The Goose Steps Out

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.

This,Will Hay's penultimate film contains one of his most famous routines on film.A variation on his famous schoolmaster routine.In this he is a teacher in a school for spies teaching such notables as Peter Ustinov and Charles Hawtry how to cope with the intricacies of enunciation in the English language.There is a further scene near the end of the film which was full of puns based on Enlish place names.I was at a lecture given by Peter Ustinov many years ago at the NFT.when asked about Will Hay he said that he remembered him as having cups of tea on his own in a corner of the set.It is interesting that in films made by English comedians during the war,such as Hay ,George Formby and The Crazy Gang,the Nazis are always portrayed as buffoo0ns rather than evil.

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.

One of Hays best and what a cast, is that Barry Morse of The Fugitive fame, and even Dr Who, William Hartnell, playing a German, and Ben Williams the male equivalent of Marianne Stone, in just about every old film made.