You Nazty Spy!

Munitions manufacturers, Ixnay, Onay, and Amscray, are not satisfied with their profits in the peaceful country of Moronica. They use workmen Hailstone (Moe), Gallstone (Curly), and Pebble (Larry) to overthrow the King, becoming dictators and starting a war.

This gets shown quite early in the war and a year before Charlie Chaplin's iconic "The Great Dictator". It's too bad that this seems to have been overshadowed. It doesn't have the same visual knockout punch like Chaplin playing with a giant globe. What it does have is pushing a reticent public about the war. It's funny and jabs at the Nazis with sharp elbows.

At a time in Hollywood when the movie colony was hesitant still to critique Nazi Germany even obliquely, three comedians of Jewish ancestry did a wonderful job in sending up the whole Nazi gang for a few belly laughs.

This Three Stooges short You Nazty Spy anticipated Charlie Chaplin's more famous The Great Dictator by several months. Chaplin might have gotten a few ideas from the boys, but their film was strictly slapstick without any serious message underpinning the short.

Moe makes one great Hitler and Larry and Curly aid and abet as the field marshal and propaganda minister. They do come to an end that I really wish that Hitler, Goering, and Goebbels had come.

What can be said about The Three Stooges besides the fact that they're one of the funniest and most innovative comedy groups in film history? While their schtick is undoubtedly tame and inoffensive by today's standards, the incredible amount of physical acting, slapstick, and quick-wit that plagued each one of the group's shorts still stands the test of time as some of the most original and lawless humor that there is out there.

It's fun to go back and revisit some of the more controversial shorts the trio did, one of them being "You Nazty Spy!," released in the early part of 1940 and attempting to satirize World War II, the Nazi Party, and the Third Reich. The short infuses satire into the slapstick (maybe we should bill it "slaptire") as it follows the land of Moronica, a country in dyer need of leadership as discussed by its three current cabinet members. They enlist in the help of three half-wits, Moe Hailstone, Curly Gallstone, and Larry Pebble (I suppose Kidneystone was on an international business trip). Immediately, Moe is instated as the leader, assuming the Adolf Hitler role, with Curly and Larry by his side, portraying the likes of Benito Mussolini and Joseph Goebbels, respectively.

Scene after scene shows the leaders' incompetence but how empty promises and a blissfully ignorant public that is willing to blindly accept anything spitballed at them by the Moronica government keep them in power. A key scene depicting conformity and blind following comes early, where Moe, Curly, and Larry stand out on a balcony and dish out rules and ideas for the government. Alongside Moe, who is dishing out the madness, is Larry, holding up cue-cards for the public (structured by archive footage) that insist the audience applaud, cheer, or even hiss. The scene is a bold iteration for how conformity and blindness make up key traits of most of the public.

"You Nazty Spy!" is as satirical and thought-provoking as it is substantial and hilarious, featuring Moe Howard in an underrated performance that clearly channels on the likes of Adolf Hitler. Howard gives a thoroughly impressive performance; one that has unfortunately been shadowed, with Charlie Chaplin's performance in The Great Dictator (which came out later) getting most of the love. This is a bit upsetting, as Howard achieves rare comic ability of being uniquely funny but also potent with his satire of Hitler. Assisted as usual by the likes of his acting partners Larry Fine and Curly Howard, Howard's role in "You Nazty Spy!" turns out to be one of the essential reasons why the short is so successful.

World War II satire/propaganda wasn't uncommon; even Disney, the company you expect to remain squeaky-clean during this time, is guilty of churning out animated shorts criticizing or lampooning the Nazi Party and the communist lifestyle. Even with lofty ideas and criticisms, director Jules White and writers Felix Adler and Clyde Bruckman still keep the short at a nicely safe and controlled level, as well as the short being helped by the likes of its Stooge cast, who never cease to infuse their own trademark comedy into any kind of scenario. In the long line of World War II comedy skits, this one ranks considerably high and one of the smarter critiques, which comes as surprising given the comedy group's territory.

Starring: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard. Directed by: Jules White.

Mel Brooks has often said that humor was probably the one weapon that the Jews had against the Nazis. The Three Stooges get there shots in at the Nazi Party with the short YOU NAZTY SPY! This was the first time that anyone in the movie business had the nerve to make fun of Adolf Hitler. Released in January of 1940 (over a year before the U.S. entered WWII), NAZTY SPY! beat Charlie Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR by nine months. YOU NAZTY SPY! starts with three men, Mr. Ixnay, Mr. Amscray and Mr. Ohnay discussing how they can keep their munitions business going when the king of the country of Moronica wants only peace. Their solution: Overthrow the king and install a dictator who will do their bidding. Their man: Wallpaper hanger Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard). There are also jobs for his assistants too, Gallstone (Curly Howard) and Pebble (Larry Fine).

The thing that really makes this work is Moe's uncanny resemblance to Der Fuerher and the subtle things that underscore the real-life situation like Hailstone's speech to the masses. It looks almost like the real thing. This short proves that the Stooges were indeed much more than mere slaps and eyepokes, and that they may have been a lot more intelligent off camera than people gave them credit for.

While the Three Stooges did tend to recycle jokes (Curly with the spring stuck to his rear end appeared often), "You Natzy Spy" is a complete turnaround. While not abandoning the prerequisite slapstick, the fact that this was filmed during World War II (albeit before America's participation, which at this point was almost inevitable anyway) starring three Jewish actors is stunning. From the Hitler moustache that Moe wears (which he removes to shave underneath and, when it is stolen, he yells, "gimme back my personality") to the name "Moronica" to the caricatures of Mussolini and (apparently) Hirohito, to the Axis world leaders battling over the world by throwing a globe around the room, to plenty more potshots at Hitler and his allies, "You Natzy Spy" is hilarious, but it really does have that underlying knowledge that, had Hitler won, the boys would have certainly met their early deaths. The guts and patriotism shown by the boys proves that they took their work seriously to say the least, risking their lives for their craft.