{"id":12717,"date":"2010-10-08T12:20:25","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T19:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12717"},"modified":"2021-01-27T21:01:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T04:01:44","slug":"the-inspector-general-1949","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12717","title":{"rendered":"The Inspector General (1949)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;He has full power from the emperor himself. And wherever he finds bribery and corruption, there the gallows and the firing squad go to work!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster-676x1024.png 676w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Poster.png 729w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn illiterate peasant (Danny Kaye) working for a traveling medicine show man (Walter Slezak) is mistaken as the feared Inspector General by a corrupt mayor (Gene Lockhart) and his fellow town officials.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Hale Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Corruption<\/li>\n<li>Danny Kaye Films<\/li>\n<li>Elsa Lanchester Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken Identities<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary provides some interesting social context in the opening lines of his review of this &#8220;badly dated&#8221; Danny Kaye farce: he reports that Kaye (&#8220;part owner of the Seattle Mariners&#8221;) was &#8220;roundly booed&#8221; at a &#8220;game [he] attended in Yankee Stadium&#8221; a few years earlier, and notes, &#8220;How his star has fallen&#8230;&#8221;. Indeed, reading Bosley Crowther&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1949\/12\/31\/archives\/danny-kaye-inaugurates-new-year-in-inspector-general-a.html\">original review for the <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> &#8212; in which he writes that &#8220;at this late date, there&#8217;s no necessity to describe Mr. Kaye&#8217;s comic type&#8211;a charming combination of the meek, the meticulous and the mad&#8211;or his wonderful grace and dexterity in manipulating his face and form&#8221; &#8212; supports this assertion. At any rate, Peary laments that the premise of <em>The Inspector General<\/em> (very loosely based on a play by Nikolai Gogol) &#8220;becomes as tiresome as all [of] Kaye&#8217;s songs&#8221;, but argues that Kaye &#8212; who &#8220;does some good physical comedy&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;comes off better than the silly script and better than in some of his other roles&#8221;. This may be true, but it&#8217;s not enough to recommend the film to anyone other than Danny Kaye fans. All-purpose film fanatics should stick with <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12702\"><em>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty<\/em> (1947)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12821\"><em>The Court Jester<\/em> (1956)<\/a> as their two obligatory Kaye flicks. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Several amusing songs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-1024x774.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"484\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-1024x774.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-300x227.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-768x581.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song-357x270.png 357w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Song.png 1237w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Walter Slezak &#8212; effectively menacing as Yakov the &#8220;Medicine Man&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-1024x765.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-1024x765.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-768x573.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak-362x270.png 362w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Slezak.png 1247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Elsa Lanchester in a too-brief performance as the mayor&#8217;s wife (who falls hard for the Inspector General)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-1024x769.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"481\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-1024x769.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-768x577.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester-359x270.png 359w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Inspector-General-Lanchester.png 1239w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; this one is only must-see for Danny Kaye fans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0041509\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1949\/12\/31\/archives\/danny-kaye-inaugurates-new-year-in-inspector-general-a.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/227\/the-inspector-general#articles-reviews?articleId=92556\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;He has full power from the emperor himself. And wherever he finds bribery and corruption, there the gallows and the firing squad go to work!&#8221; Synopsis: An illiterate peasant (Danny Kaye) working for a traveling medicine show man (Walter Slezak) is mistaken as the feared Inspector General by a corrupt mayor (Gene Lockhart) and his fellow town officials. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alan Hale Films Comedy Corruption Danny Kaye Films Elsa Lanchester Films Historical Drama Mistaken Identities Musicals Play&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12717\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12717"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66481,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12717\/revisions\/66481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}