No doubt the Hollywood war propaganda machine was working overtime and exhausted when this little flicker was approved for production. The plot is terrible but the portrayals of Hitler and Mussolini are spot on. I bet GI's on troop ships heading for Europe found it hilarious. In that manner it's a little gem. A lot of production values in sets and costumes. Clever use of Alka-Seltzer. Enjoy it for what it is.
10 Reviews
It truly was a nuisance to watch. I will give the film that.
ironhorse_iv4 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as 'Double Crossed Fool' and 'The Last Three'; this wartime short 1943 comedy released by United Artists was a loose sequel to 1942 'The Devil with Hitler'. Yet the story felt more like a prequel. If it was not, the motion picture has a lot of plot holes. Directed by Glenn Tryon, the film written by Earle Snell and Clarence Marks abandoned the outcome of the last flick, by having the now alive Adolf Hitler (Bobby Watson) along with his allies, Benito Mussolini (Joe Delvin) & General Suki Yak (Johnny Arthur) make a top secret trip to the Arab world to gain support for the war only for it to run amuck. There is no mention of Hitler going to hell and competing with the devil himself played by Alan Mowbray. The actor nor that character doesn't even appear onscreen here. That also includes Douglas Fowley as out of place American Insurance salesman Walter Beeter and Linda Kraus as Marjorie Woodworth, the German Spy working for the US government that cause Hitler's demise in the last picture. Now the heroes are Benson (Frank Faylen), a seaman who supply ship was sank by a Nazi submarine & his over bubbly love interest Kela (Jean Porter) a beautiful magician assistant. Two mediocre characters that didn't really get the job done as they ran their capture sub aground. Probably dooming them all on a desert hostile island with little food and water. Their mission was not a roaring success. The ending was truly really lame. The poster was really a lie. Nowhere in the film was Hitler strap to a bomb and drop onto Berlin. The closest was him being shot out a cannon and landing headfirst into a pile of sand with his feet treading empty air in a cartoony way. He pretty much lives through this which is disappointing. I kinda would like the 1964 'Dr. Strangelove' ending with Hitler riding a bomb. Regardless just like the previous making fun of the leaders of the Axis Powers Streamliner featurette also produce by Hal Roach. The comedy has the same old schtick. It's poorly written not clever childish jokes. Spiking the served soup with pepper & switching the guests' wine with kerosene is not the best this movie could do for laughs. I know because the last movie was far more explosive. Also, I had seen better slapstick humor in the Three Stooges Tripartite Pact routine with 1940's film 'You Natzy Spy' and 1941 'I'll Never Heil Again'. It's certainly not in the levels of sophistical jokes that 1940 'The Great Dictator', 1942 'To be or Not to Be' or 1943 'Der Fuehrer's Face" has. Instead the comedy is just now a little more offensive as the film make a long comedic gag where people wouldn't tell the different between the Yellow Peril caricature of a Japanese leader and an orangutan. A less racist caricature of Hideki Tojo or Emperor Hirohito would be better in familiar and in tone than what we got here. At least, that actor that played Paj Mab didn't spoke in broken English with his awful middle eastern make up like Arthur did. Regardless, I have no idea what real life leader, the film was trying to mock here. His American accent was seeping in and was somewhat kinda jarring. As for Watson, his reprise over the top acting as Hitler has really gotten tiresome and old by this stage as he played the leader two times previous with 'The Devil with Hitler' and 1942 'Hitler: Dead or Alive'. Can't believe that he continued to perform as him in 7 more movies after this. He was really typecast much like Delvin who played Mussolini four times in his career. As for supporting actors like Rex Evans as Hermann Goering, Wedgwood Nowell as Heinrich Himmler and Charley Rogers as Josef Goebbels. They were alright, but their characters were not in the film that much. It was kinda disappointing not to see Hitler's inner circle not meet their end in the climax. Overall: This 44minute US propaganda motion picture hasn't seen better days since it was first released. The black and white footage is kinda grainy and out of focus. Even the enhancement DVD pristine version is not that great in video quality. Yet it does do a better job in reducing noise than watching the film on Youtube. So that's at least is a plus. To add onto that, the musical score by Edward Ward fits in well with most scenes even if it's does sound like stereotypical and racism region music. All versions of the film do a good job on that. In the end, it's still certainly not worth watching. It is a flaw movie. A film that's not all Reich.
Oh those silly evil men who want to rule the world.
mark.waltz23 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
An admirably funny streamline feature (twice the length of a short, yet 20 minutes short of a full length film), this follow-up to "The Devil With Hitler" finds Hitler (Bobby Watson yet again) trying to avoid encountering Mussolini (Joe Devlin) and Suki Yaki (Johnny Arthur, spoofing either Emperor Hirohito or a stereotypical Japanese general) so he can get to Arab chief Ian Keith to be the one to get him to sign a treaty to get him on the side of the Axis. American survivors of a naval ship attack end up on the same island where the three evil men (reunited in spite of Hitler's best efforts) are trying to convince Keith to sign the treaty, interrupted by Keith's constant demands of entertaining. Frank Faylen, one of the American survivors, disguises himself as an Arab, working with magician's assistant Jean Porter to distract the three men and prevent such a treaty from being signed. This results in several amusing magical act segments, one where Suki Yaki is somehow replaced by a lovable chimp! The chimp gets into a pillow fight with Hitler and Mussolini (after having taken a fancy to the Italian dictator in an earlier scene), and it is up to Faylen and the other Americans to stop this treaty from going through. It's fast, funny, but predictable, the type of film that like "The Great Dictator" and "To Be or Not to Be" influenced Mel Brooks to ridicule Hitler on screen later in "The Producers". How Watson managed to be a menacing Hitler ("The Hitler Gang") as well as a buffoonish one (in this and "The Devil With Hitler") is quite amusing in itself. Dated, but fun, this is more historical record of the types of propaganda and feel good release from the stress of war that Americans hoped for much of as they dealt with the stress of the unknown as the war continued to drag on during the early to mid 1940's.
Completely moronic, but somehow still kind of fun
planktonrules30 March 2007
Considering that this film is LESS sophisticated and the humor is even broader than the Three Stooges in I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN (where the three play the leaders of the Axis Powers), it's no surprise that I only gave it a score of 3. Like many of the Hal Roach short movies of the early 1940's, this one is pretty poorly written and the humor is far from sophisticated--in fact, it's downright childish. This film is about as close as you'll find to "Bevis and Butthead" in this era--it's THAT silly. But, like Bevis and Butthead, you might in spite of the lameness, actually find yourself laughing at some of their antics. Just don't let anyone see you watch this dopey propaganda film if you want to impress them with your sophistication or intelligence!!!
As for the plot, it's a fantasy involving Hitler, Mussolini and, oddly, a Japanese general named "Suki Yaki"--instead of Hirohito or even Tojo. All three go to a fictional Arabic country to sign a treaty with a self-important despot. At the same time, a dingy full of Americans sailors from a sunken ship arrive and are able to thwart the evil trio's plans. It is fun to watch them beat up Hitler and it's a great historical insight into the times, but don't expect a great film. Dumb, silly and yet somehow watchable--this is NAZTY NUISANCE.
A couple of tidbits--First, the film refers to Hitler as "the paper hanger", though Hitler never worked putting up wallpaper (a common myth of the time). Second, I recognized the young lady who starred in the film (Jean Porter) but at first had trouble placing her. Among other films, she starred in an Andy Hardy film as well as a couple of the William Tracy army films made by Roach Studios.
As for the plot, it's a fantasy involving Hitler, Mussolini and, oddly, a Japanese general named "Suki Yaki"--instead of Hirohito or even Tojo. All three go to a fictional Arabic country to sign a treaty with a self-important despot. At the same time, a dingy full of Americans sailors from a sunken ship arrive and are able to thwart the evil trio's plans. It is fun to watch them beat up Hitler and it's a great historical insight into the times, but don't expect a great film. Dumb, silly and yet somehow watchable--this is NAZTY NUISANCE.
A couple of tidbits--First, the film refers to Hitler as "the paper hanger", though Hitler never worked putting up wallpaper (a common myth of the time). Second, I recognized the young lady who starred in the film (Jean Porter) but at first had trouble placing her. Among other films, she starred in an Andy Hardy film as well as a couple of the William Tracy army films made by Roach Studios.
This film probably wasn't a nuisance...
Horst_In_Translation30 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
but it certainly was not a piece of quality filmmaking either. The version I watched was the television version, which runs for 43 minutes roughly. It is a black-and-white film and was made in America during World War II. It is basically a spoof of the current political situation and only has one goal: to show people how big of an idiot the leaders of Germany, Italy and Japan were at this point. This political background is also the only reason to maybe watch it in my opinion. It is 100% comedy, but never really funny. The jokes are more on the level of monkeys spilling ink into the antagonists' faces and the over-the-top American patriotism depicted in here does not exactly help either. This is actually the sequel to another movie, so maybe check that one out too if you enjoyed this one here. Unfortunately, neither the directors, writers or actors in here are fairly known and maybe this is also a reason why it did not turn out so well. I have quite an interest in politics, especially in World War II, but this one here did not do much for me. Not recommended.
Not as good as the first film
Michael_Elliott26 February 2008
Nazty Nuisance (1943)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Hal Roach comedy is a sequel to The Devil With Hitler has Hitler, Suki Yaki and Mussolini traveling to a deserted island to sign a deal with an Arab but there's an American sailor there who has his own plans. This here comes as a real disappointment because I really enjoyed the previous film for its rather unique story. As with that film, this one here runs 44-minutes but there are only a couple laughs. There's one huge laugh where Hitler is fed soup with a box of pepper in it but outside of this scene there's really not much going on.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Hal Roach comedy is a sequel to The Devil With Hitler has Hitler, Suki Yaki and Mussolini traveling to a deserted island to sign a deal with an Arab but there's an American sailor there who has his own plans. This here comes as a real disappointment because I really enjoyed the previous film for its rather unique story. As with that film, this one here runs 44-minutes but there are only a couple laughs. There's one huge laugh where Hitler is fed soup with a box of pepper in it but outside of this scene there's really not much going on.
Hal Roach's Three Stooges
boblipton23 April 2019
Hitler, Mussolini and Suki Yaki go to a small island to negotiate with a stage magician. Little do they know they are dealing with shipwrecked sailors.
It's mean-spirited wartime burlesque, pure and simple, made while Roach's studio was mostly busy with war work. How Glen Tryon came to shoot this piece at the Lot of Fun is a bit of a mystery, but he did have a history with Roach, having been a starring player for several of Roach's mid-twenties features and shorts. Then he had gone on to other companies. Tryon's acting career ended in 1932. He moved behind the camera, writing and directing. His movie work ended in the late 1940s.
Before you start ranting about the racism evident in this movie, try taking a look at current Chinese movies about World War Two, made three quarters of a century after that conflict ended. They are even more racist about Japan.
It's mean-spirited wartime burlesque, pure and simple, made while Roach's studio was mostly busy with war work. How Glen Tryon came to shoot this piece at the Lot of Fun is a bit of a mystery, but he did have a history with Roach, having been a starring player for several of Roach's mid-twenties features and shorts. Then he had gone on to other companies. Tryon's acting career ended in 1932. He moved behind the camera, writing and directing. His movie work ended in the late 1940s.
Before you start ranting about the racism evident in this movie, try taking a look at current Chinese movies about World War Two, made three quarters of a century after that conflict ended. They are even more racist about Japan.
Follow up to "The Devil with Hitler" is lighter more focused romp
dbborroughs2 October 2006
This is the sequel to The Devil With Hitler concerns Hitler, Mussolini and Suki Yaki going on a secret mission to sign a treaty with an Arab sheik. Once in the desert the trio run into not only the sheik but also a sailor with a talent for magic.
I don't know which is a better movie, this or the first film. The first film has long set pieces and not much in the way of "plot", this one has more of a plot and less set pieces. Both are funny, which is all that matters. Its more craziness as the three leaders attempt a game of oneupmanship with each other and only prove they are on up on no one. This is the lighter of the two films with the eeriness of Hitler's pronouncements about the horrors of the Third Reich gone, replaced by a magic act and an ape. Its a great deal of fun.
Worth seeing, especially if you can double feature it with the first film. (Apparently after the initial release the two "streamliners" were cut together into a regular feature)
I don't know which is a better movie, this or the first film. The first film has long set pieces and not much in the way of "plot", this one has more of a plot and less set pieces. Both are funny, which is all that matters. Its more craziness as the three leaders attempt a game of oneupmanship with each other and only prove they are on up on no one. This is the lighter of the two films with the eeriness of Hitler's pronouncements about the horrors of the Third Reich gone, replaced by a magic act and an ape. Its a great deal of fun.
Worth seeing, especially if you can double feature it with the first film. (Apparently after the initial release the two "streamliners" were cut together into a regular feature)
Those Axis Stooges
bkoganbing31 May 2010
Nazty Nuisance is the kind of World War II propaganda film that really hasn't worn well with time. In fact this is the kind of film that rarely saw the light of day after the revelation of the Holocaust. Reducing, Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese to the level of the Three Stooges after that just wasn't funny.
This film was produced by Hal Roach who was the genius of so much screen comedy that has stood the test of time. Nazty Nuisance just isn't in the category of a good Laurel&Hardy film.
Bobby Watson who played Hitler on call in so many films good and bad gets a summons from a tropical island nation with whom the Nazis want to sign a treaty and then break the treaty when it becomes inconvenient. But the chief Ian Keith won't negotiate with no one, but the head man. Hitler was going to go alone, but his allies Mussolini played by Joe Devlin and Japanese warlord Sukiyaki played by Johnny Arthur hear about the trip and want to come along.
In the meantime a stranded American PT Boat crew led by Emory Parnell and Frank Faylen are on the island and when they see the three dictators there, the crew goes into action. Not kill them mind you and maybe end the war quicker, but put pepper in their soup course while dining with the chief.
Stuff like that which is great in the usual run of Hal Roach films, just doesn't cut it here.
This film was produced by Hal Roach who was the genius of so much screen comedy that has stood the test of time. Nazty Nuisance just isn't in the category of a good Laurel&Hardy film.
Bobby Watson who played Hitler on call in so many films good and bad gets a summons from a tropical island nation with whom the Nazis want to sign a treaty and then break the treaty when it becomes inconvenient. But the chief Ian Keith won't negotiate with no one, but the head man. Hitler was going to go alone, but his allies Mussolini played by Joe Devlin and Japanese warlord Sukiyaki played by Johnny Arthur hear about the trip and want to come along.
In the meantime a stranded American PT Boat crew led by Emory Parnell and Frank Faylen are on the island and when they see the three dictators there, the crew goes into action. Not kill them mind you and maybe end the war quicker, but put pepper in their soup course while dining with the chief.
Stuff like that which is great in the usual run of Hal Roach films, just doesn't cut it here.
Awful picture you may be amused with enough to kill 45 min.
max von meyerling1 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This is a really moronic film but as it went along within its own context I must admit I was amused. So my warning is to dump it in the first 5 minutes if you don't like it or you will kill another 40 minutes. As it is even low comedy has a floor and this is in the basement. The humor is that of the burlesque theater and it wouldn't surprise me if the writers came from that discipline. Its always interesting to see "B" movies "star" players usually consigned to feature rolls in "A" pictures like Guy Kibee. Of course this is no ordinary "B" but a cut below, one of Hal Roach's "streamliners" or 45 minute movies which didn't even qualify it as a feature. The lead here is Frank Faylen, who was more of a bit player in "A"s and a featured player in "B"s but here has the lead. He plays the typical American wise guy, a standard Commedia del Arte figure in films of the era. This film had its own niche at the far edge of propaganda. However well or poorly the war was going, whatever the newspaper headlines or radio reports, watching the axis as the victims of slapstick gags was a morale boost. Set up as burlesque skits we have a submarine with 5 crewmen, a tribe with 5 members, etc. just the number of people who can fit on a stage. There is no real narrative and the logic would even frustrate W. C. Fields. Hitler wants to make a treaty with some African country with is vital to the war but we never learn why. The leader of this country will only deal with the head man so Hitler is going to sneak off in a U- Boat but Mussolini and a Japanese general find out and are going along too. Meanwhile the crew (or at least 5 of them) in a lifeboat of a torpedoed merchantman arrive on the very shore of this African country. This African country is run by an absolute dictator (Ian Keith) who dresses like an Arabian Night movie Arab but speaks with a British RP accent and acts like he's out for a night of fun. He lives in a tent, there are a handful of people around and thats it for the African Country.
Faylen assumes the identity of a magician (!) and sets up a number of gags which result in maximum discomfort for the axis. The jokes and gags sometimes pour forth at speed and sometimes they come lumbering in slo-mo. Pure slapstick action with the occasional pun thrown in like "The New Oder". The gags can be sub Three Stooges in concept like the pillow fight. The pillow fight was interesting because apparently they had a machine dropping feathers or feather like objects from the flies which never stops! The seamen capture the U-Boat and they all escape with Hitler & co as prisoners.
It gave some psychological relief for audiences to laugh as Hitler was kicked in the pants by a regular American guy. BTW Hitler was played by Bobby Watson who made a nice show business dollar playing Hitler during WW2, playing Herr Schickelgrubber in no less than 9 films.
Faylen assumes the identity of a magician (!) and sets up a number of gags which result in maximum discomfort for the axis. The jokes and gags sometimes pour forth at speed and sometimes they come lumbering in slo-mo. Pure slapstick action with the occasional pun thrown in like "The New Oder". The gags can be sub Three Stooges in concept like the pillow fight. The pillow fight was interesting because apparently they had a machine dropping feathers or feather like objects from the flies which never stops! The seamen capture the U-Boat and they all escape with Hitler & co as prisoners.
It gave some psychological relief for audiences to laugh as Hitler was kicked in the pants by a regular American guy. BTW Hitler was played by Bobby Watson who made a nice show business dollar playing Hitler during WW2, playing Herr Schickelgrubber in no less than 9 films.
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