UHF television used to feature re-runs of shows like Hogan’s Heroes and the 3 Stooges. Hogan’s Heroes was a vehicle for mocking the Nazis. I found it surprising that a number of the actors in Hogan’s Heroes were Holocaust survivors. But they saw it as their revenge. Werner Klemperer who played the Nazi commandant even had it written into his contract that the Nazis could never prevail.
The American comedians, the Three Stooges – all Jews who changed their names for show business – though, lived during the Nazi era. Even though the studios maintained neutrality for feature films, the Stooges made some short films mocking the Nazis.
But that didn’t deter the Three Stooges and Columbia Pictures from making “You Nazty Spy!,” written by Clyde Bruckman and Felix Adler and directed by Jules White. Historian Lynn Rapaport, writing in the San Diego Jewish Journal, points out that film shorts were not as closely regulated or censored as feature films, so perhaps the Stooges’ efforts were unnoticed or ignored.
“You Nazty Spy!” was released with a disclaimer, “Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle,” which was patently ridiculous because the short depends on Moe’s physical resemblance to Hitler — particularly after he pushes his hair back on one side and gets a piece of black tape stuck to his upper lip.
Though others, including Walt Disney also lent their talents to fight the propaganda war, the Stooges made their film in 1940. Others got involved later.
h/t Meryl
Crossposted on Soccer Dad
You Nazty Spy is available on Youtube, in two pieces: 1 and 2.
Klemperer’s father was a well known conductor who got out of town ahead of the ovens
Corwin,
Klemperer also had a prominent uncle who escaped. It was a pretty accomplished family.
My father once heard Werner Klemperer interviewed and said that he was actually quite intellectually formidable.