Pop Goes the Easel (1935) User Reviews

Mud Fight At The End Saves The Picture

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 28 March 2008]

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.

Pop Goes the Easel is one of the funniest of The Three Stooges' early Columbia shorts

[tavm · 8/10 · 5 January 2011]

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.

Former Keystone Cop-Turned-Director Makes Big Impact on Three Stooges

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 8 May 2023]

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.

A clay fighting classic!

[slymusic · 28 March 2008]

"Pop Goes the Easel" was the first Three Stooges film that was directed by Del Lord, who was solely responsible for shaping & molding the screen characters of Curly, Larry, and Moe. The most memorable highlight of this wonderful short is the wild clay fight instigated by the Stooges at an art school. (In later Stooge shorts, cream puffs and pies would replace clay.)

Other highlights: As the Stooges initially run away from the cop, they come across two little girls playing hopscotch; these two girls are played by none other than Moe's daughter Joan and Larry's daughter Phyllis. Curly utters his famous catchphrase "Look at the grouse!" A small ray of sunshine through a hole in a window shade causes dismay for an aspiring French painter (Leo White) trying to rub out a "spot" on his finished painting; the Stooges try to help him out, but.....you know the rest. And Moe & Larry are quite amusing in their respective French & Arab disguises in order to elude the cop.

Without question, "Pop Goes the Easel" is a classic Three Stooges comedy. Enough said. Enjoy!

Good Three Stooges short! Hilarious!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 24 March 2005]

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!

stupid and mean

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 30 January 2020]

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 boys start to get their footing

[Jim-500 · 6/10 · 10 December 2009]

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.

art heads

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 16 August 2020]

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.

Not as funny as most

[Plissken-6 · 5/10 · 17 May 1999]

I didn't think this short was as funny as the majority of their shorts. I just found this to be a little dull at points and not too funny overall. Then again, I just might not be an art kind of person. Woo Woo Woo!

Location Info

[davjazzer-43068 · 11 September 2018]

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.

The color version looks nice....but why colorize an otherwise colorless short?

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 13 July 2018]

I found this colorized version of "Pop Goes the Easel" on YouTube. While colorizing stuff was very popular back in the 90s, this one was colorized more recently and you can tell as the process is better than usual...though the skin tones could have been better and more realistic. Unfortunately, the short itself if pretty limp...and it seems odd that they'd colorize this one and not one of the better shorts by this trio.

When the story begins, the boys are trying to do a good deed but are accused of being thieves. A cop chases them through the city and they end up taking refuge in an art school. There they pretend to be art students and all sorts of unfunny mayhem ensues. Ultimately, there is a clay fight that ends the picture.

The problem with this one is that I never once found myself laughing. It seems that the team could have used better writers than they got in this one.

Good short

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

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.

Pop Goes the Easel (1935) **

[JoeKarlosi · 5/10 · 26 January 2013]

Having the Three Stooges running amok in an art studio where they can get their hands on all sorts of assorted paints and plaster, you would expect this to be one of their best short subjects. Instead, it starts out promisingly as they play starving hobos desperately seeking employment, but oddly stalls once they take refuge in the art studio. There is some relief at the end when they get involved in a clay-throwing free-for-all, but by then it's already missed the mark. Just average fare from the Stooges, circa 1935. (Trivia: the little girls who laugh while the Stooges jump through their hopscotch squares while fleeing from a cop are actually their kids). ** out of ****

My interest didn't pop sadly

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 March 2019]

"Pop Goes the Easel" is certainly one of the more entertaining Three Stooges titles looking at the gigantic amount of films they. It runs for 18 minutes, slightly over like most other short films from them. Don#t be fooled by the photos here on imdb, it is a black-and-white film, also like mother other works by them. The names Adler and White sound familiar and they collaborated frequently with this writer-director duo. It is from 1935, so almost 85 years old now and everybody working on this one is long gone sadly, which is not too surprising because it is an early Three Stooges film. This also means it has Curly of course. There is one little anti-Germany joke, which surprised me a bit because they made many short films later on that had no political references at all. I did not like the watch as a whole though. The beginning with the trio looking unsuccessfully for jobs was fun (even if it could have needed more Larry), especially Moe's spelling part and boy who would have thought Curly was a secret Spelling bee winner. Or maybe I should say Curley. But as soon as the action moves on to the art gallery, I found it fairly uninteresting. The part with the Stooges in drag was not half as funny as it wanted to be. the only thing memorable is how Larry actually made for a woman really optically. I guess it is for good reason he is the only one with longer hair. And in the end, there is that really big messy battley basically destroying the entire art gallery. Not funny either. same can be said about the slightly violent (as always) slapstick comedy from the Stooges. I thought this was a disappointment and I am a bit surprised seeing it among the more known Stooges shorts these days given the number of votes here on imdb. I am not convinced at all. Watch something else instead. Also they could have made much much more with Leo White. Ie is really funny and deserved more screen time here. Too forgettable overall.