Review of To Be or Not to Be (1942) by J J — 26 May 2011

To Be or Not To Be - 8/10.

Lubitsch's light hearted take on Nazism and the world of acting. A group of theatre actors in 1939 Poland become involved in a Polish soldiers quest of hunting down a Nazi spy, they use their acting "skills" to make fool's out of the Nazi's, resulting in farcical yet hilarious situations. 'To Be or Not To Be' was way ahead of it's time back in 1941, a time when the US hadn't joined the war and refused to take sides. Lubitsch took a huge risk much like Chaplin did with 'The Great Dictator'; was it really acceptable to make jokes of Hitler knowing the atrocities that were committed? All of that is of course irrelevant now, fact is that this film is still hilarious today and does a great job of ridiculing Nazi's. Took me a bit long to get into the film, Robert Stack's character was just such a bore, although once the film got going time flew. The real meat and potatoes of the film lie with the Polish acting troupe's scene's as they impersonate various Nazi's, Jack Benny was a highlight with his scene's easily being the best in the film.