I'll Never Heil Again

This is an excellent sequel to "You Nazty Spy". Moe proves that he is the ultimate imitator of the little sign painter and the other actors in who played the caricatures of "Il Dulce" Mussolini, Hirohito and Stalin did wonderful jobs themselves. Also, John "Tiny" Lipson (King Vultan from the original Flash Gordon serial) does a great job of playing the Bay of Rum. Check out where he tries to teach Curly how to smoke a hookah.

Technically, this is a sequel to the 1940 masterpiece "You Nazty Spy" where Moe, Larry and Curly are heads of a country (parodied after Germany) called Moronica. Here, they return, with the dead on impressions still funny, yet chilling. Great gags, but I also laughed at the names on the map of Starvania (Great Mitten, Yom Kippers, Jug 'O' Slavia). Great fun, with the stooges being hilarious as always. Not as good as part 1, but plenty of laughs still around. A+

I'll Never Heil Again (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Sequel to YOU NAZTY SPY! has Moe (The Dictator), Larry (Minister of Propaganda) and Curly (Field Marshall) successfully taking over the country of Moronica but a spy has planted a bomb for them in hopes that the old leader can take over. This short from the boys is actually different one a couple of levels. The obvious is the fact that this is the only sequel The Three Stooges did during their careers. The surprising thing about this short is the fact that the majority of the jokes are dialogue driven, which certainly wasn't the norm for the boys. I was really surprised to see how much of it was dialogue driven but even more shocked that most of the jokes were funny. Obviously a lot of the humor goes towards the boys simply being dumb in what they say and this includes the countless ways that they say hail. Another funny bit of dialogue deals with the boys talking with other evil leaders about who really owns the world. There's also some physical humor, which includes a very funny pool game as well as a few slaps with a turkey. While I don't think this short quite lives up to the original film, there are still plenty of laughs to be had here so fans should enjoy it.

This particular short subject for the one and only time in their careers has the 3 Stooges villains in their own film. But what villains they be in this rough house satire on the government in Germany.

Put that Charlie Chaplin mustache on Moe and he makes a wonderful dictator of Moronica who overthrew the traditional monarchy there with the battle cry of Moronica for Morons. In fact with Larry as the propaganda minister and Curly as the defense minister the Stooges short is a wonderful followup to Chaplin's The Great Dictator.

The Three Stooges were never terribly original in their material, they borrowed from other comics quite liberally. Whole bits like them playing catch with the globe with their 'allies' are taken right from The Great Dictator. But the Stooges never had the writing talent available to them that other comics did, they were burlesque comics who worked fast and cheap. But always funny.

I'll Never Heil Again is one of their best short subject and I think Moe is as good a Hitler as Chaplin was.

In the country of Moronica, Moe is Hailstone the Dictator, Curly is a Field Marshal, and Larry is Minister of Propaganda. They are Nazi-like rulers trying to take over the world with the other Axis powers. The former king is trying to take back his kingdom and his daughter plants a bomb in their headquarters.

This is the sequel to You Nazty Spy! (1940) and follows Chaplin's great satire The Great Dictator (1940). Most of it is down with a nudge and a wink to the audience. It's not quite as meta. It's a direct spoof of the real world. The boys manage to have their cake and eat it too. They are the bumbling Nazis and get to fight the other Axis leaders. I can see this as a safe anti-Nazi film for the masses. The boys are using their power for the war effort.