Higher Than a Kite (1943)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Del Lord

Writers:

Monte Collins (story)
Elwood Ullman (story)

Release Date:

30 July 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

After being accidentally dropped behind enemy lines, the Stooges disguise themselves and steal important plans from the Nazi high command.

Plot Keywords:

General | Cross Dressing | Garage | Funny Nazi | Anvil

Cast

Curly Howard	...	Curly (as Curly)
Larry Fine	...	Larry (as Larry)
Moe Howard	...	Moe (as Moe)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dick Curtis	...	Gen. Bommel (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Marshall Boring (uncredited)
Johnny Kascier	...	(uncredited)
Duke York	...	Kelly (uncredited)

Directed by
Del Lord

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Monte Collins		story and screenplay (as Monty Collins)
Elwood Ullman		story and screenplay

Produced by
Del Lord	....	producer
Hugh McCollum	....	producer

Cinematography by
Benjamin H. Kline		(as Benjamin Kline)

Film Editing by
Paul Borofsky

Art Direction by
Victor Greene

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Screen Gems (1958) (USA) (TV)

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

After playing checkers, Moe looks at a picture of Adolph Hitler and says "schickelgruber". Schickelgruber-Hitler was Adolph Hitler's father's last name.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Since they are in England with the R.A.F., cars would have the steering wheel on the right. The one they work on and destroy has the standard U.S. steering wheel on the left.

Quotes:

Moe: If this is what I think it is, you'll get your wings and a harp with 'em!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Stop! Look! and Laugh! (1960)

My Favorite of all of The Three Stooges Short Subjects as well as the best one ever made.

Yes that's right & for a # of various reasons including that it's the one of which I've laughed the most hysterically to of them all & I even do remember when I'd 1st seen it during May of 1972 & then the 2nd time during July of 1983 & then the 3rd time during October of 1985,the 4th during December of 1985 & the latest was over a week ago but as for the other times in between that I remember was in March of 1986.Onward to the feature itself At home Moe gets abused more than usual to make up for when he usually gets the last hit in with his head in the pipe etc. Curly really get's the biz with the navigator etc.However the Laughs really pile up upon arriving in Germany & seeing the soldiers outside of the window of the building of which they crash land in,Moe did throw a bomb out of the window & the Nazi soldiers end up after the explosion in long underwear with swastikas on their backs. Also during that "checkers" game in which upon winning Curly does say to Moe "Crown me." and then when he does with the frame of the Hitler Picture of which upon doing so the picture does end up on Curly's rear end.Larry is most hysterical of this feature & as he's ever been dressed as & talking as that woman called "Moronika" incognito.The best we see of this long time Stooge foil of whom is played by Vernon Dent is when in his role of which as the head soldier while expressing his anger about finding The 28th Division in The Red Sea from Moe & Curly's "Checkers" game is hysterical too. On the whole it's the most hysterical of all of The Three Stooges features.Now back to the Hitler Picture on Curly each time he turned around the Nazis would say "Heil Hitler" & so then Moe,Larry,and Curly then knew that they had their secret weapon for distracting them and hitting them with champagne bottles to knock them cold & upon leaving the building to board a car Curly sees a Bulldog dressed as a soldier but without noticing that it said US Marines on it and then pointed to his Hitler picture thinking that he'd show the dog who's boss only to get bit & then he yelled one of his classic quotes,"Yang,yang."then the car took off without Curly in it & then he went chasing after it with the bulldog still attached to his rear end.The Hitler rendition was to parody how Nazis were supposed to salute a picture of Hitler each time they saw it at anytime one was seen whatsoever?During the 3rd time,I saw it in October of 1985 and after it was over my Mom asked My big brother,J.Kevin "Why is he Laughing so much?and then he said to her in response to her query "It's his favorite one."Also to this day I still do laugh at just as hysterically as when I'd seen it for the 1st time in 1972. The most hysterical parts are starting from when they landed in Germany.During the 2nd time that I saw it in 1983 even my Aunt,Mary Alice was laughing just as hysterically as I was too.The third time I saw it was in 1985 as was the 4th & the 5th was in 1986.During the 3rd time that I saw it My Mother,Mary E.(Garvey)was asking "Why is he laughing so much?" Then my Older Brother,J.Kevin said "It's his favorite one." Anyhow Please do check this film yourself. Truthfully, Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a. "Ste" of Framingham,Ma.USA