The Inspector General (1949)

★ 6.6 1h 41m IMDb

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.

The Inspector General

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Cast

Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye as Georgi Died 1987 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; Yiddish: דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy,...
Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak as Yakov Died 1983 · Vienna, Austria Walter Slezak (3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was a portly Austrian character actor who appeared in numerous Hollywood films. Slezak often portrayed villains or thugs, most notably the German U-boat cap...
Barbara Bates
Barbara Bates as Leza Died 1969 · Denver, Colorado, USA Barbara Jane Bates (August 6, 1925 – March 18, 1969) was an American singer and actress, best known for her portrayal of Phoebe in the 1950 drama film All About Eve and as Katy Morgan on It's a Great...
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester as Maria Died 1986 · Lewisham, London, England, UK Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (October 28, 1902 – December 26, 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television and former dancer. Lanchester studied dance as a child and af...
Gene Lockhart
Gene Lockhart as The Mayor Died 1957 · London, Ontario, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957) was a Canadian-American character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of p...
Alan Hale
Alan Hale as Kovatch Died 1950 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alan Hale Sr. (born Rufus Edward Mackahan; February 10, 1892 – January 22, 1950) was an American movie actor and director, most widely remembered for his many su...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Mar 25, 2020
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

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