To say I have anything but pure adoration and idol worship for this short is a total, disgusting lie. I love it! In my mind, this is Moe's single greatest acting job in all of the Stooge shorts. Never before or after does Moe (A) get to display the childish immaturity usually given to Curly, Shemp, or Joe, (B) act like such a skunk toward his co-stars, (C) dominate the screen time as much, and (D) display such a wide variety of acting skills.
This short is the greatest display of humor as we see much of the childish word-play of the Stooges (Amscray, Umpchay, Great Mitten, etc.), the typical slap-stick, and the more adult humor seen in products such as the Marx brothers or even more modern products like Mary Tyler Moore and the Golden Girls (the map, the WWII references, etc.)
The battle of the Axis powers was well-played and prophetic. As an Italian, I love the whole "Chizzolini" concept. The Bey of Rum and his hooka was 70 years ahead of its time, especially when Curly burns up everything, including the Bey's beard!
"As minister of propaganda, I wanna report that the people ---" "I am not INTERESTED in the PEOPLE!" Really? You heartless SOB, no wonder you die!
When they speak of the turkey, it seems appropriate to have this: "I'll wipe out Greece!" "Wait a minute....Chissolini tried it, and look what happened!" Lost in this is the subtle joke of them eating TURKEY! The temper tantrum that follows is a classic moment that would have normally been given to Curly.
"We bombed fifty-six hospitals, eighty-five schools, forty-two kindergartens, four cemeteries and other Vital Military Objects with our Stelka Bombers."
A disturbing moment thrown in here to cue the viewers that even though the Stooges are all about fun-and-games, war is still a serious topic that must be treated appropriately.
""Now, that we have captured all of Star-Vania, we must take Great Mitten!" "Yah-Yah!" "Yah!" "Yah, you were gonna Blitz-Kreeg Great Mitten by the middle of August!" "Then you said, Septober, then Octember, it's now in the middle of Novonder, and we ain't there yet!" "Well, Novonder, I didn't say what year!" "I don't understand it, it's only twenty miles!" "Yeah, I could skip it!" "Then, skip it!" As I mentioned, the verbal humor is treated properly. Moe is quite adequate in his mimicry of the famous dictator-who-shall-not-be-named. Eh, let's just skip it! Who needs Great Mitten anyway? It's not like they have an Enigma Machine or something... Whoops!
"This is a pool game, not a blitzkreig...I think I'll invade you!" What? Of course the dictator is aloud to cheat, since he dictates the rules! How about a cue stick for your nose.
"Do you have anything on tonight?" "No, not a thing." "You'll catch cold." [Rowrff!] This line is just too much, and it's sad that it probably goes over the heads of 90% of the population.
As I said, I love it! 10/10! No Les, no Mohr! This short to me is one of the best-acted with one of the best plots; it should be in the list of historically significant films. Even with the dark topic, it showcases U.S. sentiment toward the Axis Allies even before the U.S. entered the war.
I understand that this rubs people the wrong way because of the black humor, but then again anything that does not involve blue humor or hatred toward a race/religion/nationality is acceptable. I have never seen it before, but I would probably love DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB. One must simply understand that it's humor and that these things happened. I'm sure people would laugh and rate it more highly if WWII had NOT happened and that it was a fictional war being mocked.
Was that enough for you?
