Customer Reviews

The Inspector General (1949)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Alot has been said about this wonderful movie, but with several versions offered, which DVD is the best? I learned the hardway, buying several copies until I decided for the more expensive ROAN GROUP DVD. They mastered their DVD from a very nice 35mm TECHNICOLOR print, the other DVD's I bought were mastered from 16mm EASTMANCOLOR prints (grainy, dark, and pale colors). It is worth it to pay the higher price, you get what you pay for.

As noted by a previous reviewer, there are multiple distributors of this title. One is ranked as superior while the other distributors are rated as inferior. Unfortunately when this kind of choice arises, and Amazon has these multiple versions available Amazon has the bad habit of posting the reviews based on the title of the film rather than matching them to the version being sold. So regardless of which distributor's version appears the same reviews are shown to the viewer. Be sure to check the distributor data to make sure you are ordering the version you want.

In the case of this title Amazon does not identify the distributor so it is impossible to heed the advice the other reviewer posted as whether the item being displayed is the superior or inferior version.

It would be helpful if Amazon would link the reviews to the actual item being sold in those cases where there are multiple versions of an item available. This would help drive home the poin

I have just purchased The Inspector General. As i am still a 59 year old teenager i remember seeing it when it first came out. My favourite Danny Kaye movie is still The Court Jester but this is close second. So many funny characters including the great Alan Hale who will always be remembered as Little John to Errol Flynn`s Robin Hood. Elsa Lancaster as the Mayors wife, Gene Raymond ( with a wonderful hair style ) as the Mayor and of course Walter Slezak as phony medicine man who enlists the simple minded Danny for his wicked ways.Danny Kaye was always at his best playing characters who were certainly not the sharpest tools in the box. An absolute must for any Danny Kaye fans collection

Danny Kaye is superb in this movie about a bumble who is mistaken for an Inspector General, and how he pulls it off is worth the price of the film. The music is marvelous, and Kaye's machinations as he sings and dances to it are classic. Many lessons of life are involved in this movie. Friendship, loyalty, and especially "honesty" come to play, and the ending is so genuine, that it almost brought tears to my eyes. Highly recommended!!

I first saw this comedy a couple years ago on television. It was in black-and-white format which detracted from the film a little for me. However this offering on Amazon is in color format.

If you've seen and liked "Court Jester" or any of Danny Kaye's other classics, I assure you you will love this one.

It is definately one of the best comedies I've ever seen and as I am 45 years old, I've seen a few.

Enjoy!

This movie is almost as good as The Court Jester, also staring Danny Kaye. He is a travelling sales man who is mistakenly thought to be the Inspector General by a small corupt village. There is alot of homor and singing and all in all very entertaining. It's one you can watch over and over without getting sick of it.

I have always loved Danny Kaye and at 55 am still a big kid at heart. I love the theatre too and reckon this to be one of the best and cleverest adaptations of a classic play I have ever seen. Gogol's origuinal play has always been considered a major comic classic and while this adaptation does not follow the play exactly it catches so well the exact targets of pomposity and corruption that Gogol lined up. Along with the Court Jester it is clearly Danny Kayes greatest work and I am so glad it has been rediscovered by yet another generation. I reduced it by one star because it needs to be remastered and rereleased properly.
J

This is one of my all time favorites. Danny Kaye is just superb in his role. The story is really well told and there is not a single boring moment in this film.

A weak but pleasant farce based on a play, there's really only one reason to watch this movie, and that is Danny Kaye. The man had a unique talent for making tongue twisting lyrics not only possible but intelligible. This movie is no exception, with a few witty songs, fewer still witty moments, and more than soupcon of gurning along the way.
In terms of content, the style is light and frothy, with the satirical nature of Gogol's play on which the movie is based is sweetened away almost in its entirety. Message filled farce has given way to Danny Kaye vehicle, often way over the top. That said, it does raise a smile with infectious humour. There are a few good lines.. "Oh, I love my family, but I'd give my six kids to get rid of my wife.", and the twisting of the original lyrics to a well known song.. "Drink to me only wi-ith thine eye-eyes / And I will drink with my nose!".
The Gypsy song is probably the highlight, as Kaye gets the crowd participation (zzzum - shtok shtok - hahaha ... watch the movie and you'll know what I am talking about..).
If you're a Danny Kaye fan then you'll likely enjoy, but if you don't care for his style this movie will certainly not win you over.
This DVD version is particularly poor, with a very poor transfer of the original Technicolor. I assume this is the common public domain Eastmancolor 16mm transfer, rather than the superior 35mm Technicolour print which seems rare to find. The sound is also weak and scratchy. Danny Kaye needs larger than life colour and sound to match his larger than life comedy, and I suggest that if you have not seen it before or even want to relive the highlights, wait a bit longer to see if they will finally release a restored remastered version which would do the material better justice.

This movie is one of Danny's best! I love Danny Kaye, so my opinion is a little biased, but if you like Danny Kaye's style of humor and acting, then this is a good DVD to buy. I think there are better movie's he's done, but this one definitely has it's great moments.