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Average Rating:     [8.95/10]   37 votes

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Set in the country of Moronica, three men plot to overthrow their king and appoint a dictator. Their choice is a paperhanger named Moe Hailstone. With Curly as his Field Marshal and Larry as his Minister of Propaganda, the boys take control of the country. The citizens are unhappy and drive Hailstone out of power.


This was the first American comedy film to satirize Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Scripted sequences from Jules White's files, either unfilmed or deleted from YOU NATZTY SPY!'s final release, are transcribed in The Three Stooges Journal # 112 (Winter 2004).

Costar Lorna Gray (Mattie Herring) was a guest of the 1995 Three Stooges Convention, and the 2004 Fan Club Meeting, both in Philadelphia. See The Three Stooges Journal # 75 (Fall 1995) and The Three Stooges Journal # 110 (Summer 2004) for details.
Featuring
Moe, Larry and Curly
Release Date
January 19, 1940
Studio
Columbia
Production Type
Short Subject
Duration
18.1 min.
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Production Notes   (4)
Working Title(s):   Oh, You Nazty Spy!
Title Origin:   Possibly from one of popular comedian Joe Penner's many catch-phrases, "You Nasty Man!".
Prod. No.:   471
Shooting Days:   0 days   From: 1939-12-06   To: 1939-12-09

Stooge Mayhem   (Avg. 3.75)
Face Slaps: 12 Eye Pokes: 3 Head Bonks: 0 Pastry Thrown: 0

Stooge Quotes   (7)
  • "We must lend our neighbors a helping hand! We must lend them two helping hands, and help ourselves to our neighbors!
    (Moe)

  • "Wait a minute, how can you shoot her with dice?" "They're loaded."
    (Moe and Curly)

  • "To you, I give Mickey-Finland." "If I get Mickey-Finland, I'd better be rushin'." "Then quit Stalin."
    (Moe, Larry and Curly)

  • "A Dictator? Why, he makes love to beautiful women, drinks champange, enjoys life and never works. He makes speeches to the people promising them plenty, gives them nothing, then takes everything! That's a Dictator." "Hmm, a parasite! That's for me!"
    (Lynton Brent and Curly)

  • "We must throw off the yoke of monarchy, and make our country safe for hypocrisy!"
    (Moe)

  • "Mattie Herring is here to see you." "Marinate her and send her in."
    (Lorna Gray & Moe)

  • "Why, that's an 8-ball!" "Sit right down behind it."
    (Moe & Lorna Gray)

Stooge Goofs   (8)
  • Character Breaking
    As Moe is speaking in mock German towards the end of the speech scene, you can see Larry trying not to laugh.

  • Curly mouths Moes lines
    After the scene where Curly shoots Moe "In the excitement, you fool!"... you can see Curly's mouth moving to Moe's lines.

  • Falling Backwards / Character Breaking
    When the storm troopers are marching away, one of them almost falls over backwards. Also, Lorna Gray almost laughs while watching the storm troopers marching.

  • Golf Bag Strap
    When Curly raises his arm with the golf bag on it, the strap on the bag accidentally hits Larry on the head.

  • Moe's Hair
    During the speech scene to Moronika, the pattern of Moe's hair suddenly changes in several different camera angles.

  • Moronika or Moronica?
    The country that the Stooges take over is spelled "Moronika" early in the film, but in a letter Moe gets from the king later in the film, it's spelled "Moronica". It's also spelled that way in I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN, the follow-up to this short.

  • Opening Credits Goof
    In the opening credits, writer Felix Adler's name is misspelled as "Felix Alder".

  • Too Early
    While Moe is scrubbing perfume on Curly's head, Larry is about to tap Moe on the shoulder a little too early, but he realizes it isn't time yet so he stops himself.

Stooge Routines   (11)

Stooge Trivia   (3)
  • This was the first short to feature the Columbia logo and the Stooges heads together during the opening credits, although the long intro to the "Three Blind Mice" theme would be cut off with the next short.
    Source: YOU NAZTY SPY! (1940)
    Added by MR77100 on 2009-04-19 12:46:24
    Status: Confirmed

  • This was the first American comedy film to parody Adolf Hitler.
    Source: STOOGES: THE MEN BEHIND THE MAYHEM
    Added by ProfessorStooge on 2010-09-28 05:09:23
    Status: Confirmed

  • Toward the end of almost all of Moe's Hitler impersonations, he finishes with "In pupik gehabt haben." In Hebrew this means "I've had it in the bellybutton!" Also, "Beblach" means "Beans" in Hebrew.
    Source: The Three Stooges Book of Scripts Vol. 1
    Added by BeAStooge on 2010-11-02 11:33:05
    Status: Confirmed
    Team Stooge Comments: Submitted by member "CannedCoin."

    Note: Beans was Helen Howard's nickname for her husband Moe.

Audio Files   (0)

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Videography   (2)

Fan Reviews   (13)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY!
2010-05-16 16:08:12 by Charlie_runs_
I just have one "nit" to pick and it's with the ratings system here. Who in the blue hell would bomb this wonderful short? Two bomb ratings for one of the boys finest works is beyond stupidity in my book. I'd like to have some of what those 2 imbeciles were smoking. A bomb, give me a fucking break.

Reviewer's Rating: (10)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY!
2009-04-23 22:22:48 by Carrie The Canary
All of the "serious" film critics who think that the Stooges just bopped each other in the head, should see this and "I'll Never Heil Again". They got that little sicko right between the eyes.

Moe's imitation of Hitler was downright scary!
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY!
2009-03-06 20:38:28 by Hassan bin Sober
One of my absolute favorite Stooges shorts! I love 'em all, but this one is at or near the top of the heap for me. Almost every line is a quotable gem! Great slapstick action, and lots of timely political humor. I read somewhere once that HItler put a price on Moe's head after this. The only sad thing about this is of course, how accurate their portrayal of Hitler was.

Reviewer's Rating: (10)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY!
2008-08-12 17:22:32 by DocWatson

This was one of the boys' most "intelligent" shorts. Ok, so it's dated by the politics it's spoofing, but who doesn't love Moe, Larry, and Curly, all Jewish themselves give Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbles, and Hermann Goering the business. As a history and political buff, I sure do!

Moe's favorite short, and one of the best of them all!

4 pokes out of 4.


Reviewer's Rating: (10)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2003-01-04 17:40:00 by Justin T
How can you be a Stooge fan and not name this short as one of their best? The boys' satire of Hitler and European politics as WW2 was being fought is still funny over 60 years later. It still scares me how much Moe lookes like Hitler when he puts on the fake mustace. This is one to convince a person to like the Stooges. "Beblock!"

Reviewer's Rating: (10)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2002-05-22 07:30:00 by black banana
Highly regarded World War II themed short that featuresMoe as Hitleresque German dictator Moe Hailstone.Without a doubt one of Moe's all-time great performances.Watching this requires more appreciation of verbal politicalhumor in place of the usual slapstick. Some of the one linersalways struck me as more weird than funny...my favoriteanti-Nazi episode is BACK FROM THE FRONT, followed byHIGHER THAN A KITE. I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN is pretty muchjust as good as YOU NAZTY SPY. I also like THEY STOOGE TOCONGA and NO DOUGH BOYS, and even THE YOKE'S ON ME is OK.Rating for YOU NAZTY SPY...3 1/2 POKES
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2002-05-04 02:41:00 by BJR
I prefer I'll Never Heil Again slightly, but surprisingly I don't think either of these films are true classics. Both show Moe's great ability to make fun of Hitler, but otherwise aren't as good as some of the other classics of the 1940-1943 period. Now excuse me while I go watch They Stooge To Conga where we get a myriad of violence... and Moe's impression is added on top of it, rather than dominating the entire short.

Reviewer's Rating: (9)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2001-12-14 12:50:00 by Genius In the Lamp
Verbal humour takes some precedence over the Stooges' usual knockabout slapstick, but that just allows them to showcase their talent for political satire. The short's overall absurdity seems to make the sharpest lines cut even deeper. Even the most nonsensical moments are funny (the ballerina/secretary provides a Pythonesque touch). Valuable for much more than historical interest.

Reviewer's Rating: (9)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2001-08-07 04:20:00 by ISLIPP
THIS WHOLE SHORT is truly hysterical! I loved Lorna Gray's character here and those great magic words she uttered: "Ikkle, dikkle, bikkle, mik". Imagine this funny scenario- Darth Vader calls for his stormtroopers, but instead, he gets the ones in this short, marching out in single file, kicking each other in the tushies!!ISLIPP-©2001
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2001-08-06 14:51:00 by Ichabod Slipp
This rightly sits in the pantheon of Stooge classics but I actually prefer "I'll Never Heil Again," especially the latter short's conference with other world leaders. Still, the speech to the people is truly hysterical.
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2001-04-01 15:55:00 by Stooge
A perfect short to start off the early 40's, which I call the Stooges' Golden Age. A very different short for the Stooges, but it worked and turned out to be a classic. This was a brilliantly hilarious film, and filled with great puns and one-liners. Moe's Hitler impression was fantastic. The later sequel, I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN, was great, too, but not as great as this.

Reviewer's Rating: (10)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2001-03-04 20:30:00 by NicktoBarada
Hail, hail, Hailstone, the dictator! And what does a dictator do? Why, he drinks wine, makes love to beautiful women, promises the people everything but gives them nothing, and takes all for himself. THAT's a dictator. This film is a brilliant satire of the Nazis and is always a joy to watch. I love our boys even as ruthless dictators. Ixnay, Amscray, and Onay welcome you to Moronika (Moronica?)
Re: YOU NAZTY SPY
2000-12-26 23:46:00 by Shemp-Joe
A very funny film with a very important message against Nazism. Still, it's difficult for me to see the Three Stooges as evil characters. In most of their films, they're idiots, clumsy fools, ultra violent, but ultimately nice guys that you can't help but like. Yet, in this short subject, as its sequel "I'll Never Heil Again.", you HAVE to hate them. Awkward in my opinion. One big difference in Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" was that we had a benevolent Chaplin to go with his evil Hitler-like counterpart. Still, this short subject certainly has a lot of quality to it and any film that exposed the evils of Nazi Fascism is certainly of great value. Plus, a lot of the film was just plain funny.


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