manic, high-pitched voice. And some of the direction is slow, as when the boys are smearing clay in each other's faces.

Overall, it's a fun short and a good introduction to the 3 Stooges' brand of humor.