You Nazty Spy! | the Three Stooges | Nazi parody | Moe Howard | Larry Fine | Curly Howard | clown ministry

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You Nazty Spy! - the first Nazi parody, starring the Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly), originally released on January 19, 1940

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You Nazty Spy! is a rare treat of the Three Stooges—in addition to being a hysterically funny short film, You Nazty Spy! is also a political satire, and bears the honor of being the first anti-Nazi film parody, beating Charlie Chaplin‘s famous film, The Great Dictator, by several months. The basic premise has Moe, Larry and Curly working as paperhangers at the mansion of a government official of the imaginary nation of Moronica. The government officials (Mr. Ixnay, Mr. Ohnay and Mr. Amscray) are planning to overthrow the monarch, and plan to replace him with a dictator who’s stupid enough to follow their instructions. They decide upon the three paperhangers, who are offered the role of dictator (Moe Hailstone), field marshal (Curly Gallstone) and Minister of Propaganda (Larry Pebble)—making fun of Adolph Hitler, Goering and Goebbels, respectively. A very funny moment is where Moe is first contemplating the offer, and he accidentally picks up a small piece of electrical tape on a fingertip and transfers it beneath his nose, ala Hitler’s mustache. Likewise, he runs his fingers through his hair and voila! the dictator Hailstone. You can see this scene in a clip from YouTube.

It’s a fast-paced short film, with plenty of both slapstick and verbal humor, which we’ve come to expect from the Stooges by this point. The film ends with the boys running away from an angry mob that’s attempting to overthrow the dictator, and locking themselves into a room for safety—only to realize that the room is filled with lions! Despite the ending, the film generated a sequel, I’ll Never Heil Again. A very funny film that makes a serious point in a silly way, and is strongly recommended—I rate it 4 clowns out of 5.

You Nazty Spy! is available as part of the Three Stooges DVD collection Stooged and Confoosed.

Funny movie quotes from You Nazty Spy! starring the Three Stooges—Moe, Larry, Curly

Mr. Ixnay: We’ve come here to offer you the greatest opportunity of your life.
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): You mean you’ll let us paper the living room?
Mr. Ixnay: No, no, no. You’re through with papering. My partners and I are going to make you Dictator of Moronica.
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Dictator? What does a Dictator do?
Mr. Ixnay: 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 and takes everything. *That’s* a Dictator.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Hmph, a parasite. That’s for me.

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): We must throw of the yoke of monarchy, and make our country safe for hypocrisy!

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Moronica must expand! We shall lend our neighbors a helping hand, we shall lend them two helping hands… and help ourselves to our neighbors!

Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): We will now pause for station identification.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): This is N-U-T-S.
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): When you hear the conk on the dome, it will be exactly 3 o’clock.
[whacks Curly on the head]
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): 3 o’clock Bolonia watch time.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): 3 o’clock Bolonia watch time.

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Ring for my sectery.
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): You mean secretary?
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): I said sectery!
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): Secretary.
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Which is correct?
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Stenographer. I’ll ring for her.

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): What do you mean by reading a book? Suppose you learn something. Loyal Moronikans shouldn’t read. Take your troops out and have them burn every book in Moronika.

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): [Holding a book] I’ll keep this.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Oh, a bookkeeper.
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Go burn the books.
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): Why burn the books?
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): There are too many bookmakers. The bookies are overrunning the country. Those are my orders.

Guard: I caught this man walking down the street with a chicken
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Blonde or brunette?
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): [to Curly] Quiet.
[to Man]
Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): Where’d you get the chicken?
Man: From an egg.
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): Where’d you get the egg?
Man: From a chicken.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Ah, a vicious cycle. We must kill it. Remind me to kill a cycle.

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): On second thought, throw him to the lions.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): We have no lions. How about to the Tigers or the Cubs?

Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): Propaganda? What’s that?
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): A papa gander marries a mama gander ...

Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): What’s the matter with him?
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): He’s a little grouchy. He woke up on the wrong side of the gutter this morning.

Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): [kissed Mata Herring] She doesn’t taste like herring to me!

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): How can you shoot her with dice?
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): They’re loaded. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard): And to think, I might have asked Mata Herring to marry me.
Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): You’ve have been in quite a pickle with that Herring.

Larry Pebble, Minister of Propanganda (Larry Fine): If I take Mickey Finland, I better be Russian.
Curly Gallstone, Field Marshal (Curly Howard): Then quit Stalin’.