The Goose Steps Out

1942

1h 19m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

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Comedy

War

Schoolteacher William Potts is the double of a captured German spy, so he is sent to Germany by British Intelligence to obtain the plans of a new secret weapon, causing chaos in a Hitler Youth school in the process.

Directors

Basil Dearden

Will Hay

Writers

Angus MacPhail(screenplay by)

Reg Groves(idea by)

John Dighton(screenplay by)

Stars

Will Hay

Frank Pettingell

Julien Mitchell

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Top cast

William Potts …

Professor Hoffman

General Von Glotz

Max

Kurt

Krauss

Hans

Lena

Vogel

A.D.C.

Schmidt

Rector

Maj. Bishop

Col. Truscott

British Pilot

MI5 Man (uncredited)

Detective Carter (uncredited)

Leslie Dwyer

German Soldier on Train

Directors

Basil Dearden

Will Hay

Writers

Angus MacPhail(screenplay by)

Reg Groves(idea by)

John Dighton(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

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User reviews1

Review

Featured review

6/10

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.

Geronimo196718 Jun, 2023