Higher Than a Kite (1943) User Reviews

Valuable Allied Weapons

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 March 2014]

It's wartime and the 3 Stooges want to do their bit for the Allies. Semms like before the USA got into World War II, Moe, Larry, and Curly went overseas and joined the RAF. But all they wind up doing is garage mechanic work just as they were in the States. Poor Moe goes through the tortures of the damned as Larry and Curly try to get a piece of steel pipe removed from his head.

Now I realize this is a 3 Stooges short, but you would think Harry Cohn might have gotten a few players with British accents for the RAF scenes.

In any event they mess things up in the usual Stooge fashion and have to hide in what they think is a sewer pipe. Turns out to be a bomb and they're dropped over Germany right on to General Bommel's headquarters. He's expecting Field Marshal Boering to discuss secret plans for German victory.

Needless to say the boys prove to be valuable weapons for the Allies with Larry vamping Boering in some outrageous drag. Larry that is.

Perennial stooge nemesis Vernon Dent is Boering and veteran western heavy Dick Curtis is General Bommel. Both get a few laughs themselves and Curtis's case his characters usually didn't come in for any.

Nice wartime laughs.

anti-Nazi Stooges

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 7 May 2020]

Larry, Curly, and Moe volunteered for the RAF in England but only ended up working in their auto garage. They are told to fix an officer's car but it goes badly. They hide in a sewer pipe but it turns out to be a bomb. The bomb is dropped behind enemy lines where the boys dress up to steal secret plans from the German high command.

It's completely ridiculous as the clueless trio battle the Third Reich. It's one of their anti-Nazi shorts during the war. The Heil Hitler bit is hilarious and it's even funnier than JoJo Rabbit. In a way, they remind me of Jacques Clouseau and other fools who bumble into success. It definitely hits both as comedy and as propaganda.

Zany

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 5 July 2021]

"Higher Than a Kite" was originally released back in 1943.

Anyway - As the story goes - When military mechanics Curly, Larry and Moe get under the hood of the colonel's car, they are forced to escape his wrath and wind up inside a bomb.

Hang Hitler

[Sargebri · 28 March 2003]

This is a very funny short, especially the parodies of Rommel and Goehring. Vernon Dent was probably the greatest of all the Stooge foils and he has a great performance in this film. The ending scene where the Marine bulldog bites the picture of Hitler while its still stuck to Curly's rear end is an all time classic.

Moe Gets Abused Good

[florida87 · 10/10 · 30 July 2005]

One of the Stooges funniest. I love all the episodes where Moe is abused (there aren't that many where he is), usually after he is put in a spot and has to really on his buddies to get him out. He is abused so bad here I really laughed out loud. If thats not enough the episode is still less than half way done! Whenever the boys take on the Nazi's is always a treat and thats what they do after being dropped in a blockbuster bomb on a HQ in Germany. Gotta love the stock bomber footage showing two different bombers one British and one American, Paramount spares no expense! The Marine bulldog is a great treat too, I'm sure the Army loved that part but I guess a mule in that bit wouldn't have worked.

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

[Stebaer4 · 10/10 · 1 March 2006]

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

Getting in

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 27 September 2022]

No pun intended - and from repairing a car right into the middle of a war. Well it is the Stooges so suspension of disbelief is something that has to be there from the start ... and until the finish line (or is it German line in this case? Another pun you say?).

The short movie is quite nice and has a sort of break in the middle of it. We change scenery and tone in a way. But it all works out nicely. Even the drag clothing or whatever you would call it. Are there moral choices that are borderline and probably not political correct? Yes but I think there have been "worse" (or is it better?) examples of that ... everyone hates the Nazis so they are a great foe ... for Moe (and the others). That all being said this is as silly and in a way classy as the rest of the best of the Scrooge shorts ...

In terms of quality rather on the low side

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 25 December 2017]

"Higher Than a Kite" is an American 17.5-minute live action short film from 1943, so this one has its 75th anniversary next year. Unsurprisingly, it is still in black-and-white and the inclusion of director Del Lord indicates already that this is another Three Stooges short film and he worked with the gang on many occasions. The year of course makes obvious that this is one of the trio's anti-Nazi propaganda films and it is their good right to do these, but I personally feel that they are at their weakest when they get political. Opinion there may differ, but these always have a bit of a try-hard note to them and the references on Nazi Germany, the military or war in general never felt too witty or creative. Then again, I may not be the very biggest Stooges fan out there, so let me just say that I am a bit on the biased side here, but maybe just about them as a whole, not exclusively about them making political statements. Larry in drag for example is really cringeworthy at the end and he is such a more talented actor than judging him from what we see here. Still if this film brought Americans (and others) comic relief in these dark days of war, then at least the film had its purpose. I think though that the Stoogesa may have done better on many occasions, not just here, if they had decided to write their own stuff. Not necessarily direct it too, but why not. Anyway, this one here is rather loud and in your face than funny, like one of these many cakes from Stooges shorts. It lacked subtlety like so many other times. It's a thumbs-down from me. Only worth seeing if you love the Stooges a great deal (the Curly formation). Otherwise skip it.

A strange set of circumstances

[slymusic · 8 September 2005]

Directed by Del Lord, "Higher Than a Kite" contains more than a generous helping of the standard Three Stooges slapstick. But the story is rather odd, and one must wonder how the Stooges made sharp transitions from one setting to another. (Don't read any further if you haven't seen this short yet.) First the boys are struggling garage mechanics for the R.A.F. in England, then they hide inside what they believe is a sewer pipe but is actually a blockbuster bomb, and before they know it, they are in Nazi Germany!

The weirdness of the plot aside, "Higher Than a Kite" still manages to get in a few laughs. Moe has an incredibly difficult time at the Stooges' garage; he repeatedly gets creamed in the face with a loose jack, and he gets his head stuck in a pipe. While disguised as Nazi soldiers, Moe and Curly spot some war plans via red and white tacks on a map, and they believe the tacks to be checkers. When Marshal Boring (Vernon Dent) and General Bommel (Dick Curtis) arrive moments later to study the war plans, Boring predictably blames Bommel for the nonsensical manner in which the tacks are displayed. Boring then throws the plans away, says, "We Germans never get stuck," and sits on the tacks! And at the end of this short, Curly has a picture of Hitler tacked to his behind. So every Nazi soldier with whom he comes into contact gives the proper salute when they spot Curly's flash.

One final interesting sidelight: I have seen a couple of publicity stills from "Higher Than a Kite" in which the Stooges are all disguised as Hitler, complete with moustaches. But the Stooges only applied these Hitler disguises for the photo session and not for the actual film. To me, this is a major disappointment, because with all three Stooges (not just Moe) imitating Hitler, the film would have been much more interesting and possibly a lot funnier.

A "straighter" title than usual

[nellybly · 7 February 2006]

For a Stooges short, this one has a pretty straight title (not a play on words). Doesn't even look like a Stooges title! Since it's a Curly short, it's amongst their best (not that Shemp, Joe Besser, or Joe DeRita didn't do good ones). Curly and Larry each get a good bit--Curly when he's attacked by the hood of the car, the navigator, and Larry when he's the Fraulein, getting the plans from the Nazi.

This short was made at the height of their career(s) and before Columbia really tightened down on the budget (not that they ever were free-flowing with the dough anyway). The stock footage was pretty much kept to the planes dropping bombs.

Dumber Than a Mechanic

[Michael_Elliott · 4 March 2016]

Higher Than a Kite (1943)

*** (out of 4)

In this short, the Three Stooges end up over seas where they hoped to get their wings but instead they end up in a garage working as mechanics. After completely destroying a car the three end up hiding in a pipe but this pipe turns out to be a bomb. The bomb eventually gets dropped behind enemy lines and the boys must battle some Nazies.

HIGHER THAN A KITE is yet another WWII spoof where the boys do whatever it takes to make Germany and Hitler look like a bunch of idiots. When you view these shorts today some might grow tired since many of the subjects were all the same but you have to remember that it was war time when they were released and people wanted to see the hated Hitler made to look like a fool. I think the best moments of this short happen in the first half as the boys cause all sorts of damage to the car they're working on. Moe gets his head caught inside a pipe and the majority of the laughs come from Larry and Curly trying to get him free.