NOV 16 · FIGHTING TYRANNY FILM FEST
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A film by Ernst Lubitsch
w/ Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
Rated PG
1hr 39min
Acting couple Joseph (Jack Benny) and Maria Tura (Carole Lombard) are managing a theatrical troupe when the Nazis invade Poland. Maria is having an affair with Lieutenant Sobinski (Robert Stack), who suspects Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges) is a Nazi spy. With Siletsky in possession of a list of members of the Polish resistance, the Turas' company takes action. Using their skill for impersonation, Joseph and company must confuse the Nazis and stop Siletsky from handing over the list.
It took the mix of grace, sex, and slapstick energy that makes up the Lubitsch touch to create the funniest film ever made about the German invasion of Poland.
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
The running gags, swift direction, and concise script makes it the best comedy about Fascism since Chaplin's The Great Dictator.
Michael Blowen
Boston Globe
NOV 16 · FIGHTING TYRANNY FILM FEST
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A film by Ernst Lubitsch
w/ Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
Rated PG
1hr 39min
Acting couple Joseph (Jack Benny) and Maria Tura (Carole Lombard) are managing a theatrical troupe when the Nazis invade Poland. Maria is having an affair with Lieutenant Sobinski (Robert Stack), who suspects Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges) is a Nazi spy. With Siletsky in possession of a list of members of the Polish resistance, the Turas' company takes action. Using their skill for impersonation, Joseph and company must confuse the Nazis and stop Siletsky from handing over the list.
It took the mix of grace, sex, and slapstick energy that makes up the Lubitsch touch to create the funniest film ever made about the German invasion of Poland.
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
The running gags, swift direction, and concise script makes it the best comedy about Fascism since Chaplin's The Great Dictator.
Michael Blowen
Boston Globe
