Nazty Nuisance (1943)

How sad is this?

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Better Late Then Never

This is a really moronic film but as it went along within its own context I must admit I was amused. So my warning is to dump it in the first 5 minutes if you don't like it or you will kill another 40 minutes. As it is even low comedy has a floor and this is in the basement. The humor is that of the burlesque theater and it wouldn't surprise me if the writers came from that discipline. Its always interesting to see "B" movies "star" players usually consigned to feature rolls in "A" pictures like Guy Kibee. Of course this is no ordinary "B" but a cut below, one of Hal Roach's "streamliners" or 45 minute movies which didn't even qualify it as a feature. The lead here is Frank Faylen, who was more of a bit player in "A"s and a featured player in "B"s but here has the lead. He plays the typical American wise guy, a standard Commedia del Arte figure in films of the era. This film had its own niche at the far edge of propaganda. However well or poorly the war was going, whatever the newspaper headlines or radio reports, watching the axis as the victims of slapstick gags was a morale boost. Set up as burlesque skits we have a submarine with 5 crewmen, a tribe with 5 members, etc. just the number of people who can fit on a stage. There is no real narrative and the logic would even frustrate W. C. Fields. Hitler wants to make a treaty with some African country with is vital to the war but we never learn why. The leader of this country will only deal with the head man so Hitler is going to sneak off in a U- Boat but Mussolini and a Japanese general find out and are going along too. Meanwhile the crew (or at least 5 of them) in a lifeboat of a torpedoed merchantman arrive on the very shore of this African country. This African country is run by an absolute dictator (Ian Keith) who dresses like an Arabian Night movie Arab but speaks with a British RP accent and acts like he's out for a night of fun. He lives in a tent, there are a handful of people around and thats it for the African Country.Faylen assumes the identity of a magician (!) and sets up a number of gags which result in maximum discomfort for the axis. The jokes and gags sometimes pour forth at speed and sometimes they come lumbering in slo-mo. Pure slapstick action with the occasional pun thrown in like "The New Oder". The gags can be sub Three Stooges in concept like the pillow fight. The pillow fight was interesting because apparently they had a machine dropping feathers or feather like objects from the flies which never stops! The seamen capture the U-Boat and they all escape with Hitler & co as prisoners.It gave some psychological relief for audiences to laugh as Hitler was kicked in the pants by a regular American guy. BTW Hitler was played by Bobby Watson who made a nice show business dollar playing Hitler during WW2, playing Herr Schickelgrubber in no less than 9 films.

Nazty Nuisance is the kind of World War II propaganda film that really hasn't worn well with time. In fact this is the kind of film that rarely saw the light of day after the revelation of the Holocaust. Reducing, Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese to the level of the Three Stooges after that just wasn't funny.This film was produced by Hal Roach who was the genius of so much screen comedy that has stood the test of time. Nazty Nuisance just isn't in the category of a good Laurel&Hardy film.Bobby Watson who played Hitler on call in so many films good and bad gets a summons from a tropical island nation with whom the Nazis want to sign a treaty and then break the treaty when it becomes inconvenient. But the chief Ian Keith won't negotiate with no one, but the head man. Hitler was going to go alone, but his allies Mussolini played by Joe Devlin and Japanese warlord Sukiyaki played by Johnny Arthur hear about the trip and want to come along.In the meantime a stranded American PT Boat crew led by Emory Parnell and Frank Faylen are on the island and when they see the three dictators there, the crew goes into action. Not kill them mind you and maybe end the war quicker, but put pepper in their soup course while dining with the chief. Stuff like that which is great in the usual run of Hal Roach films, just doesn't cut it here.

Nazty Nuisance (1943) * 1/2 (out of 4) Hal Roach comedy is a sequel to The Devil With Hitler has Hitler, Suki Yaki and Mussolini traveling to a deserted island to sign a deal with an Arab but there's an American sailor there who has his own plans. This here comes as a real disappointment because I really enjoyed the previous film for its rather unique story. As with that film, this one here runs 44-minutes but there are only a couple laughs. There's one huge laugh where Hitler is fed soup with a box of pepper in it but outside of this scene there's really not much going on.

Considering that this film is LESS sophisticated and the humor is even broader than the Three Stooges in I'LL NEVER HEIL AGAIN (where the three play the leaders of the Axis Powers), it's no surprise that I only gave it a score of 3. Like many of the Hal Roach short movies of the early 1940's, this one is pretty poorly written and the humor is far from sophisticated--in fact, it's downright childish. This film is about as close as you'll find to "Bevis and Butthead" in this era--it's THAT silly. But, like Bevis and Butthead, you might in spite of the lameness, actually find yourself laughing at some of their antics. Just don't let anyone see you watch this dopey propaganda film if you want to impress them with your sophistication or intelligence!!! As for the plot, it's a fantasy involving Hitler, Mussolini and, oddly, a Japanese general named "Suki Yaki"--instead of Hirohito or even Tojo. All three go to a fictional Arabic country to sign a treaty with a self-important despot. At the same time, a dingy full of Americans sailors from a sunken ship arrive and are able to thwart the evil trio's plans. It is fun to watch them beat up Hitler and it's a great historical insight into the times, but don't expect a great film. Dumb, silly and yet somehow watchable--this is NAZTY NUISANCE.A couple of tidbits--First, the film refers to Hitler as "the paper hanger", though Hitler never worked putting up wallpaper (a common myth of the time). Second, I recognized the young lady who starred in the film (Jean Porter) but at first had trouble placing her. Among other films, she starred in an Andy Hardy film as well as a couple of the William Tracy army films made by Roach Studios.