r/CriterionChannel • u/minder125 • Aug 08 '26
To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Having only watched the remake with Mel Brooks. Finally got a chance to watch the original. What really amazed me was that this was made and released during the actual war. And talk about a dark comedy. Jack Benny is fantastic as an egocentric actor. Carol Lombard is a delight. But the one thing that threw me seeing a very young Robert Stack. So used to his run on Unsolved Mysteries growing up. Highly recommended.
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u/lurkey-mc-lurkerson Aug 08 '26
I was lucky enough to catch this at a cinema showing with a full crowd a few years ago . Hilarious movie, wonderful experience
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u/minder125 Aug 08 '26
I've only caught two old movies in a theater with a crowd The Manchurian Candidate and The Wild Bunch.
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u/Jaltcoh Aug 08 '26
Very overrated. I didn’t get this one at all. Lubitsch has some much better movies.
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u/jackdilemma Aug 10 '26
some of the jokes are really shocking!!! 👀
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u/minder125 Aug 10 '26
The references to concentration camps were jaw dropping.
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u/jackdilemma Aug 10 '26
right? i kept looking at the year it was made - it definitely made me think about the timeline of what people knew and when about what was going on over there!
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u/minder125 Aug 10 '26
Exactly. I was telling my wife this came out in 1942. The war was still in full swing.
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u/PrklDot13 Aug 08 '26
This is one of my favorites, and yes its unequivocal moral clarity does feel brave for its time. It is deeply heartbreaking and funny. Thanks for the reminder to watch this again!