MovieChat Forums > The Ghost Train (1945) Discussion > Racism Thrown In As Comedy

Racism Thrown In As Comedy

posted 16 years ago by Niro
31 replies | jump to latest

Incredible that the writers would have thrown in a "gag" about Hitler and the horrors perpetrated on millions, but especially on the Jewish, with the following dialogue at approximately 18 minutes into the film:

Tommy Gander [to Ms. Bourne's caged parrot]: "I say, I wonder if I could teach you to talk. I wonder if you could say 'Heil Hitler.' Eh? No, not with a beak like that."

I found most of Mr. Askey's alleged "comedy" in this film to be dated and not remotely funny (even for the time period) but this was an all-time low -- particularly as WWII was still raging.

And before anyone says, "But the play was written in 1938 and we didn't yet know the extent of the Nazis' atrocities," the "joke" could only have been directed toward Jews.

Perhaps I shouldn't blame the writers, as this might in fact have been one of Mr. Askey's standard stage bits which he asked them to include. At any rate, it was racist then, is racist now and was completely unnecessary.

I also added this into IMDb's "Quotes" section, for those who don't read the forums.

PS: Not that it could possibly matter, but I'm a Gentile.

[–] El_Desperado 14 years ago

I may be wrong, but wasn't Arthur Askey Jewish ?

That doesn't necessarily mean that the comment wasn't racist, but it would show that he wasn't too concerned by it.

As I say, I may be wrong.

[–] adamknox 14 years ago

Maybe im a bit thick.. but i always thought when he said "no not with a beak like that" He meant it would find it hard to say due to the actual size of his beak/nose.
I have met alot of people that say things, mostly through their nose. Which makes the words come out sounding odd. for e.g "Ile itler"

either way the year this film was made 95% of the British public wouldnt have known how far hiter was willing to goto to remove the jews from the world. You have to remember that the news wasnt like it is today. Nowadays you find out every bit of information every second of everyday. Back then it was speculation mixed with propaganda and a little fact thrown in for good measure.

This message was done in the best possible of taste :) x 24/7

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] robinakaaly 12 years ago

The joke was not racist either then or now. Assuming the reference to "beak" was to a facial characteristic, Askey was simply reflecting the fact that no Jew would say "Heil Hitler" (after the 1933 racial laws in German and Crystalnacht and the kindertransport), whereas many gentiles, such as Raymond Huntley's character were so doing.

As to knowledge of Nazi atrocities, it was knowledge of them from an early date which pushed Britain into war. The scale of the atrocities grew during the war but evil is not dependent on size. The Molotov Papers published in 1942 as a British Government White Paper were evidence of the horrors of Nazism on the Eastern Front.

It is also worth bearing in mind that much British wartime humour revolved round making fun of Hitler to ridicule and diminish him (look at some of Giles's cartoons).

This film was a morale raiser and if what some seem as slightly offensive jokes helped to raise morale and, in the words of Henry V, "stiffen the sinews", then so much the better for the war effort.

[–] just1Hitch 12 years ago

The remark plays to an ethnic stereotype and was in poor taste but hardly racist.

Excuse me for talking while you're interrupting.

[–] GoUSN 11 years ago

...or it could have been a simple joke about Hitler. I heard the line just a few hours ago, but I didn't have my spotlight out looking for items I could later claim are racist.

It was just a wartime anti-Hitler comment. Period. "Beak like that" could have meant a hundred things, or it could have meant nothing.

I pick nothing.

[–] MidniteRambler 11 years ago

To sum up then, nobody can make a reference about someone with a large nose in case it is misconstrued as being an anti-Semitic comment. Are we going to be damned if we make reference to a Caucasian's tan in the future for fear of being called racist?

Get a life.

[–] JeffDeWitt 11 years ago

I just finished watching this movie and liked it a lot, it was good fun and not at all what I expected.

Yes, it was a little odd asking if a parrot could say "Heil Hitler", but as was pointed out they were making fun of the Hitlerites... in fact there was a parrot in the Munich zoo that could say "Heil Hitler", there is a 1949 newspaper article referencing it and saying it's an "old parrot" and as those birds can live for a very long time it's possible the joke was referencing a real parrot.

Considering when this movie was made and that there WERE Nazi spies in it that was not only a joke but a clever bit of foreshadowing.

I've also got to add that if anyone is watching movies this old and their feelings are so tender they will be offended by anything not politically correct they probably should be watching something else.

[–] King_Of_Fuh 10 years ago

Next to that guy making tea calling straws "suck-ups", that Hitler parrot joke was the funniest line in the movie!

[–] admin-14468 9 years ago

Well yet another race card flipper. looking for racism where it isn't. Your comments are total and utter bollix. Showing your ignorance of the times and the war.. You are in fact the racist