Pop Goes the Easel

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.

A friend of mine thinks that the opening shot of Larry is filmed in front of what became Dino's Lounge on 77 Sunset Strip. The sign says Richfield. Any Hollywood buffs have some input? Thanks.

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.

The guys are up to their usual tricks as they escape a cop and hide in an art school. The short starts off a little slow but picks up once they entire the main gallery. Whatever you think of the Three Stooges, this is a funny one, especially the last few minutes.

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.