lauren ,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

In 1940, Paramount released "The Three Stooges" short "You Nazty Spy!". At that point in time, the U.S. had not yet entered what would become World War II, and the pro-Hitler German American "Bund" was strong after its largest rally the year before in New York City.

In the short, the Stooges portray three simpletons recruited to lead a dictatorship in "Moronika", with Moe as the Hitler character, Curly as the Goring character, and Larry as the Goebbels character. Their flag was a pair of twisted snakes resembling a swastika, their slogan was "Moronika for Morons" (like Hitler's "Germany for Germans").

As a further dig, the Stooges, who were all Jewish, threw in a variety of Yiddish in the dialogue.

Some powerful congressmen who were either pro-Hitler or pro-neutrality were incensed at this short, but Paramount went ahead and released it anyway, resulting in Moe being the first American actor to portray Hitler in a released film production.

The Stooges were a remarkable trio. One of the high points of my life was meeting Larry Fine. He was in a wheelchair from a stroke, but still had his sense of humor.

We shall never see their like again.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • random
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines