To Be or Not to Be (1942)

• Year: 1942
• Released: 06 Mar 1942
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 2 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035446/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/to_be_or_not_to_be
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/to-be-or-not-to-be
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, German
• MPA Rating: Passed
• Genre: Comedy, Romance, War
• Runtime: 99 min
• Writer: Melchior Lengyel, Edwin Justus Mayer, Ernst Lubitsch
• Director: Ernst Lubitsch
• Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
• Keywords: world war ii, london, england, dark comedy, infidelity, nazi,

	8.2/10
	86/100
	96% – Critics
	93% – Audience

To Be or Not to Be Storyline

With Adolf Hitler secretly preparing for war, and the insidious 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland only days away, the narcissistic husband-and-wife protagonists of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1948), Joseph and Maria Tura, inadvertently find themselves involved in the Resistance. Now, instead of putting on the dangerous “Gestapo” theatre play, the couple, and the other actors of their Warsaw theatre company, must use every trick in the book to support the war effort, and prevent a despicable Nazi collaborator from delivering a detailed list of the secret identities of the Polish Resistance fighters to the enemy. But, with the Führer himself in the battle-scarred capital, can the talented thespians, and the handsome pilot of the British Royal Air Force, Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski, save the day?

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To Be or Not to Be Movie Reviews

Excellent propaganda comedy

During and just before WWII, there were a lot of propaganda films created by Hollywood to drum up morale in our fight against Fascism. Nearly all of them were deadly serious war films. And, while many of them were great, after a while they all tended to blend together. Because of this, TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a real standout picture. The movie is a comedy and yet is every bit as effective in inspiring the war effort. Now it’s not surprising that the film is so well-made as its director is Ernst Lubitsch and he is ably supported by lots of wonderful character actors such as Felix Bressart and Sig Rumand (among others). However, the nice surprise about the movie was the acting of Jack Benny in the starring role (along with the wonderful Carole Lombard). For years, Benny made fun of his acting and the movies he made, but he was great and the film was great. Aside from the rather dopey HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT, in fact, I really like the few films he made.

All-in-all, a fine and fun film–chock full of quality.

A question of taste

A number of interest points here. A brilliant premise. Material that was daring at the time, that one is amazed at what it got away with even if some of it may be an acquired taste. That it was the final film of the lovely Carole Lombard, who died far too young in a plane crash not long after with much more to give. And that it was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, a personal favourite of mine who had one of the most distinctive directing styles for any director often cited as “the Lubtisch touch”.

Found ‘To Be or Not to Be’ a truly fabulous film, have seen many very good to masterpiece films recently (as well as inevitably some duds) and this stands out among the very best of them. What could easily have been tasteless and offensive, with what it was satirising and considering the time, turned out to be one of the funniest comedies seen recently and ever actually and wartime comedies have seldom been funnier or more original. It also contains some of the best work of all involved. In front of and behind the camera, am aware that sounds very cliched but to me it’s true.

‘To Be or Not to Be’ looks great, immaculately yet atmospherically designed with a real sense of period and beautifully shot without being too glamorous. The music is neither too jaunty or low key, while Lubitsch’s direction is one of ‘To Be or Not to Be’s’ biggest stars in its sophisticated style that one can recognise from anywhere.

Regarding the script, it is intricate and full of sharp wit and hilariously quotable lines that as mentioned above in my first paragraph when talking about the material being daring. The opening gag is hysterical and one that one does not expect, while the running joke concerning Robert Stack as Maria’s (played by Lombard) admirer is an example of a running joke that doesn’t get old prematurely and doesn’t get repetitive, dangers with running jokes. ‘To Be or Not to Be’ is not just non-stop hilarity though, there is also surprising pathos that one doesn’t always get in comedy and is genuinely poignant. Affectionate and inspiring are further things to describe and never had any problem with the pace.

Lubitsch’s direction is one of two particularly wonderful things about ‘To Be or Not to Be’. The other is the simply sublime cast, showing Jack Benny at his funniest and Lombard being an absolute joy in all senses (found her touching too but a lot of it was to do with it being her final film and what a talent she was). Stack is amusing and charming and Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman are great fun.

Altogether, fabulous. Even in films that fit in the “loved it” category, improvements can be pointed out in order to be balanced, but in the case of ‘To Be or Not to Be’ there is nothing to fault. 10/10

That Is The Question, Lubitsch Or Brooks?

One of the very few people who would think to remake an Ernst Lubitsch picture would be Mel Brooks who satirized just about every genre there was in Hollywood. But I doubt that Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and Robert Stack would have lent themselves to the slapstick type film that Brooks turned To Be Or Not To Be into and Mel’s version is very funny.

When the film opens the biggest problem that Jack Benny has on his mind is who’s this secret admirer who keeps sending flowers to his wife Carole Lombard every night while they’re on stage. Although it’s helped his Hamlet performance, the angst Benny is feeling about Lombard being faithful, pretty soon Benny, Lombard, Polish airman Robert Stack and the whole touring company that Benny heads are all caught up in the Nazi German invasion of Poland which inaugurates World War II.

Stack joins the Polish squadron of the RAF and there’s a nice little Polish colony as with other occupied nations during World War II. One of them is Stanley Ridges who does propaganda broadcasts for the BBC. And he gets to be good pals with the airmen. But after he leaves for Germany on a ‘secret’ mission it’s discovered in reality he’s a German agent and is going back to Germany with a list of exiled Poles so that the Nazis could retaliate against families. Stack goes back to Poland after Ridges.

Where he meets up with Lombard and Benny and the rest their troupe and let’s just say that their talents as actors are never more needed than in the series of performances they give the occupying Germans.

Whether dealing with marital problems or Nazis breathing down their necks Lombard, Benny, and Stack have no shortage of wits about them. Carole and Jack are old hands at comedy, but Bob Stack showed a nice gift for it as well. Of course Ernst Lubitsch’s type of comedy is a great deal more sophisticated than Mel Brooks. He also was making his film at a time when the USA wasn’t in the war yet and the outcome for Poland and the rest of the world remained in doubt. Not to mention what was left of a liberal spirit in Germany where Lubitsch was an exile from.

This was Carole Lombard’s farewell performance. Completed in 1941 To Be Or Not To Be was released just in time for Pearl Harbor and it certainly beats a lot of hastily made propaganda films that came out to tap into the national anger. It also got the same kind of knocks The Great Dictator did in satirizing the authoritarianism of the Nazis. But both films have stood the test of time. And it’s not as preachy as The Great Dictator, but Lubitsch gets his point across. As for Lombard she went on a war bond tour which ended abruptly in a plane crash outside Las Vegas. FDR from the White House proclaimed she was as much a war casualty as any GI at the front and there were few who would disagree.

If your taste runs to an earthier form of comedy Mel Brooks will certainly satisfy you. But for those who value sophistication as embodied in that phrase the Lubitsch touch, this To Be Or Not To Be still pulls in the laughs.