To Be or Not To Be
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
With Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack.
US, 1942, 35mm, black & white, 99 min.
Print source: Westchester Films
With Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack.
US, 1942, 35mm, black & white, 99 min.
Print source: Westchester Films
“I was tired of the two established, recognized recipes, drama with comedy relief and comedy with dramatic relief,” Lubitsch declared. “I made up my mind to make a picture with no attempt to relieve anybody from anything at any time...” A black comedy before there was black comedy, the political satire of To Be or Not To Be shocked audiences for whom World War II was a current reality. Lubitsch’s Nazis were portrayed as not only evil, but absurd and bumbling—or as human and laughable as the theater troupe attempting to subvert them. With the neurotic antics of Jack Benny and the surprising, scintillating delivery of Carole Lombard leading the way, the egotistical actors confront their greatest roles when Germany invades Poland. Lubitsch’s send-up of both the artifice of theater and the theater of politics hilariously and brilliantly challenges the audience with the question of “To Be or Not To Be” in all of its various guises. Lubitsch pulls the curtain back and forth on art and life so ingeniously that when these bumbling Shakespearean players must face actual death, bravery and dignity, they—and we—discover that pain and laughter, tragedy and comedy are not at war, but disturbingly close.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
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Trouble in Paradise
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1932
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Ninotchka
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1939
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Shoe Palace Pinkus / Meyer From Berlin
Live Musical Accompaniment by Jeff RapsisScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Madame DuBarry
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1919
Live Musical Accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
That Uncertain Feeling
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1941
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Love Parade
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1929
Screening on FilmRecently Restored
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Doll
Live Musical Accompaniment by Martin MarksScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Kohlhiesel's Daughters
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1920
Live Musical Accompaniment by Jeff RapsisScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Lady Windermere's Fan
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1925
Live Musical Accompaniment by Martin MarksScreening on FilmRecently Restored
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
If I Had a Million
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, et al, 1932
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Broken Lullaby AKA The Man I Killed
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1932
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Design For Living
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1933
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
One Hour With You
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1932
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
So This is Paris
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1926
Live Musical AccompanimentScreening on FilmRecently Restored
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
When I Was Dead / The Pride of the Firm
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert HumphrevilleScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Carmen AKA Gypsy Blood
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1918
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert HumphrevilleScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Heaven Can Wait
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1943
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Smiling Lieutenant
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1931
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Monte Carlo
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1930
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Eyes of the Mummy
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert HumphrevilleScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1938
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Eternal Love
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1929
Screening on FilmRecently Restored
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Three Women
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1924
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert HumphrevilleScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Anna Boleyn
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1920
Live Musical Accompaniment by Jeff RapsisScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Shop Around the Corner
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1940
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Sumurun
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1919
Live Musical Accompaniment by Martin MarksScreening on FilmRecently Restored
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
To Be or Not To Be
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1942
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Oyster Princess
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1919
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert HumphrevilleScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Merry Widow
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1934
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Wildcat AKA The Mountain Cat
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1921
Live Musical Accompaniment by Andrew SimpsonScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1928
Live Musical Accompaniment by Martin MarksScreening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Ninotchka
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1939
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Cluny Brown
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1946
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Angel
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1937
Screening on Film
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That Certain Feeling... The Touch of Ernst ...
Cluny Brown
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1946
Screening on Film
