''I'll Never Heil Again'' is a 1941

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

directed by

Jules White Jules White (born Julius Weiss; 17 September 1900 – 30 April 1985) was an American film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring The Three Stooges. Early years White began working in motion pictures in the ...

starring American

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedy team

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

(

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion ...

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 4, 1902 – January 24, 1975), better known by his stage name Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges and was often called "The Middle St ...

and

Curly Howard Jerome Lester Horwitz (October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He was a member of The Three Stooges comedy team, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and ...

). It is the 56th entry in the series released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

starring the comedians, who released 190 shorts for the studio between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

In the Kingdom of Moronika, deposed monarch King Herman the and his allies, war profiteers Ixnay, Amscray, and Umpchay seek to overthrow the tyrannical rule of fascist dictator Moe Hailstone. Princess Gilda, daughter of King Herman, emerges and employs subterfuge and strategic manipulation to undermine Hailstone's authority. Her audacious scheme to eliminate Hailstone involves the clandestine placement of an explosive Number 13 pool ball within his billiard table, emblematic of her determination to restore her father to the throne. Meanwhile, Hailstone's despotic reign is depicted through a series of farcical vignettes, including an altercation over a turkey, symbolic of his insatiable quest for dominance (The winner of that battle is a picture of Napoleon who grabs the bird from the bewildered Stooges). As tensions escalate, Gilda orchestrates a series of events aimed at sowing discord among Hailstone's allies, the "Axel" partners hizzilini (a parody of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini), the Bey of Rum, an unnamed Russian and Japanese delegates she shows the Stooges from a telescope a scene of all three being in Hell; Hailstone orders his "partners" on the carpet for what he believes is their double-dealing. , thereby exacerbating his paranoia and fostering dissent within his inner circle. The ensuing chaos culminates in a climactic confrontation during a pivotal meeting of the Axel partners , wherein Hailstone's authority is challenged, and his regime faces imminent collapse.Finally, with the Axel partners defeated, Hailstone orders Herring to surrender the globe they had fought over. When Herring refuses he smashes it over Hailstone's head, sending him into a tantrum. In a dramatic denouement, Field Marshal Herring, disillusioned with Hailstone's autocratic rule, delivers a decisive blow by detonating the explosive ball, symbolically shattering the oppressive regime and heralding the restoration of King Herman the to the throne. In a symbolic gesture underscoring the definitive eradication of Hailstone and his cohorts, the taxidermied heads of the trio are repurposed as hunting trophies, serving as potent symbols of their humiliating demise and ultimate defeat.

Production notes

''I'll Never Heil Again'' was the first sequel in the Stooge film canon, following the earlier setting in Moronica of ''

You Nazty Spy! ''You Nazty Spy!'' is a 1940 comedy film directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard). It is the 44th short film released by Columbia Pictures starring the c ...

''. It begins with Moe Hailstone firmly ensconced as the

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

-like dictator of Moronica. Curly Howard plays Field Marshal Herring (a parody of

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

), who has so many medals that he wears them on both the front and back of his coat. Larry plays the Minister of Propaganda (a combination parody of

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

and to some extent also Foreign Minister

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...

). Filming commenced on April 15–18, 1941. The film title is a parody of song title "

I'll Never Smile Again "I'll Never Smile Again" is a 1939 song which became a 1940 ''Billboard'' chart-topper by Tommy Dorsey written by Ruth Lowe. It has been recorded by many other artists since, becoming a jazz and pop standard. The most successful and best-know ...

", written by Ruth Lowe. It was released by

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

and His Orchestra featuring vocals by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

with

The Pied Pipers The Pied Pipers are an American popular singing group originally formed in the late 1930s. They had several chart hits throughout the 1940s, both under their own name and in association with Tommy Dorsey, with Johnny Mercer and with Frank Sin ...

in 1940.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'', p. 193; Comedy III Productions, Inc., The song reached No. 1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' for 12 weeks and was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 1982.''Billboard'' chart information: http://tsort.info/music/jp6apj.htm ''I'll Never Heil Again'' marks one of the few times the Stooges break the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

. In one scene, Moe Hailstone is ranting in mock German and Larry is responding in an equally mock Southern accent and Curly says to the camera: "They're nuts." One memorable scene has Hailstone's mustache being ripped off and Hailstone rants: "Give me my personality!" While filming, devoted family man Moe rushed from the set to his daughter's birthday party in full costume. This caused a few calls to the

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

. Bystanders reported at what they perceived to be Hitler running red lights in Hollywood. A

colorized Film colorization (American English; or colourisation/colorisation [both British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia, or other monochrome m ...

version of this film was released in 2007. It was part of the DVD collection entitled ''Hapless Half-Wits''.

Historical notes

In the previous film on this subject, ''

'', Hailstone is shown as a tool of arms makers. In this film, they are shown as regretting their support, reflecting the real-life fact that all groups attempting to use the Nazi movement for their own ends ended up being controlled by it. King Herman the is a caricature of Kaiser Wilhelm II in his appearance and especially his hobby of chopping wood.Macdonough (2001) ''The Last Kaiser: William the Impetuous'', p. 457; London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ''I'll Never Heil Again'' was released 5 weeks and 2 days after the real Wilhelm II died in exile. ''I'll Never Heil Again'' premiered in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in February 1942 (along with the other South American countries), but it was banned during the governments of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

(1945–1955, 1973–1974) because Perón was a sympathizer of Fascist Italy.

References

External links

* *
''I'll Never Heil Again'' at threestooges.net

Set of three scene stills
hosted by the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

{{Authority control 1941 films Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler Cultural depictions of Benito Mussolini Cultural depictions of Hermann Göring Cultural depictions of Joseph Goebbels Cultural depictions of Hirohito American satirical films American political satire films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films American World War II propaganda shorts Films directed by Jules White 1941 comedy films Films set in Europe Columbia Pictures short films American slapstick comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language war films