The Goose Steps Out

Loved this -- probably one of the funniest Will Hay films I've seen. I far prefer the pictures he made with Charles Hawtrey to the 'classic' teaming with Moore/Marriott, and an excellent supporting cast here includes Peter Ustinov and Frank Pettingell (of "Gaslight" fame).

I always find Hay funnier when he is being a pompous but resourceful twit rather than simply an arrogant incompetent, and here his schoolmaster character is put up against the Nazis and manages (with assistance) to rise to the occasion... aided by the fact that his opponents half the time are even bigger buffoons than he is. A sharp script relies heavily on verbal humour, with two outstanding scenes that riff on the absurdities of the English language. The invasion plan sequence in which Hay improvises strategy wildly in a cascade of puns while attempting to pick a German general's pocket deserves to be a classic of the genre (take them from the flanks in Lancs to keep the Paras all tied up in Notts... but don't get caught with your Panzers down in the Severn Tunnel).

There is also a clever yet natural-seeming series of gags making use of an asbestos suit, some of which you can see (and enjoy) coming in advance, some of which I didn't! The final reels of the film didn't work quite so well for me, chiefly because I couldn't help but be aware that with all those antics the plane wouldn't have lasted for a minute and had some trouble suspending my disbelief in the name of comedy -- it's always funnier when it's actually physically plausible, however far-fetched. (The ingenious tactic by which Hay contrives to prevent his friend Professor Hoffmann from drinking a glass of poison by triggering his "Heil Hitler" reflex precisely at the requisite moment, for example.) Up to that point I would have rated the film at a definite 8/10; I still rate it a solid seven.

The contrast between English and American propaganda films was never more marked; see also "Night Train to Munich", "Pimpernel Smith" and even "The Lady Vanishes" for Englishmen working against the Nazis who simply don't take themselves all that seriously.

Will Hay delivers quite well in this wartime pick-me-up of a film. He is discovered to be the spitting image for a Nazi general who happens to be in charge of a prestigious Hitler Youth establishment. As you'd expect, his character "Potts" is the least like a general you can imagine, but soon he has been dispatched as a sort of doppelgänger and is causing the predictable havoc amongst the aspirational young men of the great Arian race. Hay always had solid entertainment skills, good comedy timing and a very expressive face - he easily raises a few chuckles here. Charles Hawtrey is also quite good fun as "Max" and there's even some Peter Ustinov faffing about as "Krauss" in this amiable farce that had a pretty clear propagandist purpose which I suspect would have worked well with audiences in Britain at the time. It's maybe a little long, but it does what it set out to do and as an example of the star's ability to chivvy up the viewers, it's a fair effort.

"The Goose Steps Out" is a British comedy and satire of Nazi Germany that was made and released around the middle of World War II. Will Hay stars in this Ealing Studios production as William Potts. He's a British language teacher who is arrested as a German spy. But when the look-alike Professor Rudolph Muller is hauled in, Potts takes his place - as a British spy. His German assignment at Altenburg University is to train a special class of young Nazis who speak English. They must learn the customs and behavior of the Brits so that they can blend into the population when they go to England as spies. But, Pott's British mission is to find out about the secret weapon that Professor Hoffman is developing for Germany at a nearby research facility.

All of this sets the stage for a rollicking good comedy with lots of mocking of the Nazis, and other spoofery. Hay gets into a very funny tongue-twisting segment, and has some fun with the young men over British, names and English words. His Slough - sluff, tow - tough exchange is quite amusing. The writers, through Hay's Potts, get some more funny plays on words into the script as well. And, Hay's antics, clever and silly asides mix nicely in this very good and well-written satire. This is also the debut film of Peter Ustinov who plays a young Nazi student.

As the British populace endured with their stiff upper lips during WW II, a good comedy like this was probably welcomed and enjoyed by most. This film isn't on the level of the two great satires of Nazi Germany released earlier. Both of those were independent American films distributed by United Artists. Charlie Chaplin made and starred in "The Great Dictator" of 1940; and the early 1942 film by Romaine Films, "To Be or Not To Be," starred Jack Benny and Carole Lombard.

Interestingly, none of the major or established Hollywood studios made a satire or anything that poked fun at Nazi Germany before or during the war. The big studios especially looked to Germany for their highest foreign ticket sales and thus, profits. The level of "collaboration" at least, between German censors and Hollywood during the 1930s and Hitler's rise to power, was the subject of a 2013 book by Harvard author Ben Urwand, ""The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler." But, after the start of WW II, all of the Hollywood studios got on the anti-Nazi band wagon. The first clearly anti-Nazi film during the war was "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" in 1939 by Warner Brothers. That was followed by MGM in 1940 with "The Mortal Storm.".

"The Goose Steps Out" won't be as funny to modern audiences as it was to those of the past. But it's still a fun spoofing that many people will enjoy. Here are some favorite lines from this film.

William Potts, after Rudolph Muller reams him out in German, "Blimey! Hear what he's calling me? Said I got a face like a half-baked Wiener Schnitzel. Blimey, look at him. He's no oil painting, is he?

Nazi inspector on the train, "Born in Hamburg, 1891," Potts, as Muller, "Yah!" Nazi officer, "Oh, was your father also a Hamburger?" Potts, "No, a Frankfurter."

Rector: "You are late, Herr Muller. Berlin informed me that you were reporting for duty yesterday." Potts, as Muller, "Well, yes, I'm sorry, Herr Rector, but uh, you see, the plane, er, uh uh, the train, through Spain, stopped again and again and again."

Herr Rector, 'You will familiarize the students with British customs, habits and institutions, so that eventually they may pass unchallenged as British citizens."

Professor Hoffman, "I'm sure the British people are longing for the day when our beloved Führer will set foot in Britain to liberate them." Potts, as Prof. Muller, "Oh, yes, you bet they are." Prof Hoffman, "Yeah, they will give him a warm welcome, you think?" Potts, "Uh, the warmest he's ever had in his life." Prof. Hoffman, "Splendid, splendid!"

Bernie-81's review mentioned a possible 'nod' from the producers of this film to the Warner Brothers' "Casablanca" which was also released in 1942. I think it's more likely that the use of a twin-finned mock-up aircraft in "Goose's opening aerodrome scene bearing the markings "G-AFGN" was an ironic reference to the use of a real, aircraft bearing that registration by the British prime-minister to visit Germany in 1938 for negotiations with Hitler. Some in the audience would have recognised the significance of "G-AFGN" even if it wasn't relevant to the Hay picture. The prop Lockheed airliner seen in "The Goose..." may have been used in other pictures but not by the Warner studio out in California.

Will Hay sticks two fingers up at Der Fuehrer with ill-disguised glee in this patriotic wartime comedy. He's a German Language tutor and an undercover agent, teaching English to budding Nazi spies deep in enemy territory due to his uncanny likeness to a captured Nazi agent. A Goose Steps Out is at its best when poking fun at Hitler, but quickly loses its way when departing from this activity. Worth watching to catch Peter Ustinov and Charles Hawtrey - both still in their 20s - play Nazi students.