You Nazty Spy!
1940 short film
You Nazty Spy! is a 1940 comedy film directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard). It is the 44th short film released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedians, who released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
Plot
Three munitions manufacturers, discontent with reduced profits due to King Herman the 6+7⁄8's pacifist policies, conspire to overthrow him and institute a dictatorship by finding somebody stupid enough to be a figurehead leader. The trio selects the unwitting Stooges, working as wallpaper hangers, as figureheads for their regime. Moe Hailstone assumes the role of the leader, directly spoofing Adolf Hitler; Curly Gallstone becomes Field Marshall and is a composite of Benito Mussolini and Hermann Göring; and Larry Pebble becomes Minister of Propaganda, spoofing Joseph Goebbels, respectively.
Upon seizing power, Hailstone, Gallstone, and Pebble attempt to govern Moronika. However, their incompetence and absurdity quickly unravel their authority. A subplot emerges with the arrival of Mattie Herring, who is suspected of espionage by the Stooges and subsequently sentenced to execution. Her escape only complicates matters.
“You Nazty Spy!” enters the record as 1940 short film. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Nazty, short and film can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“You Nazty Spy!” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Nazty, short and film provides the most credible route into that argument.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10954531. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940, 1934 and 1959.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “You Nazty Spy!”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow You Nazty Spy! primary sources, You Nazty Spy! archive and Nazty research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “You Nazty Spy!”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “You Nazty Spy!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.