I'll Never Heil Again: Difference between revisions

I'll Never Heil Again
Directed by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler Clyde Bruckman
Produced by	Jules White
Starring	Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Mary Ainslee Vernon Dent Bud Jamison Lynton Brent
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	July 11, 1941
Running time	18' 09"
Language	English

I'll Never Heil Again was the only (semi-) sequel among the Three Stooges' shorts. The movie begins, unlike You Nazty Spy with Moe Hailstone (Moe Howard) firmly ensconced as the Hitler-like dictator of Moronica. Curly Howard plays Field Marshall Herring (a dig at Hermann Göring), who has so many medals, that he wears them on both the front and back of his coat. Larry Fine plays the unnamed Minister of Propaganda (a dig at Joseph Goebbels and to some extent also Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop).

The movie follows much the same pattern as the first film. It opens at the estate of King Herman the 6 7/8s, the deposed king of Moronica. Ixnay, Amscray and Umpchay, the war profiteers from the first film (although Umpchay was called "Onay" there) have decided that they have had enough of the dictator they put in power, and want to help Herman retake the throne. To this end, he sends his daughter, the princess Glinda (Matty Herring in the first film) to try and assassinate Hailstone using an explosive pool ball strategically positioned in Hailstone's billiard table. Dictator Moe Hailstone of Moronica enjoys a shave, and fights Curly and Larry for a turkey (the winner of that battle is a picture of Napoleon who grabs the bird from the bewildered Stooges). Glinda enters, and starts to place in Moe's mind the idea that his allies, the "Axle" partners, are plotting against him. After doing this she plants the exploding pool ball on Hailstone's table and flees as Hailstone begins a pool game with his partners. Throughout the game the cue ball inexplicably defies the laws of physics avoiding the exploding ball by swerving around it and jumping over it colliding with Herring's head. The result of this was Herring 'barking' at the exploding ball and upon Hailstone's order to put it down he rips off his mustache, causing Hailstone to remark the well remembered line "give me back my personality."

The film's climax occurs when the "Axle" partners arrive for a meeting and Hailstone orders the "Axle" partners—Chizzilini (a parody of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini), the Bey of Rum, an unnamed Russian and Japanese delegates—in on the carpet for what he believes is their double-dealing. As the meeting breaks into chaos following Hailstone's declaration that the world belongs to him (punctuated by his grabbing a globe off the table), the Stooges go into action on the other delegates and each other. Finally, with the Axle 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. Herring, finally having enough of Hailstone's antics, grabs the exploding ball and throws it against the floor in anger, blowing up the meeting room. The last scene shows the war profiteers cheering King Herman's return to the throne. Herman asks for proof of the demise of the three, and they show him Hailstone, Herring, and the Minister of Propaganda as hunting trophies on Herman's wall.

The major "Axle" partners shown in the conference room sequence are parodies of the major Axis powers of the time—with one and a half exceptions. Turkey was never a member of the Axis, and in the event, remained carefully neutral throughout much of World War II. (However, Turkey was the center of the Ottoman Empire, which was a major part of the Central Powers in World War I. Germany was also part of the Central Powers.) The Soviet Union, on the other hand, although never a signatory to the Pact of Steel (and, obviously, inimical to the Anti-Comintern Pact) could be, due to its friendly relations with Germany up until June 22, 1941, considered a "silent partner" of the Axis with its previous co-invasion of Poland after Germany on September 1, in mid-September 1939.

• When Curly kicks the globe, it clearly hits the camera before the film cuts.

• The title of this film parodies the song title "I'll Never Smile Again," written by Ruth Lowe in 1940. ^[1]
• 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. Bystanders reported at what they perceived to be German dictator Adolf Hitler running red lights in Hollywood.
• The Bey of Rum speaks in fractured English; during the meal at the long table, his beard accidentally gets singed and he growls, "You burn up me!"
• A colorized version of this film was released in 2007. It was part of the DVD collection entitled "Hapless Half-Wits."

• Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [1], (Citadel Press, 1977).
• The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [2], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
• The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [3](Citadel Press, 1994).
• The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [4](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
• One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [5], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).

This 1940s comedy film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e