Drawing the first series of eight episodes of "'Allo 'Allo!" to a close, "The Dance of Hitler Youth" merely kicks the can of worms plaguing the various characters in this World War Two situation comedy set in Occupied France down the road until the second series begins but not without a few highlights that continue to pique interest in this spoof of previous television programs (such as "Secret Army" and "Hogan's Heroes") that started brilliantly before fumbling for inspiration by the midpoint.
The good news is that London delivered the copy of "The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies" along with the (fictitious) Van Klomp original--however, the bad news is that German Captain Geering handed that original instead of the forgery to Gestapo agent Herr Flick for delivery to none other than Adolf Hitler.
Now Geering's superior, Colonel Von Strohm, who had initially purloined the painting as his postwar nest egg, hatches a plan for French café owner Rene and his wife Edith, disguised as German officers in the uniforms manufactured by Jewish tailors for Von Strohm and Geering in London, to exchange the forgery for the original while Herr Flick and his girlfriend, Von Strohm's secretary Private Geerhart, are attending Von Strohm's "Big Binge," the celebration of the burning of the Reichstag.
(As the Nazi Party was consolidating its rise to national power, Berlin's Reichstag, the German parliament building, was set ablaze in February 1933. The Nazis blamed the arson on their sworn enemies the Communists, thus providing their pretext to institute martial law and solidify the Nazis' hold on power, although evidence suggests that the Reichstag Fire was a false-flag operation enacted by the Nazis themselves to accelerate their takeover of Germany. Thus the cause for celebration by the occupying Germans.)
Central to the Germans' "Big Binge" revelry are nubile girls dressed as male Hitler Youth performing Bavarian dances including Rene's waitresses Maria and Yvette, which must surely confuse Lieutenant Gruber, who already believes he has a date later that night with Rene. That belief stems from an earlier gag that is hardly innovative: Disguised as a cheese salesman, Leclerc delivers a replacement radio to Rene, who kicks the suitcase concealing it behind the bar and thus switches it on, with Gruber thinking that Rene is speaking the random (presumably coded) statements issuing from the radio including the invitation to meet him behind the woodshed.
Elsewhere, Kim Hartman and Sam Kelly get a center-stage spotlight as they preview one of the Bavarian dances, as does Guy Siner as he sings Marlene Dietrich's signature song "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" (from Dietrich's 1930 movie "The Blue Angel"), presumably in anticipation of Gruber's tryst with Rene.
But the biggest, and most pleasant, surprise is Carmen Silvera. Her Edith having been designated as the series' punching bag, long ridiculed for her awful singing--which she apparently inherited from her mother Fanny as Rose Hill gets the opportunity to show how badly she can sing--Silvera proves her chutzpah while disguised as a German officer, boldly handling the various sentries as she and Rene close in on Herr Flick's quarters.
And what of the two British fliers, Flight Lieutenants Fairfax and Carstairs, whom Edith and Rene accompany to the shore? I wouldn't want to leapfrog to any conclusions, would I? Better to tune into the next series of "'Allo 'Allo!"
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