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To Be or Not to Be
(1942),
Director: Ernst Lubitsch, rated Approved
The Picture
Everyone Wants To See.
  Starring: Carol
Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill,
Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan, Charles Halton, George
Lynn, Henry Victor, Maude Eburne, Halliwell Hobbes, Miles Mander
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
- great
"It's becoming
ridiculous the way you grab attention. Whenever I start to tell
a story, you finish it. If I go on a diet, you lose the weight.
If I have a cold, you cough. And if we should ever have a baby,
I'm not so sure I'd be the mother." – Maria Tura to her
husband, Josef
Why watch this?
It's a comedy about Nazis... and it's very funny.
Plot Summary:
In 1939 Warsaw, a hammy theatrical troupe led by a vain
husband-and-wife acting team finds their lives upended by the
Nazi invasion of Poland. When a handsome Polish pilot discovers
a spy in their midst, he enlists the help of the actors to
thwart a dangerous collaborator planning to betray the
resistance. Using their professional skills for disguise and
performance, the actors execute a series of high-stakes
impersonations to outwit the Gestapo.
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Dad's Preview:
Whoever stated that early Hollywood didn't embrace
controversy is wrong. This film, released one year after
the U.S. entered the fray, takes full satirical, comedic
aim at the German war machine, and its enigmatic leader.
Many critics of that time loved the actors' zany
performances, but thought it was in bad taste. How could
they make light of a regime bringing such horrors to the
world? Today, the retrospective view is that this is one
of the greatest comedies ever made. Jack Benny's wry
one-liners are hilarious, as he spars with the equally
witty Carol Lombard. Clark Gable's wife at the time, she
tragically died in a plane crash a month before the
film's opening. She was only 33. |
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Ernst Lubitsch,
Romaine Film Corp.; United Artists |
