While in Germany, Ralph and Ed accidentally wander into East Berlin and are suspected of being spies.While in Germany, Ralph and Ed accidentally wander into East Berlin and are suspected of being spies.While in Germany, Ralph and Ed accidentally wander into East Berlin and are suspected of being spies.
Photos
Elizabeth Allen
- Away We Go Girl
- (as Betty Ellen)
Frank Marth
- Russian Soldier Who Offers to Drive
- (uncredited)
George Petrie
- Russian #1 in Forest
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Featured review
Astounding For Any Number of Reasons
The Golden Age of the Broadway musical, and Jackie Gleason..ever wary of "The Honeymooners" becoming formulaic and uninspired, boldly..audaciously decides that the show will produce a BRAND-NEW, fully-staged musical A WEEK! How the writers, composer/lyricist, orchestrators, production crew..to say nothing of the actors, dancers, designers, etc EVER managed to keep up with this impossible schedule, is beyond belief. They must have been writing scripts and songs MONTHS in advance to keep up with the weekly grind. And SIX of the eight 45-minute musicals were rehearsed and broadcast live in SIX CONSECUTIVE WEEKS, in February/March, 1957!
The third in the series is in some ways the best. "Behind the Iron Curtain" actually features Kramden and Norton, trapped in Soviet-controlled East Germany, disguising themselves as TWO REAL-LIFE SOVIET OFFICIALS: Georgy Malenkov (who succeeded Stalin briefly, and who bears a striking resemblance to Gleason), and Nikolai Bulganin (a credible Art Carney look-alike). Their official Soviet portraits are hanging on the wall in the interrogation room scene; that's REALLY THEM!
Anyway, after the typically expert June Taylor Dancers opening number ("All Aboard the Berlin Express"), the obligatory expository dialogue, a clever "German Band" number (that anticipates the Dick van Dyke "I am a Fine Musician" number), the Kramdens and Nortons unwittingly enter a Soviet firing-range in the woods for a peaceful day of hiking. This is the low-point of the show, with typically forced humor from the girls, and a gentle ballad by the guys describing the tranquility of nature, which unfortunately gets screwed up (LIVE TV..no re-takes!), with orchestra conductor Ray Bloch scrambling to keep up with Gleason, who obviously had some sort of memory lapse.
Following an AMAZING display of live pyrotechnics onstage (which never would be permitted today), the guys are hauled in by the Russkies as spies, and the fun REALLY begins.
I'll only say that the big State banquet scene HAS TO BE one of the all-time highlights of TV comedy history, with a robust Russian Dance ensemble, a hilarious impromptu speech by "Bulganin" (Ed Norton), a bravura performance by Boris Aplon as General Goredsky, a BRILLIANT Soviet-folk style, minor-key "aria" by Gleason lamenting the plight of the American worker, and a coerced Russian dance (the "Kazatsky!?"), performed by Malenkov/Gleason...three times, each verse FASTER in tempo, while the roomful of officers, soldiers, and dancers cheer on the hapless Ralph, as he and Norton desperately look for a way to escape before their ruse is discovered.
CLASSIC in the truest sense of the word..but totally forgotten in the history of Tv comedy....even in the canon of "Honeymooners", whose fans have little interest in anything outside of the precious "Classic 39". Too bad.
The only way to see this show is as part of the complete "Lost Episodes" DVD set which, believe me, is essential for any true admirer of the Honeymooners, one of landmarks of great comedy.
Sorry to report that in the color re-staging of the "European Vacation" series from 1966, "Behind Iron Curtain" (now re-titled "We Spy"), while improved in some ways over the original '57 version, saw Ralph's classic "Worker's Lament" song and the Kazatski dance sequence ELIMINATED. What a shame, since this was undoubtedly the highlight of the episode. So GET THE ORIGINAL!! LR.
The third in the series is in some ways the best. "Behind the Iron Curtain" actually features Kramden and Norton, trapped in Soviet-controlled East Germany, disguising themselves as TWO REAL-LIFE SOVIET OFFICIALS: Georgy Malenkov (who succeeded Stalin briefly, and who bears a striking resemblance to Gleason), and Nikolai Bulganin (a credible Art Carney look-alike). Their official Soviet portraits are hanging on the wall in the interrogation room scene; that's REALLY THEM!
Anyway, after the typically expert June Taylor Dancers opening number ("All Aboard the Berlin Express"), the obligatory expository dialogue, a clever "German Band" number (that anticipates the Dick van Dyke "I am a Fine Musician" number), the Kramdens and Nortons unwittingly enter a Soviet firing-range in the woods for a peaceful day of hiking. This is the low-point of the show, with typically forced humor from the girls, and a gentle ballad by the guys describing the tranquility of nature, which unfortunately gets screwed up (LIVE TV..no re-takes!), with orchestra conductor Ray Bloch scrambling to keep up with Gleason, who obviously had some sort of memory lapse.
Following an AMAZING display of live pyrotechnics onstage (which never would be permitted today), the guys are hauled in by the Russkies as spies, and the fun REALLY begins.
I'll only say that the big State banquet scene HAS TO BE one of the all-time highlights of TV comedy history, with a robust Russian Dance ensemble, a hilarious impromptu speech by "Bulganin" (Ed Norton), a bravura performance by Boris Aplon as General Goredsky, a BRILLIANT Soviet-folk style, minor-key "aria" by Gleason lamenting the plight of the American worker, and a coerced Russian dance (the "Kazatsky!?"), performed by Malenkov/Gleason...three times, each verse FASTER in tempo, while the roomful of officers, soldiers, and dancers cheer on the hapless Ralph, as he and Norton desperately look for a way to escape before their ruse is discovered.
CLASSIC in the truest sense of the word..but totally forgotten in the history of Tv comedy....even in the canon of "Honeymooners", whose fans have little interest in anything outside of the precious "Classic 39". Too bad.
The only way to see this show is as part of the complete "Lost Episodes" DVD set which, believe me, is essential for any true admirer of the Honeymooners, one of landmarks of great comedy.
Sorry to report that in the color re-staging of the "European Vacation" series from 1966, "Behind Iron Curtain" (now re-titled "We Spy"), while improved in some ways over the original '57 version, saw Ralph's classic "Worker's Lament" song and the Kazatski dance sequence ELIMINATED. What a shame, since this was undoubtedly the highlight of the episode. So GET THE ORIGINAL!! LR.
Details
- Runtime48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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