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    To Be or Not to Be


    "If it wasn't for Jews, fags, and gypsies, there would be no theater."

    Poland 1939. Germany is poised and ready to take control of Poland, but the company of actors at the Bronski Theatre in Warsaw are not worried. They are too busy doing a show. Frederick (Brooks) is a well-known actor, "He's world-famous in Poland!", with an ego to match. He even puts his wifes name in smaller print...at the bottom...in parenthesis. He loves to do highlights from Hamlet, however he is not very good. Using that information to her advantage, his wife Anna (Bancroft) uses the time to kindle a romance with an ardent admirer, Lieutenant Andre Sobinski (Matheson). Every evening as Frederick begins his "To Be or Not to Be" speech, Lt. Sobinski gets up an crawls over everyone else (he is sitting in the middle of the row, towards the front), interrupting Fredericks concentration and making him mad...which makes his Hamlet good. Inevitably the Nazis choose to invade Poland immediately after one of these performances. Sobinski goes to England with his squadron and the Bronski company are left in turmoil.

    Frederick and Anna are kicked out of their home to make the Gestapo headquarters. The company have restrictions placed on their acting: no gypsies, no mocking Germans, and no Jews/homosexuals (which eliminates many of their troupe). Professor Siletski (Ferrer) the voice of Polish freedom, turns out to be a German spy, who now has information about the Polish underground, which he will be giving to the head of the Gestapo, Col. Erhardt (Durning). Sobinski returns to Poland to help the Bronskis stop Siletski.


    The plot is not as straightforward as it seems. There are many twists and turns, and when you think you've figured it out, something else happens to put the actors in deeper than ever. Brooks is always funny in bit parts in his film, but he manages to carry this film without a hitch. And as Bronski he gets to play many characters, most of them are high ranking Nazi officials. The supporting cast are hilarious, and many have appeared in other Brooks films. And it was nice to see Bancroft (Brooks wife) onscreen with Brooks. Its over the top, but hey that works here!

    This is a remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 film To Be or Not to Be.

    Dude, it's quotable: there are lots of little comments that are memorable, but a good portion of the jokes work on a visual field
    Rent it once: Brooks didn't write or direct this film, but I think it stands up better than some of his later works which have been seen more, despite not being the commercial success that many of his other films have been.

    To Be Or Not to Be (1983) 107 minutes
    Director: Alan Johnson
    Starring: Mel Brooks as Frederick Bronski
    Anne Bancroft as Anna Bronski
    Tim Matheson as Lt. Andre Sobinski
    Charles Durning as Col. Erhardt
    Christopher Lloyd as Capt. Schultz
    Jose Ferrer as Professor Siletski
    Ronny Graham as Sondheim
    Estelle Reiner as Gruba
    Zale Kessler as Bieler
    Jack Riley as Dobish
    Lewis J. Stadlen as Lupinsky
    George Gaynes as Ravitch
    George Wyner as Ratkowski
    James Haake as Sasha

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