The version I heard many years ago goes:

Three men, a Frenchman, an Englishman and an Italian, were convicted of capital crimes in France and sentenced to death by the guillotine.

They drew straws to determine their order of death and the Frenchman got the short straw. As the sun was beginning to rise, he knelt down and placed his neck on the block. Being a good loyal Frenchman to the bitter end, as the blade was released, he cried out his last words: "Vive la France!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the blade stopped halfway down, saving his life. The assembled crowd roared in amazement at the miracle and the authorities agreed that clearly God had shown that such a loyal Frenchman should not die that day. So they let him go.

The Englishman was next to be executed. Having watched the Frenchman's performance, he decided to try the same tack. As the guillotine blade began to fall, he blurted out: "Vive la France!"

Again the blade stopped halfway down. The crowd was in hysterics at yet another miracle, church bells were ringing, joy reigned throughout the city. So the authorities let the Englishman go too.

Now it was the Italian's turn. As the guards led him to the guillotine, he looked up at the blade as it was being raised into place. "You know," he said,"it'd work better if you greased that thing."