To Be or Not to Be (1983)

Director:

Alan Johnson

Writers:

Edwin Justus Mayer (1942 screenplays)
Ronny Graham (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War | Comedy

Tagline:

That is the movie!

Plot:

A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when what should intrude but World War II in the form of an invasion...

Plot Keywords:

Gay Holocaust | Reference To Hamlet | Remake | German Occupation | Funny Nazi

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Mel Brooks	...	Dr. Frederick Bronski
Anne Bancroft	...	Anna Bronski
Tim Matheson	...	Lt. Andre Sobinski
Charles Durning	...	Col. Erhardt
Christopher Lloyd	...	Capt. Schultz
José Ferrer	...	Prof. Siletski
Ronny Graham	...	Sondheim
Estelle Reiner	...	Gruba
Zale Kessler	...	Bieler
Jack Riley	...	Dobish
Lewis J. Stadlen	...	Lupinsky
George Gaynes	...	Ravitch
George Wyner	...	Ratkowski
James 'Gypsy' Haake	...	Sasha (as James Haake)
Earl Boen	...	Dr. Boyarski

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | Finland:S | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

A street sign reads "Kubelski Avenue". To Be or Not to Be (1942) starred Jack Benny, whose real name is Benny Kubelski.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Naughty Nazis sketch, a sign reading "The Mark stops here" is standing on Hitler's desk. Since Harry Truman coined the phrase "The buck stops here" for his desk at the Oval Office in the late 1940s, it would have been impossible to make a pun on it in 1939, when the film is set.

Quotes:

Sasha: Enter, Andre Sobinski.
Anna Bronski: Exit, Sasha Kinski.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Producers (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ladies

The Mel Brooks way!

This is the great Mel Brooks at his best!.

He revisits this classic film and makes it even crazier than the original, adding a lot of new stuff... (there are 3 numbers where Mel dances and sings, there are clowns, jews and a homosexual hairdresser pursued by the evil and stupid nazis.)

All the actors in this movie, and I mean ALL, are just terrific.

I´d like to state that this is not a remake of the Ernst Lubistch classic, (at least that´s my opinion), to me this is a tribute to the great director and his masterpiece.

I´ve watched the Lubistch "To be or not to be" a lot of times for it´s one of my favorite films, and the Mel Brooks version is completely different from the original. It was made the Brooks way, which I really adore.

So watch this film, you´ll have a lot of fun and won´t stop laughing.

Oh, just one more thing...

This is an asking to 20th Century Fox: When you decide to release this movie in DVD, include the absolutely amazing video-clip: "To be or not to be - Hitler Rap" performed by Mel Brooks please!!. I can assure you that a lot of people will buy it just for that.

(9 out of 10)