You Nazty Spy!

1940 "Columbia's comedy scoop of the year!"
7.8| 0h18m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 19 January 1940 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

In this satire of the Nazis the Stooges are wallpaper hangers in the country of Moronica. When evil cabinet ministers overthrow the King, they decide to make Moe the new ruler as he'll be stupid enough to follow their orders. Moe becomes Dictator, Curly is a Field Marshal and Larry becomes Minister of Propaganda. After successfully preventing a female spy from committing mayhem, the boys are run out of office by a mob and eaten by lions.

Genre

Comedy

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Director

Jules White

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures

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You Nazty Spy! Audience Reviews

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Steve Pulaski 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.
slymusic "A dictator? Why, he makes love to beautiful women, drinks champagne, enjoys life, and never works. He makes speeches to the people promising them plenty, gives them nothing, then takes everything. That's a dictator." These are the exact words spoken to Moe Hailstone at the prospect of his becoming dictator of the mythical city of Moronika. Moe is quite hilarious as he plunges into his new role with gusto! Joining him in his tyranny are Larry Pebble as Minister of Propaganda and Curly Gallstone as Field Marshal. The end result is "You Nazty Spy!", the first Three Stooges comedy that valiantly attempted to satirize Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.My favorite moments from "You Nazty Spy!" include the following. (Please DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this film.) When Moe decides that he has to think very carefully before taking the job of dictator, he gives himself a Hitlerian moustache and parts his hair back! During the rather violent round-table conference, Curly swings a golf ball right into Larry's mouth! With a generous helping of nonsensical wordplay and mock German dialect, Moe is at his greatest during his outdoor speech to his Moronikan constituents. Speaking of wordplay, this short is absolutely loaded with it! As an example, when Larry asks Moe how they can hold a round-table conference with a square table, Moe answers, "In Moronika, nothing is on the square. We shall have to cut corners." As another example, when Larry says, "If I take Mickey Finlen, I better be Russian," Curly responds, "Then quit Stalin." "You Nazty Spy!" is quite an excellent Three Stooges spoof on Naziism. It was followed by a sequel, titled "I'll Never Heil Again" (1941), as well as several other anti-Nazi Stooge shorts, some of them again involving a Hitlerian moustache for Moe. To top everything off, "You Nazty Spy!" was Moe Howard's and director Jules White's favorite Stooge comedy, as well as a runner-up favorite for Larry Fine.
Brian Washington This short just proves that the Stooges were not just slapstick masters, but that they were great social satirists. The boys were ahead of the curve by making a blatent parody of how Hitler came to power. The thing that made it more ironic was the fact that Moe, a Jew, plays a perfect Hitler characature and pulls it off convincingly. If you want to see some more of Moe's dead on imitation of Schikelgruber, just look at "They Stooge to Conga" and "I'll Never Heil Again" (the sequel to this short).
Tresix 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.