Film Reviews: You Nazty Spy! & A Plumbing We Will Go

 "You Nazty Spy!"

*** (out of ****)

After  Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, there was a genuine concern among some that Fascism could come to America, in large part as a reaction to the economic crisis brought on by the Great Depression. Famous Americans such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh made complimentary remarks about Hitler and the Nazis, and what was going on in  Europe. So-called "Liberal Hollywood"  and the entertainment  world seemed to be egging it on as  well. Several films were made in the early 1930s that had a sympathetic view of dictatorship. The best remembered example of this is "Gabriel Over The White House" (1933) with Walter Houston as a president who wakes up from a coma and suspends Congress so he can get things done. Democracy takes too long and the Depression needs solutions. A non-film example of this would be the George S. Kaufman Broadway musical comedy - with a score by George and Ira Gershwin - called Let 'Em Eat Cake from 1933 about a president who loses re-election and refuses to concede, going as far as to the Supreme Court. When that fails, he decides to go into the shirt business to stir the people up to overthrow the government. 

I mention this jumbled and admittedly simplistic outline of history to paint a picture of the times and America's reaction to Hitler and the ideals of Fascism and the possible need for a dictator in the U.S. Many Americans didn't think there would be a second World War and when that thinking proved to be wrong, many Americans didn't think the United States should get involved. With the exception of "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" (1939) Hollywood was rather silent on the issue. Enter, of all things, the Three Stooges (!) with their comedy, "You Nazty Spy!" (1940), recognized as the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler. It gives this comedy short a historical significance that made me want to review it during this year's blog theme, Life is Short, my year long look at short films.

While there is no denying the anti-Fascist, anti-Hitler, anti-dictatorship intentions of "You Nazty Spy!", oddly enough there are moments when this comedy also seems to have a satirical look at capitalism and corporate greed. The short begins with three business men complaining about the profits at the munition factory which has amounted to five million buckaroos in the first quarter. This leads one of the businessmen to proclaim with a profit such as that, they are practically starving. This was not a reflection of the economic situation in Germany in the 1930s. Hyperinflation is believed to have lead to Hitler's rise. Due to that, I can only interpret these exaggerated remarks to be a commentary on corporate greed as well as a criticism of weapon manufacturers in their role to perpetuate war. Who knew the Three Stooges could be so astute! 

It is these three businessmen that agree on a plan to overthrow the current government. They must find a puppet who will bend to their business needs and start a war thus increasing their profits. This is most likely a reference to a definition of Fascism as being a merger between corporate interest and the government. It is a quote often credited to Mussolini. The business men select three wallpaper hangers for the job. Of course the three men are Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard) who will become the new dictator, Curly Gallstone (Curly Howard) is made a General, in a character based on Mussolini, and Larry Pebble (Larry Fine) is in charge of propaganda, a reference to Joseph Goebbels.

The film is peppered with puns and sight gags more so than I am accustom to in a Stooge comedy. For example the country in which this all takes place is called Moronika. In order to have a roundtable meeting, they cut the corners of their square table. The comedy even begins with a disclaimer stating "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle." The story and script came from Clyde Bruckman and Felix Adler. These names may not mean anything to most movie fans but they were great gag writers. Between the two of them, they worked with Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott & Costello.

Still it is unfortunate that "You Nazty Spy!" should have the honor of being the first comedy to spoof Hitler instead of the much more ambitious "The Great Dictator" (1940) by Charlie Chaplin, his first complete sound film. At the end of the day "You Nazty Spy!" is a Stooge comedy and all that it implies. It takes some nice shots and insinuates certain things but it doesn't really make a strong social and political commentary. Chaplin was the man for that. Although Chaplin had said, had he known of the true horrors of the Nazi regime he never would have made "The Great Dictator".

Speaking of the horrors, there is a moment when Moe sends someone to what he calls a "concentrated camp". I wonder if Moe Howard, the other Stooges, and the American public knew what was going on at those camps if that line would have remained in the short. If the Stooges knew of the full extent of what was occurring, would they have also decline to make such a comedy as this? Even Mel Brooks once said he thought the film "Life Is Beautiful" (1998) crossed a line.

However the Stooges would return to similar material, making a direct sequel called "I'll Never Heil Again" (1941) as well as "Higher Than A Kite" (1943). Again, the purpose of these comedies and "You Nazty Spy!" in particular is to make fun of the presence of Hitler and take pot shots to knock him down a peg. While I suppose that within itself is a political commentary, it doesn't go much deeper than that.

"A Plumbing We Will Go"

*** (out of ****)

"A Plumbing We Will Go" (1940) finds the Stooges in a much more familiar light. While released in the 1940s, its premise resembles a 1930s Depression comedy, with the Stooges unemployed and destitute, standing trial for chicken theft.

When we first see the Stooges they are in court on the witness stand. Curly and Larry are both sitting on Moe's lap as they are being questioned by an attorney. The position of the boys is meant to imitate a ventriloquist act with Curly and Larry as a couple of dummies. 

It is an interesting way to introduce the characters and establish their relationship. They are three individuals but should be thought of as one, hence why they are all questioned at the same time. If you had never seen a Stooge comedy before, you could immediately assess that Moe is the leader of the trio. He is the one actually sitting in the chair and plays the role of the "ventriloquist" to Curly and Larry's "puppets".

The judge in their case dismisses the charges although the audience suspects whatever crime the boys have been charged with, they are most likely guilty of. Naturally once they are free to leave Curly puts his hat on which causes feathers to fly around. Figuring the jig is up they make a dash for it. Luckily escaping the long arm of the law however doesn't deter the trio as they try to steal fish from an aquarium tank. The persistent cop (Bud Jamison) catches the boys in the act but once again they escape by jumping into a plumber's truck. As fate would have it, they stop driving in front of a house that called plumbers an hour ago. The boys pretend to be the plumbers after spotting the cop in he neighborhood.

As far as comedic premises go, this one is acceptable. Running away and hiding from the police proved to be a familiar situation for the Three Stooges and even Laurel and Hardy. The business with the court room and the chickens though was unnecessary.

The comedy begins to pick up now as the boys are able to put their incompetence on full display. They have no idea how to stop the leak the real plumber was called for. It lends itself to perhaps the best known bit in the short, Curly breaking a shower faucet and trying to stop the running water by connecting pipe after piper together.

Perhaps because I was never much of a Stooge fan, my favorite sequence in the short doesn't involve the Stooges. It centers on Dudley Dickerson as a cook, trying to prepare a meal when the kitchen appliances start to act up, as a result of the Stooges' plumbing work. At one point water starts coming out of the stove top burner. Dickerson's reaction to these going-ons had me laughing out loud. More so than anything the Stooges did.

"A Plumbing We Will Go", like so many other Stooge comedies is just about the jokes and doesn't try to make a social commentary. Some have tried to suggest the Stooges often addressed the topic of class division but with the exception of "Hoi Polloi" (1935) very few of their comedies touch upon this and really had nothing to say on the issue. It is because their comedy was seen to lack any importance they weren't critical darlings and placed in the same class as with Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields or even the Marx Brothers, who did a much better job on the topic of class division.

So many Stooge comedies were remade or had material reused from prior shorts, "A Plumbing We Will Go" is no exception. The comedy was remade with Shemp Howard as the third stooge in "Vagabond Loafers" (1949). In some ways it is a better short with more of a plot. The Dudley Dickerson material was reused from "A Plumbing We Will Go" with some new scenes added. Then the material from "Vagabond" was reused and called "Scheming Schemers" (1956). Stooge fans might consider "Plumbing" the best of the three if for no other reason than it has everyone's favorite line-up - Moe, Larry and Curly. It is a harmless diversion that encapsulates the Stooge brand of humor as well as any other comedy short.