Higher Than a Kite

No pun intended - and from repairing a car right into the middle of a war. Well it is the Stooges so suspension of disbelief is something that has to be there from the start ... and until the finish line (or is it German line in this case? Another pun you say?).

The short movie is quite nice and has a sort of break in the middle of it. We change scenery and tone in a way. But it all works out nicely. Even the drag clothing or whatever you would call it. Are there moral choices that are borderline and probably not political correct? Yes but I think there have been "worse" (or is it better?) examples of that ... everyone hates the Nazis so they are a great foe ... for Moe (and the others). That all being said this is as silly and in a way classy as the rest of the best of the Scrooge shorts ...

Higher Than a Kite (1943)

*** (out of 4)

In this short, the Three Stooges end up over seas where they hoped to get their wings but instead they end up in a garage working as mechanics. After completely destroying a car the three end up hiding in a pipe but this pipe turns out to be a bomb. The bomb eventually gets dropped behind enemy lines and the boys must battle some Nazies.

HIGHER THAN A KITE is yet another WWII spoof where the boys do whatever it takes to make Germany and Hitler look like a bunch of idiots. When you view these shorts today some might grow tired since many of the subjects were all the same but you have to remember that it was war time when they were released and people wanted to see the hated Hitler made to look like a fool. I think the best moments of this short happen in the first half as the boys cause all sorts of damage to the car they're working on. Moe gets his head caught inside a pipe and the majority of the laughs come from Larry and Curly trying to get him free.

This is a very funny short, especially the parodies of Rommel and Goehring. Vernon Dent was probably the greatest of all the Stooge foils and he has a great performance in this film. The ending scene where the Marine bulldog bites the picture of Hitler while its still stuck to Curly's rear end is an all time classic.

Regular Stooge director Del Lord took the reins in July 1943's "Higher Than a Kite." Duke York plays their boss, Kelly, as the Stooges are mechanics in the Royal Air Force's airport garage. This is the only time York is shown in a Stooges film not appearing in monster outfit. He demands they find and fix the squeaky noise in the colonel's car. After a series of mishaps, including dislodging Moe's head from a pipe, Kelly returns to drive the colonel's car, only to find all the parts of the engine falling. The three find refuge in what they think is a sewer pipe. In reality it's a blockbuster bomb that's immediately loaded onto a bomber and dropped behind enemy lines. The bomb lands in the Nazi officers' headquarters, where they survive. In the fourth of five movies where the Stooges disguise themselves as Nazis, they set out to steal military secrets. Curly unknowingly has a portrait of Hitler attached to his derriere, and is saluted by all the German soldiers he passes. That is until a bulldog with a U. S. Marine jacket starts chasing him down the German street, biting at Curly's buttocks. The ending fades to black, causing viewers to question whether the three were able to miraculously return to friendly lines. Defenders of such abrupt endings say with a 15-to 18-minute time span for each film, the screenwriters have little time to embellish how the Stooges would escape such fatalistic scenarios if brought to their logical conclusions "Higher Than A Kite" is known for several site gags, including Larry, instead of usual stalwart Curly, dressed in woman's attire to seduce the German officers while Moe secures the Nazi plans. Earlier, in the garage, the colonel's car takes a life of its own with the hood acting as a big monster's mouth, causing Curly fits. Also unusual for Moe he gets more than his fair share of punishment, from feathers in the face, to soot from the car's exhaust creating a mask of a bandit around his eyes, to his lengthy ordeal with his head stuck inside the pipe. Each idea by Larry and Curly to try to extract him from the pipe makes Moe's life more miserable.

Larry, Curly, and Moe volunteered for the RAF in England but only ended up working in their auto garage. They are told to fix an officer's car but it goes badly. They hide in a sewer pipe but it turns out to be a bomb. The bomb is dropped behind enemy lines where the boys dress up to steal secret plans from the German high command.

It's completely ridiculous as the clueless trio battle the Third Reich. It's one of their anti-Nazi shorts during the war. The Heil Hitler bit is hilarious and it's even funnier than JoJo Rabbit. In a way, they remind me of Jacques Clouseau and other fools who bumble into success. It definitely hits both as comedy and as propaganda.