The Inspector General

An adaptation of the book/play---"Revizor"--- written by Nikolai Gogol, in 1836, which was a sharp satirical indictment of the Czarist regime, which blasted open the abuses, political vices and bribery that were rampant in the country.

Vlasta Burian appears in a town of Czarist Russia impersonating an Inspector General, and he is entertained lavishly by the local political-hacks and peasants seeking his favor for whatever they are advocating or need fixed. Burain is involved in a series of comical situations as he takes everything he can gets his hands on while the peasants, who make please for the betterment of their conditions, are left out outside-looking-in. He makes his escape just as the real Inspector General is set to appear, but those-in-need will be no better off when the real McCoy shows up then they were with Burian.

In the 1949 version from Warners, with Danny Kaye in the role played by Vlasta Burian, put him in the position through a comedy-of-errors and, unlike, Burian, Kaye had no intent-to-defraud.

The US release of this 1933 film wasn't until 1937 when it played at the Squire Theatre in NYC, with Czech dialogue and English sub-titles.