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.
Will Hay
William Potts / Muller
Frank Pettingell
Professor Hoffman
Julien Mitchell
General Von Glotz
Charles Hawtrey
Max
Barry Morse
Kurt
Peter Ustinov
Krauss
Peter Croft
Hans
Anne Firth
Lena
Leslie Harcourt
Vogel
Jeremy Hawk
A.D.C.
Raymond Lovell
Schmidt
Aubrey Mallalieu
Rector
John Williams
Maj. Bishop
Lawrence O'Madden
Col. Truscott
John Boxer
British Pilot
Clifford Buckton
MI5 Man (uncredited)
Arthur Denton
Detective Carter (uncredited)
Leslie Dwyer
German Soldier on Train
Richard George
German Pilot
Walter Gotell
SS Guard
William Hartnell
German Officer at Station
Bryan Herbert
Airport Official
Vincent Holman
Member of the General Staff
Charles Paton
Passenger Arrested on Train
Lloyd Pearson
Train Passenger
Johnnie Schofield
1st Observer (uncredited)
Harry Terry
SS Guard (uncredited)
Jack Vyvyan
Detective Evans (uncredited)
H Victor Weske
SS Officer on Train (uncredited)
Director
Basil Dearden
Director
Will Hay
Idea
Bernard Miles
Idea
Reg Groves
Screenplay
John Dighton
Screenplay
Angus MacPhail
June 18, 2023
6
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.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00