INSPECTOR GENERAL (FULL SCREEN)

Details

• Release Year: 1949
• Genre: Comedy, Musical
• Plot: Russian literature seems pretty unlikely a source material for a Forties Hollywood musical-comedy. And by the time Nikolai Gogol's play 'The Government Inspector' was reworked into a Danny Kaye vehicle, you'd hardly recognize it. But the result, 'The Inspector General' (1949), is easily one of Kaye's funniest films.; Kaye's a stooge in Walter Slezak's cheesy medicine show, and when he wanders into a Russian village, he's mistaken for the visiting Inspector General. This sets up all sorts of comic set pieces, many of them revolving around Slezak's treachery, corrupt officials and Kaye's mistaken identity.; Danny Kaye's unique talent demanded that films be built around him, and he's at his energetic best in 'The Inspector General'. Plenty of his signature songs, by Sylvia Fine (Kaye's wife) and Johnny Mercer, are worked into the frantic proceedings. The picture also benefits from a great supporting cast - Slezak, Alan Hale, Elsa Lanchester, Nestor Paiva and the beautiful Barbara Bates.; With this film, director Henry Koster (Harvey) may have found the ideal balance between buffoonery and plot. And that's quite a trick.
• Cast: Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart, Alan Hale, Walter Catlett, Rhys Williams, Benny Baker, Leonard Bremen, Robert Cherry, Frank Conlan, Jimmy Conlin, Helena Dare, Bryn Davis, George Davis, Abe Dinovitch, Art Dupuis, Robert Filmer, Byron Foulger, Karen Hale, Lew Hearn, Sam Hearn, Herbert Heywood, Si Jenks, Fred Kelsey, Joleen King, Marc Krah, Gracille LaVinder, Norman Leavitt, Ida Moore, Jack Mower, Alix Nagy, Paul Newlan, Nestor Paiva, Barbara Pepper, Joe Ploski, Maudie Prickett, Harry Raven, Buddy Roosevelt, Lester Sharpe, Pepi Sinoff, Joan Vohs, Audrey Winn, Jeff York, Henry Koster, Philip Rapp, Harry Kurnitz
• Director: Henry Koster
• Runtime: 1:42
• Company: Warner Bros.
• Media Format: Movie