Richards Favorite Videos

I somehow missed this when it aired. I had thought Tiny Toons slipped into permanent reruns by 1993 when Nightmare was released and was no longer paying attention.

This brief clip is from “You Nazty Spy,” released in 1940. They made a follow-up, “I’ll Never Heil Again,” released in 1941. Both shorts have recently been released in colorized versions along with several others. Although Moe is not typically known for being funny, his impersonation of Hitler is hysterical!

The film ends with the barber, having been mistaken for the dictator, delivering an address in front of a great audience and over the radio to the nation, following the Tomainian take-over of Osterlich (an obvious reference to the German Anschluss of Austria on March 12, 1938). The address is widely interpreted as an out-of-character personal plea from Chaplin. Chaplin’s controversial speech, seen as an overtly political speech, may have contributed to the litany of reasons he was ultimately denied reentry in the United States during the McCarthy era (see the article on Charlie Chaplin for further detail). The speech was also denounced by the American Communist movement as Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler before the release of the film.

Whats happening here?: General Schultz and the barber escape from the camp wearing Tomainian uniforms (featuring the double cross in parody of the Nazi swastika). Border guards mistake the barber for Hynkel (with whom he shares a remarkable resemblance, to the point that, if not for his clothes, he would be an absolute duplicate). Conversely, Hynkel, on a duck-hunting trip so that people will not expect an invasion, is mistaken for the barber and is arrested by his own soldiers. The barber, who has assumed Hynkel’s identity, is taken to the Tomainian capital to make a victory speech. Garbitsch, in introducing “Hynkel” to the throngs, decries free speech and other supposedly traitorous and outdated ideas. In contrast, the barber then makes a rousing speech, reverting Hynkel’s anti-Semitic policies and welcoming in a new era of democracy. The text of the speech can be read at Wikiquote.

Hannah, despondent over the recent events, hears the barber’s speech on the radio, and is amazed when “Hynkel” addresses her directly: “Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up! Look up, Hannah! The clouds are lifting, the sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness and into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their greed, their hate, and their brutality. Look up, Hannah!” The film concludes with Hannah indeed looking up, with a renewed sense of optimism.

Doug, Skeeter and Beebee remind us to Think Big