Rent To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Polish Caper - To Be or Not to Be review by NO

I could not make my mind as to whether this was a comedy or a serious war film.There were moments of humour mixed up with seriousness,then sheer silliness.I also never knew that Jack Benny acted in films,I had only heard him on radio.Tragically this was Lombards last film.Robert S tack looked so young,I did not regognise him at first.Rather

dated but worth seeing.

Joy amidst the Bombs - To Be or Not to Be review by CH

To return to this film after some while is to appreciate all the more how much there is in it. To embrace farce, smart dialogue and drama without a creak is a marvel made all the greater by the dexterity with so many of the cast switch national costume as they fend off a Nazi plot to kill off the underground in wartime Warsaw. Those who have seen it will know something of this; those who have not done so should be assured that here is cinema's plenty., the actors revelling in their work.

Taking the Mickey out of Nazis, in 1941 that could get you into serious trouble....lucky its 2025... - To Be or Not to Be review by The REAL Film Cricket

Viewed with the privilege of not being involved in World War 2 and the aftermath, it could be said that the comedy To Be or Not to Be, made in 1941 but released in 1942 after the USA joined the war, is, or was, a bit tasteless. But if you go back to that time, it is perfect jab and the Nazi regime and sympathisers. In particular, the constant ‘Heil Hitlering’ and what the two pilots do at the end of the film when ordered to by ‘Hitler’, it gets right to the crux of the whole evil cult.

The argument on the other side is that what the Germans and their allies were doing was evil, barbaric, and not something to be laughed at. But I am on Mel Brooks (who remade this film) side here, laughing at these people, pointing out the idiocy, even if it is evil, really works and is remembered by people. Writing in 2025 I have to say it used to be remembered to be fair.

Ernst Lubitsch, who created the film was clearly in love with acting and theatre and had a great hatred and sadness for Hitler and his acolytes, so this film, from this point of view is perfect.

To Be or Not to Be is not expensive looking and plays a serious subject for laughs but somehow Lubitsch manages to eke out some genuine fear and edge of the sit worries for the audience whilst popping in laughs and mickey-taking along the way. Overall, it is well done, coincidences and stupidity help the protagonists along but sometimes in life that happens.

As a story on the screen, what you see, I found it enjoyable and laughed aloud or said ‘Oh dear’ more than once so from the mists of 1941, with the cast now all gone, this film still works.

Jack Benny is funny as the vain actor who seems to be a comic anti-hero to start with, but turns out the hero, and his put-upon acting troupe, including his wife, all add to the film. The tragic and gone to soon (weeks after filming ended) Carole Lombard is in good form as the only female lead and it is easy to see how any character, Nazi or Allied, could fall for her. Supporting our two leads are Lionel Atwill as a hammy actor and various other supporting cast, playing supporting cast, and to be fair, the troupe as you see them and learn about them, works. A young, and unrecognisable, Robert Stack, plays the handsome Polish pilot and is probably the part of the film that does not work the best, but it is passable.

To be honest To Be or Not to Be references and points to the Nazi barbarity and evil amongst the jokes and silly situations. It shows the creative and artistic as being as important in a time of war and strife as the military, albeit exaggerated.

Black and white, made in 1941, with stage style humour and silliness, making fun of a very serious time in history and a murderous and hideous ideology and regime, I can see how some, even in this day and age, might not like To Be or Not to Be, but if you put yourself in black and white world and think about what was going on in that time, then I am sure you will see the humour, fun, silliness and seriousness of the film.