You Nazty Spy!

You Nazty Spy!
Directed by	Jules White
Produced by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Richard Fiske Lorna Gray Dick Curtis Don Beddoe Floreine Dickson Little Billy John Tyrrell Bert Young Joe Murphy Eddie Laughton Al Thompson
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	January 19, 1940
Running time	17' 59"
Country	United States
Language	English

You Nazty Spy! is the 44th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. It was the first Hollywood film that openly satirized Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, months before Charles Chaplin's controversial feature film, The Great Dictator.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Significance 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links

Plot

In the fictional country of Moronica, three munitions manufacturers—Messrs. Ixnay (Richard Fiske), Ohnay (Dick Curtis) and Amscray (Don Beddoe)—decide their country is in need of a change. They decide to implement a dictatorship, oust the king, and go about finding someone stupid enough to be a figurehead leader. Ixnay volunteers the three wallpaper hangers simultaneously working in his dining room—the Stooges.

Ixnay presents Moe Hailstone, Curly Gallstone, and Larry Pebble with the offer to run Moronica. Moe is instituted as the leader (the Adolf Hitler role), with Curly as Field Marshal Gallstone (a representation of Hermann Göring), and Larry as Minister of Propaganda Pebble (a representation of Joseph Goebbels). After his takeover, Hailstone proceeds to give a speech to the masses, cueing Larry to display signs reading "APPLAUSE", "CHEERS" and even "HISS". Moe "bonks" Larry after Larry accidentally raises the cue card for "HISS" at the wrong time during one of Hailstone's speeches. (In this scene Curly is clearly mimicking Benito Mussolini.)

However, the daughter (Lorna Gray) of the overthrown king pays Hailstone a visit, going by the name Mattie Herring (a spoof of World War I spy Mata Hari). The Stooges suspect she is a spy, and attempt to execute her. She escapes, and gathers a huge mob to storm Hailstone's palace. The trio quickly abdicate, and flee into a lion's den. The lions inside spot the Stooges and chase them to their doom; the lions are seen leaving their secluded area wearing the trio's clothes, with one burping.

Significance

You Nazty Spy! satirized the Nazis and the Third Reich and helped publicize the Nazi threat in a period when the United States was still neutral about World War II, and isolationist sentiment was prevalent among the public. During this period, isolationist senators such as Burton Wheeler and Gerald Nye objected to Hollywood films on grounds that they were anti-Nazi propaganda vehicles designed to mobilize the American public for war. According to the Internet Movie Database, You Nazty Spy! was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler. It was released nine months before the more famous Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator, which was then in production. Heavy publicity in Hollywood about Chaplin's planned film began to circulate in mid-1939, and may have helped serve as inspiration for the film. Much like the case of Chaplin, Moe Howard's physical resemblance to Hitler (when in makeup) was probably a key source of inspiration.

The Hays code discouraged or prohibited many types of political and satirical messages in films, requiring that the history and prominent people of other countries must be portrayed "fairly"; but short subjects may have been subject to less attention than feature films.

Another notable feature of You Nazty Spy! was the fact that it was implying business interests were behind the Nazi rise to power. This is probably reflective of a common belief among some Americans about the Nazis at the time, possibly from the involvement of Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht, among other leaders of German industry, in the pre-World War II years of the Third Reich.

Notes

• The title is supposedly a parody of comedian Joe Penner's catchphrase "You Nasty Man!" ^[1]
• Moe Howard became the first American actor to portray/imitate Adolf Hitler in this film.
• Both Moe Howard and Larry Fine cited You Nazty Spy! as their favorite Three Stooges short.^[2]
• You Nazty Spy! was followed by a sequel, I'll Never Heil Again, in 1941.
• Larry Fine injured his leg shortly before filming, and can be seen with a limp throughout the short. Fortunately, this was appropriate for his role as a parody of Joseph Goebbels, who walked with a limp due to a club foot.
• The names of the munitions manufacturers are Pig Latin for "Nix" (a slang term of that era), "No", and "Scram", which in turn were known by the audience as slang in their Pig-Latin form.
• The parody of the Nazi banner with two snakes in the form of a swastika says "Moronika for Morons" which is a play on the Nazi slogan "Deutschland den Deutschen" (Germany for Germans).
• The Stooges—all Ashkenazi Jews—occasionally worked a word or phrase of Yiddish into their dialogue. In particular here, the Stooges make several overt Jewish and Yiddish cultural references:
  • The exclamation "Beblach!" used several times in the film is a Yiddish word meaning "beans".
  • "Shalom aleichem!", literally "Peace unto you" is a standard greeting in Yiddish meaning "hello, pleased to meet you".
  • "Moe: We'll start a 'Blintzkrieg' (Blitzkrieg). Curly: I just love blintzes especially with sour krieg." This is a reference to the Ashkenazi Jewish dish blintzes with sour cream.
  • In Moe's imitation of a Hitler speech, he says "in pupik gehabt haben" (the semi-obscene "I've had it in the bellybutton" in Yiddish). These references to the Nazi leadership and Hitler speaking Yiddish were particularly ironic inside jokes for the Yiddish-speaking Jewish audience.^[2]
  • In addition to the "Mata Hari" reference, the name of the female spy Mati Herring is a play on the Yiddish and German name of soused herring matjeshering.
• When Mr. Ixnay informs the Stooges of how to overthrow Moronika's monarchy, and suggests that the takeover of Moronika start with a "putsch", it refers to the historical Beer Hall Putsch, the real-world Nazi party attempt at a power grab in the Weimar Republic of 1923. Curly's humorous response to Mr Ixnay's suggestion, to explain it to Moe and Larry, was that "You 'putsch' your beer down, and wait for the pretzels".
• Curly "Gallstone"'s red book of women's addresses and phone numbers has the rather overt sexual references "Ruby Clutch" "oh, oh oh! G" (bra size) and the unread "Tessie oomph 2 69" which were ignored by the censors. This was a key dig at the attempt to censor The Great Dictator then in production by Charlie Chaplin. (Curly was also noted in his personal life for being a womanizer.)
• Curly Gallstone says to Mati Herring when he takes her out to shoot her "Let's go shoot the works." Hermann Göring was known to be a morphine addict; this was a slang allusion to the intravenous injection of morphine.
• A colorized version of this film was released in 2004. It was part of the DVD collection entitled Stooged & Confoosed.
• If you watch Curly's lips closely after he shoots Moe, and the three of them are talking together, you can see him mouthing both Moe and Larry's lines.
• The Three Stooges were the first actors to spoof Hitler.
• This films marks one of the few instances in which the Stooges end up dying in the end of the film; they end up eaten by their own lions.
• You Nazty Spy was also the first Stooges short to bear a new opening title sequence, with the "Torch Lady" on the left-hand corner, standing on a pedestal where each step has printed out "Columbia," "Short Subject" and "Presentation," and the opening titles and credits are inside a box with rounded edges. This format will remain in effect through Booby Dupes.^[3]

References

External links

• Moe, Larry and Curly: Premature Anti-Fascists
• You Nazty Spy at StoogeWorld.com
• You Nazty Spy! at the Internet Movie Database
• You Nazty Spy! at AllRovi

The Three Stooges Ted Healy Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Shemp Howard Joe Besser Joe DeRita Emil Sitka Supporting actors Eadie Adams Mary Ainslee Murray Alper Dorothy Appleby Phil Arnold Buddy Baer Mark Bailey Edgar Barrier Phyllis Barry Rayford Barnes Don Beddoe Bonnie Bonnell Gladys Blake Mel Blanc Joe Bolton Lynton Brent Stanley Blystone Bobby Burns Symona Boniface Nanette Bordeaux Harold Brauer Lloyd Bridges Peter Brocco Samson Burke Walter Burke Bill Camfield Connie Cezan George Chesebro Carol Christensen Jack Clifford Peter Coe Robert Colbert Monte Collins Chester Conklin Heinie Conklin Spade Cooley Gino Corrado Phyllis Crane Dick Curtis Maurice Dallimore Diana Darrin Michael David Lew Davis Peter Dawson Marjorie Deanne Vernon Dent Richard Devon Dudley Dickerson Ann Doran Anthony Eustrel Herbert Evans Herbie Faye Richard Fiske Kelly Flint Bess Flowers Peter Forster Joan Freeman Paul Frees Milton Frome Hal Fryar Paul "Mousie" Garner Maxine Gates Slim Gaut Henry Gibson Julie Gibson Billy Gilbert Johnny Ginger June Gittelson Ned Glass Ruth Godfrey Lorna Gray Dee Green Jane Hamilton Marcia Healy Myron Healey Carol Heiss Althea Henley Al Hill Rex Holman Victoria Horne Doris Houck Mary Beth Hughes William Irving Bud Jamison Suzanne Kaaren Johnny Kascier Iau Kea Fred Kelsey Tom Kennedy Robert Kino Fred Kohler Nancy Kovack Frank Lackteen Don Lamond Muriel Landers Eddie Laughton Norman Leavitt Lu Leonard Ethelreda Leopold George J. Lewis Sylvia Lewis Jack "Tiny" Lipson Anna-Lisa Margie Liszt Babe London Ted Lorch Kenneth MacDonald Betty Mack Wayne Mack Jock Mahoney Laurie Main Judy Malcolm Ed T. McDonnell Christine McIntyre Marlin McKeever Mike McKeever Dal McKennon Eva McKenzie Patricia Medina Cheerio Meredith Frank Mills Mort Mills Frank Mitchell Geneva Mitchell James C. Morton George N. Neise Nestor Paiva Joe Palma Blanche Payson Snub Pollard Stanley Price Norma Randall Rebel Randall Quinn Redeker Suzanne Ridgeway Blossom Rock Guy Rolfe Gene Roth Benny Rubin Tim Ryan Fred Sanborn Jay Sheffield Cy Schindell Bruce Sedley Harry Semels Paul Shannon Barbara Slater Sally Starr Robert Stevens Robert Stevenson Edson Stroll Frank Sully Harriette Tarler Forrest Taylor Greta Thyssen Al Thompson Victor Travers John Tyrrell Philip Van Zandt Dick Wessel Adam West Blackie Whiteford Jean Willes Patricia Wright Evelyn Young Duke York Directors Edward Bernds Preston Black Lou Breslow Clyde Bruckman Charley Chase Harry Edwards Archie Gottler Walter Lang Charles Lamont Del Lord Norman Maurer Ray McCarey Hugh McCollum David Lowell Rich Jules White Screenwriters Ewart Adamson Felix Adler Andrew Bennison Herman Boxer Clyde Bruckman Jack Cluett Lloyd French Irv Frisch Will Harr Al Giebler Thea Goodman Jerome S. Gottler John Grey Griffin Jay Searle Kramer Charles Nelson Albert Ray Elwood Ullman Jack White/Preston Black Works The Three Stooges filmography The Three Stooges Collection Jerks of All Trades The New Three Stooges episodes Kook's Tour Moe Howard and the Three Stooges Related articles The Three Stooges in popular culture The Robonic Stooges Stoogemania Fake Shemp "Swinging the Alphabet" "The Curly Shuffle" 1984 arcade game 1987 video game Rube Goldberg Slapstick Vaudeville Harry Cohn Foley artist Rich Koz American burlesque 2012 feature film