Review of To Be or Not to Be (1942) by Kevin N — 21 Aug 2011
"So they call me Concentration Camp Ehrhardt?" Ernst Lubitsch's hilarious 1942 film has the distinct honor of being both one of the most charming and one of the most daring films ever made.
It is one of the funniest Hollywood films of the decade and one of the boldest mockeries of Hitler and Nazism ever created- and it was created right in the thick of things. Lubitsch had Jack Benny in mind from the get-go and it shows; the lines are so perfectly suited to Benny's impeccable comic timing, and he consequently owns the role.
No one really took Benny seriously as a film actor at the time, but, looking back, his performances were some of the most unique in the genre thanks to his brilliant vocal humor. Benny is accompanied by the ever-talented Carole Lombard in her last screen performance before her untimely death.
She is the perfect counterpart for Benny- smart and independent but sweet and compassionate in essence. The film works so well because German-born director Lubitsch knows when to let the laughs pour and when to become serious, and though this is a comedy it has moments of solemnity; it is mature about its subject matter when it needs to be.
It is one of Hollywood's boldest productions.
This review of To Be or Not to Be (1942) was written by Kevin N on 21 Aug 2011.
To Be or Not to Be has generally received very positive reviews.
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