The Inspector General
The Inspector General is a comic, satirical play by 19th century Russian playwright and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Its plot concerns the arrival of a stranger to a small provincial town. The stranger is presumed to be an important government inspector, and thus pampered farcically by the corrupt local authorities.
The Inspector General is also the title of a movie very loosely based on the premise of the original play and starring Danny Kaye as the eponymous "inspector".
The play seems to be the clear inspiration for the "Hotel Inspector" episode of John Cleese's comedic television series Fawlty Towers.
Quotes
"Alexander of Macedon was a hero, it is true. But that's no reason for breaking chairs."
External links
- Full text (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3735) translated by Thomas Seltzer from Project Gutenberg