Pop Goes the Easel

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.

As the second year of The Three Stooges' independence from manager and sidekick Ted Healy rolled around, the trio were establishing new ground that would remain with them for the rest of their career. In March 1935's "Pop Goes the Easel," the most important element for the Stooges was the hiring of former Keystone film director, Del Lord, by Columbia Pictures to handle the studio's shorts, most importantly the Moe, Larry and Curly films.

Lord had been one of Keystone Cops characters early in the Mack Sennett studio days, appearing as the squad's driver. Once the Depression shut down the Sennett facility, Lord worked for producer Hal Roach before he saw himself employed at a relative's used car dealership. Producer Jules White talked with Lord who was showing him a Buick when he realized who the salesman was. He had Columbia hire him to work with the Stooges. Lord shaped many aspects of the trio's on-screen antics, which lasted until he moved onto other projects in 1948.

"Pop Goes the Easel," a takeoff of the Stooges' earlier "Pop Goes the Weasel" short, finds the Stooges chased by a police detective who mistakes them for broom thieves. The three seek refuge in an art class, where they pose as French art students. Cornered in the studio, Curly dresses for the first time as a woman, a disguise he adopts in several future episodes (Moe and Larry also are seen in drag). Moe debuts his fist maneuver as he presents his clutch hand in front of Curly, asking "See this?" Curly hits the fist by exclaiming "Yeah," only to have Moe swing his arm broadly before he bops Curly on top of the head. In another stroke of genius, Moe commands Curly to pick two fingers. He innocently selects the index and middle finger, only to see Moe poke him in the eyes.

In another scene that rarely has Moe slapping others besides his two sidekicks, a circle of art students surrounds the three as clay is flung in every direction. Moe asks, "Who started this?" Larry responsed, "You did!" Moe's reaction is to yell "Oh Yeah?" which he proceeded to whip his open-hand around, slapping several bystanders in the face.

The highlight of "Pop Goes the Easel," however, is the clay fight involving everyone in the room and those who are entering. On a variation of the classic pie fights seen in earlier comedy shorts, clay is seen in abundance in the studio since it's used mostly for the student sculptors. Larry shows that clay, which is used for sculpturing, can also be made into a three dimensional painting by throwing a clump onto the canvas. He misses, hitting one of the Stooges, setting off a madcap scene where everyone throws clay everywhere.

In an earlier scene, while the Stooges are being chased by the detective on the city sidewalks, two girls are playing hopscotch. One is Larry's daughter, Phyllis, and the other was Jean, Moe's daughter. Jean Howard Maurer was seven at the time of filming and became a character actress who wrote two books on the Three Stooges and co-authored three more. Living to 94, she was the last living person to appear alongside her uncle Curly on screen. Jean died in September 2021.

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 episode marked a huge turning point for the Stooges. Producer Jules White hired on Del Lord to direct, a former stuntman and Keystone Cop from the early days of silent comedy. An ideal match with writer Felix Adler. These two artists would unite to develop the most insane (yet) material for Moe, Larry and Curly.

It's safe to say Adler borrowed the "guys on the street" Depression scene from Laurel and Hardy, usually being chased by the cops for vagrancy. Same deal with the Stooges, managing to give the coppers the slip and dash into an artsy art school. Here we see lots of new gags, no doubt suggested by Del Lord, foremost Moe's famous "two fingers" poke in Curly's eyeballs. YOUCH! Curly also gets to walk around in drag! -- which would become a laugh out loud bit for years to come, opening the door to even more bizarro story ideas and routines.

And why not put to good use some of that modeling clay in the studio, right? New-found artists Moe, Larry and Curly get into a whopper of a clay fight, again thanks to Lord's creativity. As expected, this would inspire the famous (gooooey, crunchy, wall-splattering) Stooge pie fights over the next two decades.

Fun fact; Moe and Larry's young daughters are seen playing hopscotch in a bit part. Silent film comedian Bobby Burns plays Professor Fuller, also a dirctor of many early films like Del Lord. Interestingly, Lord would direct one comedy for the BOWERY BOYS in the 40s.

Always on remastered Columbia dvd, box sets generally ranging from each decade; 30s, 40s and 50s episodes. Many thanks to METV for running these gems Saturday nights.

Pop Goes the Easel (1935)

*** (out of 4)

The Three stooges are chased by a cop into an art school where they try their hand at painting. This is a pretty good short that features some nice dialogue as well as plenty of laughs through the fighting. The film ends with a big clay fight but for some reason these type of fights have never made me laugh. The Keystone brand of pie fights never worked for me either.

Now available on Columbia's 2-disc set, which includes over 20 shorts. The picture quality is outstanding.