User Reviews

With the critical acclaim of Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and the Jack Benny/Carole Lombard war comedy "To Be or Not to Be", the idea of spoofing Nazi idealism through ridicule became a fad long before Mel Brooks gave us "Springtime For Hitler". It is obvious from the opening credits and the written prologue that this film intends to make buffoons out of the evil Nazi's who were then creating havoc all over the world, and while this is slightly better than Hal Roach's "The Devil With Hitler", it is still way over the top and not on the par with the two more well known classics that at least reminded us how dangerous and evil fascism could be. Set in war time Holland, this takes the idea of Nazi occupation and turns it into a sick joke. You cannot help but laugh at Allyn Joslyn's pretentious sneering performance as a Nazi Major who obviously takes his position way too seriously, walks like he's marching for de fuhrer in a reviewing parade, and bellows each line like he's yelling at his troops. He shows up at the home of Georgia Caine to demand a room, and finds himself immediately smitten with Caine's soon to be divorced daughter-in-law (Joan Bennett) whose husband is in a mental institution. Along comes Dutch pilot Franchot Tone who in order not to be captured by the Nazi's poses as the estranged husband hoping for a reconciliation with his wife, much to Joslyn's annoyance.

Constantly interfering in any chance of a reconciliation between the really not married Bennett and Tone, Joslyn shows up at the boarding house Bennett moves into (actually a retirement home for cute old ladies) and does all he can to push Bennett through to a final divorce decree. When the real estranged husband shows up, Tone's identity is in danger of being exposed, but thanks to some quick thinking and the abundance of the overly serious but stupid Nazi soldiers who are on the lookout for the missing pilot, Tone and Bennett manage to outwit the bad guys. These Nazi's are stupid as stupid is from the very start, having celebrated the fact that while a dozen or so British pilots were captured or killed, several dozen Nazi pilots had the same fate. It's obvious that these Germans didn't study math very well, leading to some amusing jokes about the educational system that once one of the tops in the world had become marred by the onslaught of Hitler's determination to create the perfect man by eliminating anybody who didn't meet Aryan standards, and thus eliminate critical thinking through basic education as well.

It's nice to see Bennett doing some comical work for a change which shows her versatility, and Tone gives one of his better performances as the Dutch pilot who knows he is far smarter than any of the Germans that he encounters but must pacify them with making them think they are smarter so he can beat them at their own game. The always delightful Cecil Cunningham is amusing as the former Countess who now runs the old lady boarding house, filled with some funny old ladies, although I found myself looking for the cutest of old ladies (Ida Moore) who is unfortunately absent in this film. If you have a good eye for detail, look for a young Lloyd Bridges as one of the German soldiers. I was unable to spot him, but given the chance, I will re-watch this just for those scenes so I can identify him. As for the conclusion, if you think that Roach's abridged comedy "The Devil With Hitler" went out of his way to lampoon the Fuhrer, wait to see what they do here, and the line given which indicates that Germans knew their battle was a lost cause but had no choice to fight while under the thumb of this power obsessed mad man.

This is an overboard, silly and goofy satire of Nazi Germany. It's set in occupied Holland of 1942. The Dutch underground shelters a downed RAF pilot, while a German major makes the Nazis and German soldiers look like buffoons.

"The Wife Takes a Flyer" is a somewhat fun film to sit through, but it takes some grit and patience to that end. That's because of so much buffoonery that it starts to wear thin. Allyn Joslyn, as Major Zellfritz, leads the satire among a cast of several uniformed Germans who mock anything and everything about the Nazis.

The story itself has enough quirky aspects to provide great humor. An RAF flyer who was shot down is helped by the Dutch underground to get some vital information back to England. The household helping him is in turmoil with a daughter-in-law seeking a divorce from her insane husband. The husband, who has just escaped from an asylum, may show up at any moment. An old-age home for ladies has residents who would do almost anything for a little excitement. The lunatic husband is more a zany comic than insane. A German major who is in charge of propaganda thinks his leaflets dropped over England will turn the tide of the war.

But Major Zellfritz's overly hammy acting and the wacky buffoonery of German soldiers after a while begins to detract from the rest of the humor. And, the humor of the rest of the cast is quite good, in dialog and antics - mostly the latter. Franchot Tone is the RAF pilot, Christopher Reynolds, and Joan Bennett is Anita Woverman. The Woverman household is a hoot with Lloyd Corrigan, Georgia Caine and Barbara Brown playing family members. And Hans Conried is very funny as the cuckoo Hendrik Woverman. The ladies from the old-age home are a hoot, with Cecil Cunningham running the place as Countess Oldenburg.

To my knowledge, only two anti-Nazi satire feature films were made during World War II. Both were made in Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" of 1940, and this one of 1942, "The Wife Takes a Flyer." The first, of course, used fictitious names and countries, in an obvious parody of Nazi Germany, Adolph Hitler, and other characters and countries. This film portrays Nazi Germany and its armed forces as nothing but buffoons.

Chaplin's 1940 classic was a huge box office success. In a year of many very good films ("Rebecca," "The Grapes of Wrath," "The Philadelphia Story," "Boom Town"), "The Great Dictator" came in fourth at the box office with $10 million in tickets sales.

And, that was with a late premier of Oct. 15, 1940. "The Wife Takes a Flyer" may have covered its budget, but its box office of $1.1 million domestic was 165th of all movies for the year - even with an early premier of April 28.

Chaplin's film is the first feature satire movie. It has an interesting history. It was banned in some South American countries where the Nazis held considerable power. Great Britain blocked it ahead of its release, but was in the war by that date and showed it all over the UK in 1940. I read somewhere that Chaplin later said that had he known of the holocaust and the German concentration camps in 1940, he would not have made "The Great Dictator."

Here are the best lines from "The Wife Takes a Flyer."

Major Zellfritz, "Ten, oh good. We only lost 18 flyers this week. Last week we got 12 British flyers and we only lost 54. The week before we got 18 and we only lost 68. If this keeps up, pretty soon, no more British flyers."

Hendrik Woverman's attorney, "Oh, in the tropics, everybody drinks like a fish." Anita Woverman's attorney, "Like a minnow, maybe, or a barracuda; but certainly not like a whale."

Captain Schmutnick, "So, you're thinking of joining the Nazi Party." Christopher Reynolds, "Well, you need men, don'tcha?" Captain, "Are you prepared to betray your mother?" Reynolds, "Naturally!" Captain, "Your father?" Reynolds, "Certainly!" Captain, "Your sweetheart?" Reynolds, "Of course." Captain, "And would you kill your own child for the Fuhrer?" Reynolds, "I'd do more, much more. I'd even give my grandmother the hot foot." Captain, "Hot foot - what is that?" Reynolds, "Well, you get some lighted matches and stick 'em under their toe nails." Captain, "Ohhh, excellent! That is good. I shall have to try that myself."

Anita Woverman, "Oh, where'd you get the bird?" Major Zellfritz, "We get the bird from all the countries."

Major Zellfritz, "A toast - to the new world order." Anita Woverman, "Down with it."

Major Zellfritz, "And, uh, this medal I got for my victory over the Boy Scout organization. With only three newspaper articles, I completely annihilated them."