The Goose Steps Out

1942 1h 19m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 15

ComedyWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Basil Dearden
Writers: Angus MacPhail, John Dighton
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

84 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Basil Dearden, shot by Ernest Palmer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ray Pitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Will Hay and Frank Pettingell and Julien Mitchell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0034801 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 15 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Basil Dearden directs. Ernest Palmer behind the camera. Ray Pitt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
284 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Basil Dearden, shot by Ernest Palmer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Ray Pitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Will Hay and Frank Pettingell and Julien Mitchell carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0034801 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 15 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Palmer
Editing: Ray Pitt
Runtime: 79 min · 1h 19m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Goose Steps Out (1942)

Also by

Basil Dearden

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-18
★ 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.

Production companies