Astute readers will have noted how few of our What You Missed
selections are from the comedy genre.
The reason? Simply put, it's hard
to find comedies that are not one values ambush
after another. And as far as ambushes go, there is nothing so desensitizing
as an ambush dressed up as hilarity.
But pure, unadulterated comedy is a joy
to behold. And for this week's comedic fix, we go back to 1949, and one of the all-time
masters of comedy - the irrepressible Danny Kaye.
The tale of illiterate gypsie, Georgi (Kaye),
The Inspector General is fun from the get-go. Full of Kaye's trademark patter songs,
manic facial expressions, and convincing naïveté, the
farcical plot wraps around itself unendingly with more
twists and turns than an alpine road.
The scene is somewhere in early 19th century
Europe, immediately post Napoleonic conquest, and a small peasant
village. Attached to a travelling snake oil salesman, we find
Georgi as a complicit player in the promotion and sale of Yakov's
Golden Elixir.
Georgi takes pity on a mother buying the trumped up furniture
polish for her gravely ill husband, and reveals to her, and unwittingly
to the rest of the village, that the whole thing is a con. At this
news, the townsfolk rise up against Georgi and Yakov, and run them
out of town.
In a fit of rage, Yakov cuts Georgi loose from his employ, decrying
his pathetic ability to cheat, lie and steal. Georgi leaves on
foot, only to stumble into the town of Brodny, where he is promptly
arrested as a vagabond, and thrown in the local jail.
Unbeknownst to Georgi, the corrupt officials
of Brodny have learned of Napoleon's Inspector General
being in the region, incognito, and uncovering local corruption.
The Mayor and councillors determine they will keep their eyes
pealed, and make hasty preparations to cover up the foul state
of their village.
Hearing of the incarceration of Georgi,
they get the idea fixed in their minds that he is indeed said
Inspector General. Carried out of his prison cell almost on the
town father's shoulders,
Georgi is treated to a sumptuous feast, and ingratiated
upon by the grovelling councilmen.
Soon Yakov arrives in the town and discovers
the townsfolk’s
false public rapture at the 'Inspector General's' presence.
His wicked mind quickly determines that there is cash to be made
through the graft and corruption potentially about to be thrust
under Georgi's nose, and steps into the breech as the Inspector's
undercover adjutant.
Yakov lets Georgi in on his plan, and persuades
Georgi to stay and become the Inspector General. Unsure of what
an Inspector General does - "does he inspect Generals", queries the
hapless Georgi of himself - Georgi attempts to carry things
off as convincingly as possible.
From here, the hilarity heightens, the
plot thickens, and the snivelling Mayor and his nepotistic council
stoop lower and lower. Kaye, with all of his gifts, brings light
and shade to this classic piece of slapstick vaudeville. He will
have you in stitches as the Mayor's wife tries to romantically latch on to him, the
various nephews and cousins who make up the council seek his pardon,
and offer their penance, and he falls ever so delicately in love
with the Mayor's sweet, but harried, housemaid.
The arrival of the real Inspector General is a moment worth waiting
for, with the accompanying climax and final plot twist.
All in all, The Inspector General will
draw belly laughs from everyone, child and adult alike. The kids
will love the story, with it's Looney Tunes feel and sound.
And adults will have vague recollections of many of the scenes,
and songs, so seemingly familiar as they are.
Viewers should be aware though, that in
keeping with the period, the demon drink is part and parcel of
the social scenes - the
welcome feast, the reception ball, etc., - and is very
much a part of the humor.
The Mayor's wife, a desperate social
climber, makes certain suggestions to the fake Inspector General
that include obvious liaisons that do not behove a married woman.
But, there is nothing tawdry, graphic or salacious, purely the
demonstration that she will stop at nothing to vault out of her
current social restraints to get where she wants.
For a good Saturday afternoon laugh with the whole family, you
can do A LOT worse than The Inspector General.
By Brett Stringer
