Starring: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill Directed By: Ernst Lubitsch, J.C. Nugent Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: March 01, 2005 Running Time: 99 minutes Theatrical Release Date: March 06, 1942
Amazon.com essential video: Just as Roberto Benigni found himself on the receiving end of some finger-wagging for making a comedy set during the Holocaust, so the great Ernst Lubitsch caught some heat for this extraordinary 1942 satire set behind enemy lines during World War II. In his best performance on film, Jack Benny stars as Joseph Tura, the lead actor and head of a Polish theater troupe that is suddenly enlisted as a Resistance organization when an American pilot (Robert Stack) requires protection. The twist is that the pilot has been having a series of trysts with Tura's wife (Carole Lombard), the hilarious evidence being the disruptive departure of Stack's character from a theater audience each night as the hammy Tura unknowingly cues the lovers by launching into Hamlet's famous soliloquy. The remarkable script by Edwin Justus Mayer ingeniously folds the tensions of a betrayed marriage into the comic suspense surrounding Tura and company's efforts to pull off a Mission: Impossible-like sting on the local Nazi command. Many unforgettable moments and lines of dialogue adorn this black comedy, and the performances--most memorably Sig Ruman's crisp volleys with Benny--are a dream. Above it all, however, is Lubitsch's unmistakable Continentalism, his accent on Old World manners especially in a dangerous situation, suggesting the Nazis' very vulgarity was a reflection of their profound evil. --Tom Keogh
A Near-Perfect Comedy, Filmed and Set at a Unique Moment in Time I came to this film late, mostly as a curiosity having watched the Mel Brooks remake many times.
Boy am I glad I finally caught this. This film provides a rare window on the early days of the war, as seen by a Western Europe equally perplexed and disgusted by the rise of Nazism. In the hands of a brilliant director, and a motivated cast, this film transcends its moment and enters the realm of high art.
I could go on about the sets, the intricate comic plot that grows increasingly absurd, the luminous Carol Lombard and her amazing gowns, the always funny Jack Benny hamming it and serving as the butt of many jokes, the great character actors populating the cast as real and fake Nazis, or even an early fine performance by Robert Stack, but I'll simply urge you to see this film and see for yourself.
Given the trajectory of the war, both for Poles, Jews, and even for many Germans, this film was prescient and really is one of a kind.
Interesting Aspects I won't add my unqualified praise to the long list of enthusiastic reviews, with which I heartily agree.
The other day I saw a documentary about "Gentleman's Agreement," which mentioned that it was the first Hollywood film to use the word "Jew," which had supposedly been taboo because the studio heads did not want to call attention to their own ethnicity.
Actually, Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" had dealt openly with the plight of Jews, in Germany, long before "Gentleman's Agreement."
But "To Be Or Not to Be" scrupulously avoids any reference to Jews, even though the characters in the story are obviously a company of Jewish actors, and director Lubitsch and many of the actors in the film are themselves Jewish.
As if to underline the taboo, or perhaps to poke a little satirical bite at it, early on the script has Jack Benny, in a throw-away line that one could easily miss, nonchalantly order a "salami and cheese sandwich" -- a no-no in the diet of a traditional Eastern European Jew.
The film even goes so far as to misquote Shakespeare, having Felix Bressart substitute the words "I" and "we" for "Jew" in Shylock's most famous speech. This shameless (or shameful, depending upon how you look at it) bowlerism could not have been overlooked by the more literate of those in the audience.
Those same people may also have wondered at the choice of Hamlet's onstage "To Be Or Not to Be" speech as an opportune time for the Carol Lombard character to pursue a backstage assignation.
Lombard's Maria Tura would surely have played Ophelia in the production. Immediately following the "To Be Or Not to Be" scene, Hamlet comes upon Ophelia saying her prayers. There could not possibly have been time during the speech for Maria to have an an offstage romance and still make her entrance on cue.
These anomalies in the story are perhaps a wink at the audience, and no more improbable than a troupe of Jewish actors in Poland successfully impersonating Nazi soldiers, a general, and even Hitler.
The film is both a social statement, albeit an obvious one, and a brilliant farce, and is one of my all-time favorites.
Fantastic and Funny I don't like to throw around superlatives, for the most part. But I really think that this is the funniest film that I have ever seen. The humor is a combination of farce/screwball, satire, black and a some slapstick to boot. But what makes it really stand out is the directing, Lubitsch is simply brilliant. The cuts are just right, the timing of the scenes and the pacing of the film overall keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. In a sense, the film feels like one extended dance (think of early Lubitsch). The acting is also top notch. Weeks after watching the film I still laugh when thinking back about it.
But underneath the extremely funny surface are some serious issues. It is about WWII after all. There's the issue of the Jews and their response to the Germans. The Jewish identity of most of the characters is supposedly hidden but the hiding act isn't all that convincing.
Lubitsch once said that the film was about actors being actors until the bitter end. I guess people in "the biz" could relate to that better than I could.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who wants an excellently crafted comedy from a top-notch director.
Love this movie! Just a wonderfully funny movie - Jack Benny is great and of course, so is Carol Lombard. It has twists and turns - and turns out hilarious!
Jack I love "The Jack Benny Show". I don't see the humor in this DVD. Must be me. Otherwise it's a great product. No defects.
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