This film was thought to be lost, as the last known copy was destroyed in the 1967 MGM vault fire that also resulted in "London After Midnight" and "The Rogue Song" becoming lost films.
But a few years ago, an Australian film collector named Malcolm Smith contacted the Vitaphone Project and said he had a print. Mr. Smith sent it to America, where the Vitaphone Project transferred it to safety stock and restored it a bit. Until its recent showings at New York's Film Forum, it had been unseen in the US for roughly 80 years. Thanks to Mr. Smith and a few of his friends, who rescued numerous film cannisters from a trip to an Aussie landfill, "Hello, Pop!" and many other films have been preserved for posterity. Thus the Stooges' oeuvre of short films is now preserved in toto.
The film itself is nothing special, an early example of cinematic recycling. The musical numbers are recycled from the never-released revue "The March of Time." Ted Healy plays an exasperated stage director just like Sydney Toler did in the Keaton-Durante "Speak Easily." The Stooges play -believe it or not- Healy's children! I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
But the two-strip Technicolor is gorgeous, and it's great to see the Three Stooges in their prime and in color. So it's worth seeing...once.
"Hello, Pop!" is a poor film, but a significant historical artifact.
But a few years ago, an Australian film collector named Malcolm Smith contacted the Vitaphone Project and said he had a print. Mr. Smith sent it to America, where the Vitaphone Project transferred it to safety stock and restored it a bit. Until its recent showings at New York's Film Forum, it had been unseen in the US for roughly 80 years. Thanks to Mr. Smith and a few of his friends, who rescued numerous film cannisters from a trip to an Aussie landfill, "Hello, Pop!" and many other films have been preserved for posterity. Thus the Stooges' oeuvre of short films is now preserved in toto.
The film itself is nothing special, an early example of cinematic recycling. The musical numbers are recycled from the never-released revue "The March of Time." Ted Healy plays an exasperated stage director just like Sydney Toler did in the Keaton-Durante "Speak Easily." The Stooges play -believe it or not- Healy's children! I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
But the two-strip Technicolor is gorgeous, and it's great to see the Three Stooges in their prime and in color. So it's worth seeing...once.
"Hello, Pop!" is a poor film, but a significant historical artifact.