Hitler and the Stooges?
barbara turner/ moonwolf
titled "Hitler Planned to Have the Three Stooges Shot!" It went on to
say "Adolf Hitler hated one group even more than Jews, gypsies,
homosexuals and the insane - the Three Stooges. Hitler found it no
laughing matter when he watched a film clip in which Moe donned a
mustache and portrayed the Nazi dictator as a stupid clown. The Three
Stooges were at the top of Hitler's "hit list" of people slated for
death when he conquered America, writes history professor Ernst
Kemmelman, who's writing a new biography on the Fuhrer's life." Now,
remember, this is the Weekly World News, so I won't vouch for its
veracity, but it's such a great thought that the boys might have
irritated the Nazis to that extent! <G>
Barb T.
I. Fleecem
turner/ moonwolf at barbt...@webtv.net scribed on 7/5/01 7:16 AM:
I'm sure Columbia was working with the War Dept. at the time and considering
the Stooges (at least the Howards were I do recall don't know what Larry was
if any) were Jewish I'm sure they were more than willing to participate in
some propaganda against the Nazis.
"Hand me that Fil-um!!"
I'm probably wrong though.
-----------------------
Mike Jezierski - Galesburg, IL
-----------------------
There is Stooge
in each of us,
some of us more
than others.
ted
Curly: "They're loaded!"
This cracks me up every time...
ted
Ltb3105
>
>Curly: "They're loaded!"
>
>This cracks me up every time...
>
How about this one:
:"You wouldn't hit a lady with that?"
" Here, use this!"
or
"Get goin' sista, or I'll knock yer brains out!"
"Is that any way to talk to a lady?"
(Takes hat off): "Alright, get goin' sista, or I'll knock yer brains out!"
"That's better!"
Laura
jame...@webtv.net
movies where they really made fun of Hitler and Germans and that they
don't show those shorts anymore because they're not "politically
correct". Anyone shed some light on that rumor?
"Losing a woman is like passing a kidney stone. Sure, it hurts for
awhile, what a relief when it's over." - Jack Malloy
Markshark989
>movies where they really made fun of Hitler and Germans and that they
>don't show those shorts anymore because they're not "politically
>correct". Anyone shed some light on that rumor?
"You Nazty Spy," "I'll Never Heil Again," "Higher Than A Kite" and others were
not shown for many years in Chicago because of supposed ethnic slurs....it
depended on the TV station showing the films. Channel 32 in Chicago always, by
the way, left in the "sunburned" lines in "Uncivil Warriors."
Doris Schmitz
Ltb3105 wrote in message <20010705214408...@ng-fc1.aol.com>...
Bruce
> > I'm sure Columbia was working with the War Dept. at the time and considering
> > the Stooges (at least the Howards were I do recall don't know what Larry was
> > if any) were Jewish I'm sure they were more than willing to participate in
> > some propaganda against the Nazis.
> >
> > "Hand me that Fil-um!!"
> >
> > I'm probably wrong though.
> >
> > -----------------------
> > Mike Jezierski - Galesburg, IL
Howard (Horwitz) Curly (Jerome) Howard (Horwitz), Shemp (Samuel)
Howard (Horwitz).
Robert Davis
asians in a less-than-flattering manner. Hey, the Stooges depict caucasians
as idiots, so what's the big deal?
<jame...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:16018-3B...@storefull-135.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
L.S. Coker
>
"bad" in it. But remember the time period..a lot of global hostilities were
happening...just watch "Higher Than A Kyte" and see how the Germans are
depicted...
Or watch the movie "1941" with the invasion of Hollywood by a joint
Japanese/German sub operation...everyone is made to look like morons in that
one..right up to the high ranking U.S. brass. There are a few Stooges
references in it..(watch John Candy do his Curly impressions)
Today most of us are tolerant of other cultures and practise "political
correctness".
Stephen
Josh Silverman
brief. Basically, it's not so much that they used stereotypes to poke
fun at the Japanese. But the context was, shall we say, unfortunate.
The Japanese in "The Yoke's on Me" are not spies from Japan; they are
escapees from the camps in which Japanese living in America were rounded
up. Those camps were fairly horrendous, and any jokes about their
prisoners (for that is in effect what they were) still leave a bitter
aftertaste. It's a mistake to censor that episode, but one should see
it for what it is: a misguided piece of war propaganda that, in seeking
to caricature the enemy, dumped a load of gratuitous insults on innocent
bystanders.
Brent Seguine
> I do have that "Yokes" short and the Japanese certainly look "bad" in it. But
> remember the time period..a lot of global hostilities were happening...just
> watch "Higher Than A Kyte" and see how the Germans are depicted...
>
An important distinction to make about "The Yoke's on Me" is that the
characters are not Japanese POWs... they are Japanese-Americans who
escaped from a relocation camp. Their portrayal in "Yoke's" reflects
the US government propaganda of 1942-1945 that said our neighbors and
fellow citizens, simply because they were of Japanese heritage, were
potential spies and saboteurs.
"The Yoke's on Me" began to experience PC exclusion on some TV
stations in the '70s, when the relocation "incident" received overdue
national attention before Congress. Only in more recent years has the
generalization of Asian portrayals factored into the film's PC
treatment.
The short subject's offensiveness lies more in depicting a national
tragedy, than to caricature.
Ltb3105
>asians in a less-than-flattering manner. Hey, the Stooges depict caucasians
>as idiots, so what's the big deal?
Wonderful point!!! I guess the only way to view the unshown shorts is to
attend one of the fan club meetings......
Ahem.......a little free plug there, eh, Gary and Frank??
Laura
Ltb3105
>up. Those camps were fairly horrendous, and any jokes about their
>prisoners (for that is in effect what they were) still leave a bitter
>aftertaste.
On that same note, they show Moe depicting Hitler and quoting, "Send them to a
concentrated camp!"......that's not exactly music to most people's ears either!
The censorship doesn't make any sense, regardless of the subject
matter......parody is parody, plain and simple.
Laura
Markshark989
>attend one of the fan club meetings......
Or buy the videos. I hate to put $$$ into Greed III's pocket, but Columbia did
a GREAT job on the tapes they have released over the years, and about
three-fourths of the shorts are available in that format (including all the
Curly shorts)....although DVD has a lot of catching up to do!
ted
about 120,000 people of Japanese descent living on the west coast of the US around that time, yet only about
half of them were US citizens. You've got to remember that Pearl Harbor had just been bombed and the west coast
of the US was very weakly defended and the US was woefully unprepared for a war. There was the very real fear
of an invasion of California by the Japanese.
Also during that time there was a large population of Japanese living in Brazil. There were several incidents
of major acts of sabotage in Brazil proven to be perpetrated by the Black Dragons, a Japanese secret
"underground" society that was the precursor to the Yakuza ( the Japanese version of th Mafia ). The US State
Department was very aware of this and took notice.
This does not excuse the US government from its disgraceful and illeagal behavior, but I hope this sheds a
different light, one that's rarely taught in school or talked about, on why such a drastic course of action was
taken. It's also important to know that years later the US government did apologize for this and made very
generous monetary reparations to those US citizens who had their rights taken from them.
Another point to remember is the atrocious and inhumane treatment received by Allied POWs at the hands of the
Japanese. The Japanese did not recognize either the Geneva Convention or the International Red Cross. The US
official policy was to arrest and imprison innocent people, but the Japanese official policy was to either
murder or make slaves of innocent Allied POWs, a crime that they have never recognized or apologized for, and
one that is barely mentioned in Japanese history books.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.
ted
Ltb3105
>
>ted
Thanks, Ted....you said it better than I ever could! I'm sick of all the
censorship defense, with all the shit that's on TV now, censoring Stooge shorts
seems almost ludicrous!
Laura
Ltb3105
>a GREAT job on the tapes they have released over the years, and about
>three-fourths of the shorts are available in that format (including all the
>Curly shorts)..
I dunno about that......I've been buying the Columbia videos by the dozen's
over the years and have NEVER come across ALL of them; don't mean to imply that
they don't exist; just that *I* never got them........damn it!
By the by, did Columbia just release so many of Shemp's and none of Joe's??
Laura
L.S. Coker
Brent, We Canadians are just as guilty. Japanese and Germans got rounded up.
I've talked to a number them who lost their property,home and dignity over
this. In Ontario, the city of Berlin was renamed "Kitchener" and a witch
hunt to find Germans sympathetic to Hitler took place.
I just watched a stand-up U.S. comedian on TV who did his impersonation of a
Japanses tourist..with funny squinting glasses and protruding his front top
teeth...while the song "Sukiyaki" played. The Canadian viewing audience
thought it was hysterical..I laughed but felt guilty..I have too many
Japanese friends..my wife also thought it was a "touchy" situation..but then
comedians poke fun at every race & culture so what can I say?
Stephen
I. Fleecem
Joe's??
>
> Laura
--
Michael Jezierski
"All of us have a little Stooge in each of us ... some of us more than
others"
Markshark989
>over the years and have NEVER come across ALL of them; don't mean to imply
>that
>they don't exist; just that *I* never got them........damn it!
>
>By the by, did Columbia just release so many of Shemp's and none of Joe's??
>
>Laura
>
No Besser Stooge shorts have ever been released on video. Aside from those, I
think the unreleased shorts are primarily Shemp remakes from the 1950s,
although a few of those have been released.
I don't have the list in front of me, but I'm sure it's on the web somewhere
(of all the videos and the shorts contained therein).
Brent Seguine
>From: ltb...@aol.com (Ltb3105)
>I'm sick of all the censorship defense,
>with all the shit that's on TV now,
>censoring Stooge shorts seems almost
>ludicrous!
>Laura
Censorship defense? Are you referring to the comments in this thread?
We have discussed the reasons for the censorship... we have discussed the
context in which the films are presented. But no one in this thread has yet to
make a remark defending the act of censorship (at least that I can see, even
reading between the lines).
For the record:
- Do I agree with censorship, in regard to editing, suppressing, etc.,
politically incorrect or unpopular points of view in film? NO.
- Do I find the portrayal of the characters in "The Yoke's on Me" offensive?
YES, as explained in my earlier post.
Ltb3105
No, the reasons the stations give as to why they can't show such and such
cartoon, like the recently shown "Bugs Marathon" where Cartoon Network didn't
show those 12 Bugs cartoons.
Laura
Ltb3105
>YES, as explained in my earlier post.
Do you find it offensive personally or because you have empathy for the people
the short is making fun of?
Really, almost ALL the shorts have *something* offensive to everyone! That's
what I call democracy! The Stooges didn't leave anyone out!
I could be offended by the portrayal of the Italian groundskeeper during the
golf scenes (being Italian) and I could be offended by the Stooges acting as
mentally challenged persons during their "We Are Morons " chant (having a son
with a mental handicap), plus lots more.
I guess I just don't get offended by stuff like that.....I even like ethnic
jokes! I think they're hysterical!
Laura
Ltb3105
>
Well, just for the "halibut"!!
Laura
ted
offensive? YES.
Do I find "The Yoke's on Me" offensive in any way? NO.
Being of Sicilian descent, I personally find "The Sopranos" very offensive for
their portrayal of Italian-Americans as malicious, foul-mouthed, adulterous,
murderous criminals. Would I ever stop someone from watching this show if that
person isn't offended by it? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
So why am I not allowed to watch "The Yoke's on Me" on CABLE television which I
PAY for? Who decided this for me? Letting the "offended" decide what is
"offensive" is like letting criminals decide what is illegal and what isn't.
You know what I really find offensive? Moronic, brain-dead, pablum shows like
"Survivor" and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
ted
ted
ted
Ltb3105
>
>ted
No, but I've got a weakfish!
Smells strong to me!
;-)
Ltb3105
>I
>PAY for? Who decided this for me?
Exactly my point, Ted! Since when is watching people fornicating, swearing,
shooting up, killing each other not as offensive as watching a parody (Stooges'
short)??
Ted, my beloved late Dad, HATED all those mobster movies, such as The
Godfather, etc......I even remember Marlon Brando refusing his Oscar for
"Godfather" because he was protesting against something else!!!! Meanwhile, it
was okay to portray the Italians as being all mobsters and killers!! Not that
*I* was personally offended by it; I happen to like that and the
Soprano's.....I don't think the directors/producers are trying to portray ALL
of them as being that way, just taking part of them....hehe....
At what point is it truly offensive? It's okay for Archie to call someone a
"spic" and George Jefferson to call him a "honkey" and so on and so on.....but
an innocent Stooge short done many many years ago?
Laura (shaking her head)
L.S. Coker
must say "Challenged" instead. Says so in a manual the Canadian government
produced a few years back at a expense of about $4 million Canadian Dollars
(That's $1,000 U.S. is it not?). They make it impossible to carry on any
kind of conversation! Short people are "vertically challenged" if you can
believe that! The song "Short People" was banned in Canada for this very
reason.
I am not supposed to make fun of other provinces or their residents. I used
to listen to Russian Cosmonauts tell "American Jokes" as they passed over in
MIR. It happens everywhere even in earth orbit! I used to exchange German
jokes which were told by Germans. Translated in English they were lame but
The German engineers and technicans I was having lunch with were laughing so
hard they were all crying! They suggested Germans were the worst parents you
could imagine. Shows like "Married With Children" were a big hit with Al
Bundy somewhat of their ideal "Archie Bunker".
example (auf Duestch...zum beispiel..) this one had them rolling on the
floor in their language..here's how it sounds in English
"But... Mother ! Mother! I don't want to go to Amerika!"
"Shut up kid and keep swimming!"
Auf Wiedersehen!
Stephen
ted
Sorry if I came across a little snarky in my last post. It's just beyond my
comprehension why anyone would find anything offensive about the Stooges at all,
and the absurdity of it can sometimes tip my usually even-tempered demeanor. I
find it pathetic that "common sense" as we once knew it doesn't seem to exits
anymore.
Last weeked I was with some good friends of mine who are originally from Brazil
but now are American citizens. Meu amigo Marcelo has two sons, ages 10 and 12,
and aside from being bilingual, are as American as anyone. None of them had ever
seen the Stooges before. I was over there early on Saturday and just "happened"
*wink wink* to stumble upon the Stooges on AMC while watching TV waiting for
Marcelo's wife to get ready for the day. The boys and Marcelo LOVED the Stooges.
They were utterly facinated by them. I told them the Stooges were on every day.
I haven't talked with him this week, but I can imagine there's been a few "nyuk
nyuk's" and "hey porcupines!" spoken around the house this past week! The Stooges
( or Tres Idiotas ) ...cross-cultural entertainment at its finest!
ted
Ltb3105
>
>Sorry if I came across a little snarky in my last post. It's just beyond my
>comprehension why anyone would find anything offensive about the Stooges at
>all,
Not at all, Ted, I was agreeing with you and equally frustrated! The mere
absurdity of it all should put a smile on ANYONE'S face!
:-)
Laura
Markshark989
>mentally challenged persons during their "We Are Morons " chant (having a son
>with a mental handicap), plus lots more.
A friend once told me that the Three Stooges may have been unwittingly (no pun
intended) responsible for changing medical terms referring to the mentally
handicapped. At one time, "idiot," "imbecile," etc., were regarded as medical
terms referring to the various states of mental retardation, I'm not sure what
order they go in, but some time later, possibly in the 1960s, it was changed to
"mildly retarded," "severely retarded," etc.
At least I was told that.
Something to think about.
planetx1
imbecile (=5 year-old child's mentality)
moron (=8 to 12 year-old child's mentality)
Markshark989 wrote:
>
> >I could be offended by the Stooges acting as
> >mentally challenged persons during their "We Are Morons " chant (having a son
> >with a mental handicap), plus lots more.
>
barbara turner/ moonwolf
> Stooges may have been unwittingly (no
> pun intended) responsible for changing
> medical terms referring to the mentally
> handicapped. At one time, "idiot,"
> "imbecile," etc., were regarded as
> medical terms referring to the various
> states of mental retardation, I'm not
> sure what order they go in, but some
> time later, possibly in the 1960s, it was
> changed to "mildly retarded," "severely
> retarded," etc.
able to work, do a lot of self-care (so such could have held some
blue-collar jobs, like the Stooges did? LOL!), then "imbecile" and then
"idiot" for the most severely handicapped. I've never heard the change
laid specifically at the Stooges' door - though I do like the concept -
but just assumed it came along with all the PC changes going on then.
Barb T.