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To Be or Not to Be
Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch
Passed
1942
1h 39m
War
,
Comedy
,
and more
8.1
96%
93%
Add to Watchlist
During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
More
Where to Watch To Be or Not to Be
Criterion Channel
Subscription
Max
Subscription
Max Amazon Channel
Subscription
+2 more
Cast of To Be or Not to Be
Carole Lombard
Maria Tura
Jack Benny
Joseph Tura
Robert Stack
Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart
Greenberg
Lionel Atwill
Rawitch
Stanley Ridges
Professor Alexander Siletsky
Sig Ruman
Col. Ehrhardt
Thomas J. Dugan
Bronski
Charles Halton
Producer Dobosh
George Lynn
Actor-Adjutant
Henry Victor
Capt. Schultz
Maude Eburne
Anna
Halliwell Hobbes
Gen. Armstrong
Miles Mander
Major Cunningham
Rudolph Anders
Gestapo Sergeant at Desk at Top of Hotel Stairs (uncredited)
Paul Barrett
Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Sven Hugo Borg
German Soldier (uncredited)
Danny Borzage
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Buster Brodie
Townsman (uncredited)
Peter Caldwell
Wilhelm Kunze (uncredited)
Alec Craig
Scottish Farmer Without Mustache (uncredited)
Helmut Dantine
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Jack Deery
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Leslie Denison
Captain (uncredited)
James Finlayson
Scottish Farmer with Mustache (uncredited)
James Gillette
Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Stuart Hall
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson
Second Reporter (uncredited)
Shep Houghton
German Soldier (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten
Polonius in Warsaw (uncredited)
Charles Irwin
Reporter (uncredited)
Tiny Jones
Townswoman (uncredited)
John Kellogg
Polish RAF Flyer (uncredited)
Adolf E. Licho
Prompter (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
John Meredith
English Wireless Operator (uncredited)
Maurice Murphy
Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Richard Neill
Warsaw Bystander (uncredited)
Russ Powell
Warsaw Bystander (uncredited)
Frank Reicher
Polish Official (uncredited)
Otto Reichow
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Gene Rizzi
Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
John Roy
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Hans Schumm
Special Investigations Squad (uncredited)
Stephen Soldi
Warsaw Bystander (uncredited)
Count Stefenelli
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Roland Varno
Pilot (uncredited)
Ernö Verebes
Stage Manager (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon
Member of Audience at Performance of Hamlet (uncredited)
Armand 'Curly' Wright
Makeup Man (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer
Man in Bookstore (uncredited)
To Be or Not to Be Ratings & Reviews
Boston Globe
Michael Blowen
The running gags, swift direction, and concise script makes it the best comedy about Fascism since Chaplin's The Great Dictator.
The New Yorker
Richard Brody
The film's high purpose propels Lubitsch to unsurpassed extremes of inventive audacity.
Deep Focus Review
Brian Eggert
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.
Gone With The Twins
Mike Massie
Slapstick switcheroos and distractions abound, but the underlying suspense of Nazi oppression never lets up.
Solzy at the Movies
Danielle Solzman
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.
Filmsite
Tim Dirks
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
Cine-Mundial
Elena de la Torre
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]
Cinema Siren
Leslie Combemale
Although seemingly played for laughs, there is a depth and multilayered meaning to much of the action and dialogue that led an audience newly involved to consider what part they might play in a world at war.
Film Frenzy
Matt Brunson
A masterpiece. ... Hurtling forward with its dizzying blend of laughs and intrigue, the movie's blessed with a script that's jam-packed with memorable quips (some laced with naughty double entendres), with most of the best ones handed over to Benny.
New York Daily News
Kate Cameron
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.
Common Sense Media
Barbara Shulgasser
Classic '40s anti-Nazi comedy has some violence.
The Dissolve
Keith Phipps
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.
TIME Magazine
TIME Staff
To Be is a very funny comedy, salted to taste with melodrama and satire.
Variety
Variety Staff
Lubitsch's guidance provides a tense dramatic pace with events developed deftly and logically throughout.
Decent Films
Steven D. Greydanus
The famed "Lubitsch touch," whatever it really was, was never put to a more formidable test the last hour is satiric perfection.
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
To Be or Not to Be's wit continues to be overshadowed by its touchy plot.
New York Times
Bosley Crowther
To say it is callous and macabre is understating the case.
Chicago Reader
Dave Kehr
One of the most profound, emotionally complex comedies ever made, covering a range of tones from satire to slapstick to shocking black humor.
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
Terribly funny.
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