You Nazty Spy! (1940) User Reviews

An unrecognized, under-appreciated pioneer

[StevePulaski · 9/10 · 1 April 2014]

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.

before Great

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 19 March 2020]

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.

Three Stooges Go To War

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 1 September 2010]

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.

Stooges' gutsy move

[Tresix · 6 May 2001]

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.

The 3 Stooges at their best

[J.Toner · 10/10 · 28 April 1999]

I've been a fan of The Three Stooges for a long time, and in my opinion this short is one of the best they ever made. "You Natzy Spy!" does a great job of poking fun at Hitler and the Natzi's and much of the politics in Europe at the time. Moe looks so much like Hitler it's scary, a very funny film.

More satire than merely slapping.

[maxcellus46 · 10/10 · 10 December 2005]

This one shows the Stooges, the writers, and the studio all in top form. The writing is very clever, in fact rather Marxist, that is Marx Brothers type. Moe as a "Hitler type" dictator and Curly as a "mussolini", they just can't miss. Curly even does a "Bob Hope" when he turns to the camera and in reference to some dialog between Moe and Larry says, "They're nuts!" In comparison to Chaplin's overzealous take on 'ol Shicklegruber, this is much funnier. Cahplin at this point, or more accurately from about the mid 1920's onward, tends to get too much pathos involved with otherwise great comedy. His comedies and especially his feature films always seemed to be attempting to send the world a message or moral. Much like the Our Gang shorts produced during their floundering MGM period. The Stooges version is played strictly for laughs and well it should be. If you're going to play someone as rotten as Hitler, than make a total ass out of him without any appearances of "having seen the light" like Chaplin does at the end of his "Great Dictator". The Stooges are all fired up in this one and I'll bet Chaplin was too, considering the Stooge's version was released before Chaplin's. "Hail, Hail, Hailstone! Wahoo!"

The Stooges funniest and most poignant one ever

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 30 June 2000]

The Three Stooges must've known what was goin' on in Germany (all three are Jewish), so thety decided to do a parody. It is not only they're funniest one yet, but also the'yre most meaningful (I thought this parody was much better than the Groucho Marx one in 1938). Here, The stooges play Hailstone, Gailstone and pebble. They become the heads of Moronica (I love the slogan: Moronica for Morons) and start to create chaos. Very smart comedy, including scarily right on impression of Moe doing Hitler (though I crack up at the thought of him speaking) and Curly doing Mussolini. Gags of course, but the puns are hilarious as well. A++

Great Three Stooges short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 3 August 2004]

The Three Stooges has always been some of the many actors that I have loved. I love just about every one of the shorts that they have made. I love all six of the Stooges (Curly, Shemp, Moe, Larry, Joe, and Curly Joe)! All of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts! In My opinion The Three Stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team!

You Natzy Spy! is a great Three Stooges short which in My opinion is one of the best! The Stooges are very good here! Richard Fiske and he has a totally different personality than most of his role in The Three Stooges shorts. This role is similar like the one in "In the Sweet Pie and Pie". As always he performs very well. Also so do Dick Curtis, Don Beddoe, John Tyrrell, Eddie Laughton, and Al Thompson. The beautiful Lorna Gray is also in this one and she is something else! I recommend this one!

Wait a minute!? You haven't yet saw this short film. Why, I oughta get you, a copy! It's a fun romp.

[ironhorse_iv · 7/10 · 4 April 2018]

Although, the Nazis Party has been mock in plays before World War II, including, author, George Bernard Shaw's 1936 play 'Geneva' & foreign films like Fritz Lang's German film, 1933's 'The Testament of Dr. Mabuse'. In the United States, films satirizing Adolf Hitler was hard to come by. After all, the Hays code at the time, discouraged or prohibited many types of political and satirical messages in films in fear of violations, boycotts and fines. Not only that, but the codes has require filmmakers to portray the history and prominent people of other countries "fairly". Because of this & the isolationist sentiment of the United States at the time, it prevent many ideas like silent era comedian, Charlie Chaplin mocking the Nazis from ever, getting greenlighted. That was until Warner Bros took a risk by producing 1939's 'Confessions of a Nazi Spy', a straight from the headlines crime film about the FBI unearthed and prosecuted a Nazi spy ring in 1938. Seeing how a serious drama movie produce by a major studio was able to get away with it. This gave Chaplin, the confidence to start filming 'The Great Dictator', knowing full well, a comedy movie about the Third Reich could be released under his distributed company, United Artists. Nevertheless, it was Columbia Pictures who made the first move with the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard) short "You Nazty Spy!' Without spoiling the movie, too much, nobody in Hollywood at the time, saw this coming. Even some top heads in Columbia Pictures like Harry Cohn didn't know, what they were getting their hands into. Thinking nothing of it. They thought, they were getting their hands on, another silly romp, in the same vein as Marx Brothers 1933's film 'Duck Soup', with their oncoming fictional slapstick comedy short about an unlikeable idiot being appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country. To their surprise, not only, did the Three Stooges verge off, a bit of their normally physical farce and slapstick routine by indulging in a deliberately formless, non-sequitur style of verbal humor written by screenwriters, Felix Adler and Clyde Bruckman; but also like Chaplin, the Three Stooges, were from Jewish ancestry, and really wanted to stick it to Hitler; by making fun of him. It became clear as the film went on, that the Stooges were not only satirize Nazi Germany, but also helping publicize the Nazi threat to the US audience with their anti-fascist message about them, wanting to conquer other lands. Instead of punishing the Three Stooges, which would be highly unpopular, due to the fact that they were one of the highest grossing acts within the company. Columbia Pictures chose to release the film as it is, even if it had scenes involving occultism and overt sexual references. The risk was successful as the short film was a box office hit. So popular, that the administrator of the Hays Code had to choose to lift some of the film restrictions. All of this, making it easy for other films like 'Great Dictator' to follow. While, the Three Stooges indeed beat Chaplin to the punch, releasing their film, 9 months before his. Still, Chaplin's film is by far, the most superior version of two. After all, in Chaplin's film, not only, does he performs as a funny clueless evil 'Adolf Hitler' type of villain, but he's also plays the likeable hero as the naïve Jewish barber who trying to talk about loving your neighbor and having humanity. In 'You Natzy Spy!", we the audience don't even get that. This movie lacks that driven emotional moral code. There is no powerful speech about being good. There isn't even any decent people in this film. The Stooges's characters in this film, are very unlikable, power-hungry, womanizing, psychopaths who commits murder. If they weren't so funny, this movie would had been so hard to watch. Even the heroine, Mattie Herring (Lorna Gray) is pretty mess up; only trying overthrow the Stooges's characters, in order to gain money & power. What a selfish person! Despite that, all of them, give thoroughly impressive performances. As for the jokes. It's a hit and miss. Some of them, are thought-provoking and well-played like the speech to the masses & map sequence. The Stalin line made me giggle. Others come across, as too childish like the golf ball & magic 8 ball gags. As for the visuals. It was a mixed bag for me, as well. The stock footage with the crowd & the long shot with the map was kinda jarring. Nevertheless, the rest of the film was alright, both in the black and white original and the color version. As for the 1941 sequel, 'I'll Never Heil Again'. It also worth viewing. You will find yourself, laughing out loud. Overall: While, this short is not as sophistical & clever as other films from that era, like 1940's 'The Great Dictator', 1942's 'To be or Not to Be' or 1943's 'Der Fuehrer's Face". It's soitenly, still worth a watch. So check it out!

One of Moe Howard's favorite Stooges' short.

[Captain_Couth · 9/10 · 27 August 2005]

You Nazty Spy! (1940) was one of the most famous of the Three Stooges shorts. It also happens to be a personal favorite of head stooge Moe Howard. This oddity was a parody about the rise of the Axis powers in Europe. Moe Howard stars as a thinly veiled send up of Adolf Hitler and Curley Howard looks an awful a lot like Benito Mussolini. Larry Fine plays one of their suck-ups/ ministry of information. How do all of these characters gel together? Is this short even funnier than the GREAT DICTATOR? Why is this Moe Howard's favorite Three Stooges short ? You'll find all of the answers you're looking for in this hilarious view of the upcoming Second World War when you watch YOU NAZTY SPY!

Highly recommended.

Hilarious Political Spoof

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 29 June 2021]

"You Nazty Spy!" was originally released back in 1940.

Anyway - As the story goes - When the kingdom of Moronica is overthrown, Moe becomes dictator with Larry and Curly as his aides, but his ruthless ways don't go over well with his constituents.

Very funny

[rbverhoef · 8/10 · 7 November 2003]

This is a very funny movie from the Three Stooges. Moe becomes dictator of Moronica. Larry is his Minister of Propanganda and Curly is his Field Marshal. In some great sequences they make fun of the Nazis. Moe's impressions of Hitler are fantastic. A great and hilarious short!

Stooges at their most political, but not most funny

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 9 May 2017]

"You Nazty Spy!" is an American short film from 1940, so this one is already over 75 years old. It stars the Three Stooges and it's a black-and-white film of course. Don't get fooled by versions where color was added later. Anyway, when this 18-minute film was made, political aggressions were at a high point globally and of course not just the title here makes it very easy to see, but the entire film is full of Nazi references, of course in a sense where the Stooges were mocking Hitler and Germany back then. I will not talk about the exact scenes as you will easily recognize them yourselves because honestly it couldn't be more obvious. Maybe the fact that the Stooges were never masters of subtle comedy, but all in the face (especially) during the Curly days is one reason why I have never been too big on them. Yes this little movie has 1 or 2 somewhat funny moments, especially involving plays on words, but as a whole it is just never really that entertaining despite White, Adler and Bruckman being in charge and they have worked with one of the most known trios in film history on so so many occasions. It needs to be said that Curly, Moe and Larry (who was somewhat irrelevant in this one) elevated the extremely mediocre/weak material at times, but not to a level where I would call it a good watch. Only worth seeing for the very biggest Stooges fans and I guess the popularity of this one can only be explained by referencing the political context, not the quality. Watch something else instead.

Safe for hypocrisy!

[slymusic · 11 September 2006]

"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.

Making fun of dictators is ... tight

[kosmasp · 10/10 · 27 September 2022]

No pun intended - and I hope Ryan from Pitch Meetings is ok with me using one of his many catchphrases. I wonder if he ever will do some really old movies like this one. Maybe if he ever has time ... or gets a partner to help him with that stuff. Talking of partners: the three stooges! I remember how much I loved watching them as a kid. And seeing this one reminded me why ... soooooo good! I can't even describe it in words, you have to watch it. And it is a short one too.

That all being said, the three mock Hitler in this one ... clearly. The things they say work like a charm. The tape over the mouth thing feels a bit out of place and is one of the weaker jokes in this I reckon. But it is all in the silly tone the short movie has and takes. There is some ... I reckon what you would call "mumbo jumbo", which is supposed to be German ... ja? The original trio is giving it their all - but while this is supposed to be a testament of its time ... unfortunately it feels relevant today too ... and you can relate and apply it to many countries. Even ones that think they are above this - you can easily imagine the speech at the beginning being given to certain individuals ... and their IQ being exactly matched with the characters here ... if you think I insulted your "leader" (former or not), it says more about you and the supposed leader you are trying to "defend" than me and this review ... just saying.

Hollywood's First Satire on Hitler and Nazi Germany

[springfieldrental · 9/10 · 20 April 2024]

Even though America's allies were fighting against Adolf Hitler and his army of Nazi minions before Pearl Harbor, the movie production code still forbade Hollywood from producing motion pictures criticizing or making fun of the Fuhrer. The Three Stooges were able to slip through January 1940's "You Natzy Spy," a satire on the German leader. The censors gave it some latitude since they felt short movies were less impactful and visible than feature films. The movie was the first anti-Nazi Hollywood film to poke fun at Hitler. The short predated by several months Charlie Chaplin's parody feature film of a Hitler lookalike in 1940's "The Great Dictator."

"You Natzy Spy," observed film critic Martin Chalakoski, "is now considered as one of the most influential movie pieces ever made, and one that raised people's awareness when it was needed the most, while at the same time inspiring many others to speak freely on the silver screen and do the same." The censors working in the Hays Office were under pressure from influential American isolationists, including United States senators, who demanded they ban any Hollywood movie with an anti-Nazi slant that would inspire the public to press the United States into the European war. "You Natzy Spy," whose title was a variation of an Alice Faye song, 'Oh You Nasty Man,' shows the Three Stooges as wallpaper hangers working in the adjourning room conscripted by three munitions manufacturers to overthrow Moronika's king and to move the nation into war. The Stooges, who are eager to assume the leadership mantle, transition into Moe as Hitler, Curly as Hermann Goring and Larry as Joseph Goebbels, all under the guise of Hailstone, Gallstone and Pebble. Just before filming, Larry had injured his foot and walked with a noticeable limb. His portrayal of the Propaganda Minister was fortuitous since Goebbels always was seen hobbling because of a club foot.

Moronika is infiltrated by a spy, Mattie Herring (Lorna Gray), who uses a billiard 'Eight-Ball' to predict the future for the three rulers. The fortune-telling ball seen in the film quite possibly had inspired toy manufacturers to produce the hot-selling "The Magic Eight Ball" ten years after the release of "You Natzy Spy." Moe and Larry said this satire on Nazi Germany was their favorite Stooges' film. The short was so successful the three comedians made a follow-up Nazi spoof in 1941's "I'll Never Heil Again."

Different, biting, gusty, and hilarious - one of the Stooges best

[stooge60540 · 11 July 2001]

An excellent Stooge short, and one of their best. Like everybody else said, it was very gutsy of the Stooges to make fun of Hitler in the pictures since nobody else had done it yet. I can't believe this wasn't nominated for an Academy Award like MEN IN BLACK (which I don't think is that great) was. Moe's Hitler impression is simply BRILLIANT, and the man deserves more recognition for it. This short is filled with hilarious, non-stop verbal puns and funny one-liners. One of the few Stooge shorts that dared to do this instead of relying almost fully on physical humor (TRICKY DICKS is another one filled with puns and one-liners, and that's also a great short), which proves the Stooges are excellent verbal comics as well as physical. This was sequeled a year later with the Stooges as I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN.

This was also the very first Stooge short from the early 40's, which was the Stooges' classic, Golden Age period.

A Classic Satire

[Sargebri · 28 October 2002]

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).

Guts

[BigSluggo · 22 January 2001]

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.

Moronikally Marvelous!

[Adirondack · 30 October 2000]

I'm a life-long 3 Stooges fan whose favorite stooge is Shemp. Curly, however is my second favorite. Moe and Larry are probably tied for third. Moe looks AND (for all I know) sounds (when he yells in his version of German) like Hitler. My favorite magic words of all time (Ikkle dikkle bikkle mik) are in this film. They are spoken by the same girl who played Sherry in the Stooges short with Curly when the boys pose as Doctors Ziller, Zellar and Zoller. She was also one of Nell's Belles in the Stooges Short with Curly called "Rockin' Through the Rockies". You will never find any film that makes fun of World War II as funny as the Stooge World War II films. How's this for a funny thought: replace the stormtroopers in the Star Wars movies with the ones in this film! What would Darth Vader say?!

The Stooges Do Hitler

[Michael_Elliott · 27 June 2011]

You Nazty Spy! (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Some evil cabinet members want to overthrow the King of Moronica and replace him with idiots who would be willing to do anything they say. They find the idiots in Moe, Larry and Curly but it doesn't take long for the boys to mess up the country as well as the cabinet members plans. Both Moe and Larry had said that this was their favorite short and everyone knows it was a hit when originally released but when viewed today I'm still somewhat shocked that it went over so well with critics and fans at the time of release. This was released just nine months before Charles Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR and one really wonders why that film drew so much heat when it at least had a message behind it while the Stooges' film is just pure comedy. When seen today there's certainly nothing offensive here, although there's a brief bit about a concentration camp which doesn't get any laughs. The rest of the picture has the boys doing their thing and getting some very big laughs out of it. One of the highlights in the film happens early on when Moe accidentally puts his finger in black paint and gives himself a mustache and this of course is meant to make him look like Hitler. The shocking thing is seeing how close the two look and especially when Moe messes with his hair. Another funny bit deals with a female spy reading the future while Moe and Curly are holding each others hand thinking that they're holding the woman's. YOU NAZTY SPY! is perhaps one of the most loved Stooges short but to me it's just middle ground. It's certainly worth viewing but I think the history of it is a bit more interesting than the actual picture and it certainly can't hold a candle to the Chaplin film.