Search - The Inspector General on DVD

Movie Release: 1949 DVD Release: 05/08/2001 Format: DVD Edition: Special Collection SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Madacy Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Comedy, Musical, Satire, Comedy of Errors, Musical Comedy See Also: Inspector General, The Inspector General, The Inspector General, The Inspector General [Collector's Edition]

The satirical bite of Gogol's play The Government Inspector is dispensed with in favor of traditional Danny Kaye buffoonery in The Inspector General. Kaye plays the illiterate stooge of two-bit medicine-show- entrepreneur Walter Slezak. Abandoned by Slezak, the starving Kaye wanders into a corruption-ridden Russian village, which is all geared up for a visit from the Inspector General. Mistaking Kaye for that selfsame royal inspector, the townsfolk fawn on the confused Kaye, granting him his every whim and plying him with all sorts of bribes. In the original Gogol play, the boorish phony inspector takes advantage of the villagers' error by laying waste to the town and seducing a few local maidens; in the film, Kaye is as pure as the driven borscht, as is his true love (Barbara Bates), the only honest person in town. The treachery is in the hands of Slezak, who fakes Kaye's death and tries to blackmail the crooked local officials. The deus-ex-machina arrival of the real Inspector General foils the crooks and places the nonplused Kaye in the job of town mayor. Those of you who read the play in college may remember it ends with everyone frozen in horror when the genuine inspector shows up, with Gogol's stage directions insisting that the actors hold their fearful poses for a full sixty seconds. Be assured that in the film version of Inspector General, nothing stands still--least of all Danny Kaye, who cuts quite a swath through several Sylvia Fine/Johnny Mercer specialty songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Danny Kaye - Georgi
Walter Slezak - Yakov
Barbara Bates - Leza
Elsa Lanchester - Maria
Gene Lockhart - The Mayor

Henry Koster directs Danny Kaye in the costume comedy The Inspector General, which comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. There are neither subtitles nor closed captions on this release. Supplemental materials include a trivia quiz, a vintage newsreel, a collection of outtakes, and a copy of the original lobby poster. This is a fine release from Madacy that is sure to please Kaye admirers. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide