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Actors: Jack Benny, Carole Lombard
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about To Be or Not To Be (1942) |
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The movie is set in Poland just as the Nazi Party is taking over. Joseph Tura, a Polish actor, and his actress wife Maria, find their play, based on Hitler, has been shut down due to the Nazis. The Turas are angry and join an underground movement to foil the Nazis. However, they soon find out that someone they thought was on their side has betrayed them and they must stop him before he reveals important information to the Third Reich. Maria and Joseph go undercover and pretend to be Nazi sympathizers, but they have many close calls.
This is a movie that was made and released shortly before the death of Carole Lombard. It was a rarity at the time because the film openly mocked Hitler and the Nazis at a time when they were in power. Because of its sensitve topic (Nazi occuptation in Poland), many at the time were uncomfortable with the idea of a comedy being made about this, but the film is sensitive to the subject and the humor is directed at the stupidity and blind following of the S.S.
Carole Lombard is amazing as an actress who has to deal with admirers behind her husband's back and use her charms to fool the Nazis. Jack Benny is hilarious as a ham actor whose first concern is always his performance.
--Krysten Weller, Resident Scholar
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Released in 1942, this black and white comedy was a direct hit at the ever-present Nazi machine. Scathing in its humor and message, "To Be or Not To Be" is about a company of Polish actors at the time of the German invasion of Warsaw. Starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, it is the
"war" they wage on the bumbling--but cruel--Nazis. It's a laugh a minute as this Polish "underground" troup fights to save the real Resistance!
--Bill Hobbs, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of To Be or Not To Be (1942) |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Kind of comedy
- bungling spies
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- actor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- German
- Eastern European
Dumb?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Eastern European
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Hair type
- (man) very short/crewcut
Body type
- (man) fat
Ethnicity/Nationality
- German
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Eastern Europe
Misc setting
- theater
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- None
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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