I'll Never Heil Again

I'll Never Heil Again
File:IllNeverHeilagainTITLE.jpg
Directed by	Jules White
Written by	Felix Adler
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"
Country	United States
Language	English

I'll Never Heil Again is the 56th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

Plot

I'll Never Heil Again follows much the same pattern as You Nazty Spy!. 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 (that is a parody of Hitler possibly wanting control in Turkey. Larry parodies the attempts to control Greece by saying, "I'll wipe out grease.") 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 replaces the 13 ball on Hailstone's pool table with an exploding 13 ball 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 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.

A sequel

I'll Never Heil Again is 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).

Historical Note

Theatrical poster for I'll Never Heil Again

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.

Mistakes

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

Notes

• The title of this film parodies the song title "I'll Never Smile Again," written by Ruth Lowe in 1940.
• 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!"
• The fictitious country of Moronica (or at least Moe Hailstone) seems to be familiar with a pool game in which the 13 ball is placed at the head of the rack during set up.
• A colorized version of this film was released in 2007. It was part of the DVD collection entitled "Hapless Half-Wits."

Further reading

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

External links

• I'll Never Heil Again at IMDb
• I'll Never Heil Again at AllMovie