To Be or Not to Be (1942)
95%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 2 nominations total
A complex and timely satire with as much darkness as slapstick, Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not To Be delicately balances humor and ethics.
To Be or Not to Be is a comedic masterpiece that satirizes the Nazi regime during World War II. With a star-studded cast including Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, the film is a sophisticated screwball comedy that keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense. Lubitsch’s direction is deft and logical, and the slapstick switcheroos and distractions add to the underlying tension of Nazi oppression. It’s no wonder that To Be or Not to Be is considered one of the finest comedies ever made. So, to be or not to be entertained? Definitely be.
Production Company(ies)
Romaine Film Corporation,
Distributor
United Artists, Warner Home Vídeo
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1942
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 39m
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Language(s):English, German
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 1942 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 27, 2013
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
Comedy, Ernst Lubitsch, Melchior Lengyel, Edwin Justis Mayer, Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack, Stanley Ridges, United Artists, Warner Home Vídeo, 1942, box office, budget, reviewed by Richard Brody, Kate Cameron, Keith Phipps, David Parkinson, Variety Staff, Rod McShane, Hannah Brown, Brian Eggert, Mike Massie, Danielle Solzman, Tim Dirks, Elena de la Torre, MPAA rating, satire, Nazis, Poland, theatrical troupe, Lieutenant Sobinski, Professor Siletsky, Polish resistance, impersonation, slapstick, suspense, romance, anti-war comedy, espionage, politics, Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino, Gestapo, Jewish sacrifice, American public, Casablanca, World War II
Worldwide gross: $4,578,000
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $99,358,165
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,024
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 10,835,132
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jack Benny – Joseph Tura, Prof. Alexander Siletsky
Robert Stack – Lt. Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart – Greenberg
Lionel Atwill – Rawitch
Stanley Ridges – Prof. Alexander Siletsky
Director(s)
Ernst Lubitsch
Writer(s)
Melchior Lengyel, Ernst Lubitsch, Edwin Justis Mayer
Producer(s)
Ernst Lubitsch
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 2 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (2)
The film’s high purpose propels Lubitsch to unsurpassed extremes of inventive audacity.
July 5, 2022
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
It isn’t, I am sorry to say, Lubitsch’s most intriguing comedy, nor is it the best of Jack Benny vehicles, but it will do until another buggy comes along.
January 18, 2018
Kate Cameron
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Lubitsch understood at the time, even if many critics and filmgoers didn’t, that all those elements and all that rule-breaking make To Be Or Not To Be brilliant.
August 27, 2013 | Rating: 5/5
Keith Phipps
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
A masterpiece satire around the Second World War is more likely to be appreciated now after some distance.
August 20, 2008 | Rating: 5/5
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Lubitsch’s guidance provides a tense dramatic pace with events developed deftly and logically throughout.
August 20, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It’s certainly one of the finest comedies ever to come out of Paramount.
June 24, 2006
Rod McShane
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It stars Jack Benny, one of the great Jewish-American comedians of the 20th century, and Carole Lombard, a wonderful screwball comedian, as well as Robert Stack and Sig Ruman.
May 2, 2022
Hannah Brown
Jerusalem Post
Throughout To Be or Not to Be, Lubitsch orchestrates a comic work of art whose central theme of acting offers perhaps the most accurate assessment of and staggering blow against the Nazi movement ever put to film.
February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Slapstick switcheroos and distractions abound, but the underlying suspense of Nazi oppression never lets up.
March 24, 2021 | Rating: 5/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be Or Not to Be, starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, is a top-notch World War 2 satire taking place during the Holocaust.
October 17, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Danielle Solzman
Solzy at the Movies
To Be or Not to Be (1942) is Berlin Germany-born director Ernst Lubitsch’s sophisticated screwball masterpiece, with satirical comedy, romance, and suspense. The controversial anti-war comedy about espionage and politics from producer Alexander Korda
September 29, 2019 | Rating: A+
Tim Dirks
Filmsite
Despite some of the serious situations, the comedic, brilliant, and delightful tone dominate in the movie, making it into a masterpiece. [Full Review in Spanish]
September 11, 2019
Elena de la Torre
Cine-Mundial…
Plot
Joseph and Maria Tura operate and star in their own theater company in Warsaw. Maria has many admirers including a young lieutenant in the Polish air force, Stanislav Sobinski. When the Nazis invade Poland to start World War II, Sobinski and his colleagues flee to England while the Turas find themselves now having to operate under severe restrictions, including shelving a comical play they had written about Adolf Hitler. In England meanwhile, Sobinski and his friends give Professor Siletski – who is about to return to Poland – the names and addresses of their closest relatives so the professor can carry messages for them. When it’s learned that Siletski is really a German spy, Sobinski parachutes into Poland and enlists the aid of the Turas and their fellow actors to get that list back.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Jack Benny, who plays Joseph Tura and Prof. Alexander Siletsky in To Be or Not To Be, was a popular comedian and radio personality in the 1930s and 1940s.
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