The Inspector General (1949)

A town's corrupt officials think a fool is actually an investigator in disguise.

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Philip Rapp (screenplay), Harry Kurnitz (screenplay)

Stars:

Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Danny Kaye	...	Georgi
Walter Slezak	...	Yakov
Barbara Bates	...	Leza
Elsa Lanchester	...	Maria
Gene Lockhart	...	The Mayor
Alan Hale	...	Kovatch
Walter Catlett	...	Col. Castine
Rhys Williams	...	Inspector General

Storyline

An illiterate stooge in a traveling medicine show wanders into a strange town and is picked up on a vagrancy charge. The town's corrupt officials mistake him for the inspector general whom they think is traveling in disguise. Fearing he will discover they've been pocketing tax money, they make several bungled attempts to kill him.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | horse riding | shooting into the air | shooting a bird in flight | kiss on both cheeks | 

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Taglines:

The Kaye way to chaos and corruption.

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Near the beginning of the movie Leza (Barbara Bates) is tightening the corset of Maria (Elsa Lanchester). Maria demands that Leza tighten the corset more and Leza explains that it's already tight. After Maria leaves, another character comments that Leza was correct and the corset was too tight: "it makes her eyes bug out." This was an inside joke, since Elsa Lanchester's eyes were somewhat protuberant.

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Goofs

When Georgi sees the twins together for the second time, the same shot is used from the first time he sees them. This is evident as the background is different (the fireplace should be in the background in the second shot and it is not) and there is a girl, on the left of screen in the close shot, who is not there in the longer shot.

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Quotes

Turnkey: This is a nice jail. Really it is. We've had some wonderful hangings here.

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Connections

Version of Revisorn (1973)

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Soundtracks

La Marseillaise
(1792) (uncredited)
Music by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Variations played in the score

User Reviews

Oh, I have no wife. None of my family had wives. My father didn't like wives. I mean, my mother didn't like my father's wives.

Danny Kaye was a wonderful performer, he would sing, dance, tell jokes, turn his face into rubber and just generally come off as a quality humanitarian. The Inspector General showcases all of those talents.

Directed by Henry Koster, The Inspector General is loosely adapted from Nikolai Gogol's classic Russian story, and it finds Kaye as a stooge of Walter Slezak's iffy tonic peddler who is mistaken by iffy officials of a small Russian town for the much feared and respected Inspector General. Cue mistaken identity mayhem as the music numbers, gags, visual contortions and all round slapstick ensues. Also along for the ride are Elsa Lanchester, Alan Hale, Barbara Bates and Gene Lockhart.

It's more a safe and solid Kaye movie for the family to enjoy, rather than a high end classic like The Court Jester, but sometimes the high energy jinks of Kaye is all you need to lift the blues away. 7/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Happy Times

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,873,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1