Synopsis
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Carole LombardMaria Tura
- Jack BennyJoseph Tura
- Robert StackLieut. Stanislav Sobinski
- Felix BressartGreenberg
- Lionel AtwillRawitch
- Stanley RidgesProfessor Alexander Siletsky
- Sig RumanCol. Ehrhardt
- Tom DuganBronski
- Charles HaltonProducer Dobosh
- George LynnActor-Adjutant
Recommendations
- 100
The Dissolve
To Be Or Not To Be works as both comedy and thriller, ratcheting up the tension and humor as the actors’ scheme threatens to fall apart, and the gags build on one another. - 100
Entertainment Weekly
One of Hollywood’s funniest, and most poignant, classics. - 100
Chicago Reader
It could be [Lubitsch's] finest achievement, and it's certainly one of the most profound, emotionally complex comedies ever made, covering a range of tones from satire to slapstick to shocking black humor. - 100
Variety
To Be or Not to Be, co-starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, under expert guidance of Ernst Lubitsch, is absorbing drama with farcical trimmings. It's an acting triumph for Lombard, who delivers an effortless and highly effective performance that provides memorable finale to her brilliant screen career. - 100
Slant Magazine
Many of the film’s pleasures, then, derive from watching these characters successfully use the tools of the stage (improvisation, sense memory, prosthetics) to successfully subvert the Nazis. - 100
IndieWire
[A] magnificent film. - 88
New York Daily News
The picture, produced by Alexander Korda, under Lubitsch's direction, has some deliciously funny moments and every now and then a serious sequence is injected that startles the audience into an attitude of taut suspense. But it seems to me that the background of the Melchior Lenggel story is a bit too grim for joking. - 83
The A.V. Club
Because the second half of To Be Or Not To Be, once Benny starts impersonating Nazis, is so outlandishly hilarious, it’s easy to forgive the film’s comparatively sluggish first half, which is mostly setup for gags to come.
