To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 )

To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 ) (Blu-Ray) (*)

$24.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
98 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1942 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Ernst Lubitsch

Written By:
Melchior Lengyel
Edwin Justus Mayer

Actors:
Carole Lombard ..... Maria Tura
Jack Benny ..... Joseph Tura
Robert Stack ..... Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart ..... Greenberg
Lionel Atwill ..... Rawitch
Stanley Ridges ..... Professor Siletsky
Sig Ruman ..... Col. Ehrhardt
Tom Dugan ..... Bronski
Charles Halton ..... Producer Dobosh
George Lynn ..... Actor-Adjutant
Henry Victor ..... Capt. Schultz
Maude Eburne ..... Anna
Halliwell Hobbes ..... Gen. Armstrong
Miles Mander ..... Major Cunningham

Synopsis:

Ernst Lubitsch directs the 1942 political satire classic To Be or Not to Be, which marked the final screen appearance of comedienne Carole Lombard. In Warsaw at the beginning of WWII, Maria Tura (Lombard) and husband Joseph (Jack Benny) perform anti-Nazi plays with their theater troupe until they are forced to switch to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack) falls for Maria and meets up with her during Joseph's famous "To Be or Not to Be" speech as Hamlet. When Stanislav is eventually dispatched for war, he implicates Maria with Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), who has a secret plan to destroy the Warsaw resistance. The Polish theater troupe is then forced to use their theatrical skills to ensure their survival. Eventually, they turn to impersonating Nazi officers - and even Hitler himself - in order to outwit the enemy and keep the resistance safe from spies. To Be or Not to Be opened to a controversial release in 1942, when the U.S. was still very much involved in WWII. It was remade in 1983 starring Mel Brooks and real-life wife Anne Bancroft.

In occupied Poland during WWII, a troupe of ham stage actors (led by Joseph Tura and his wife Maria) match wits with the Nazis. A spy has information which would be very damaging to the Polish resistance and they must prevent it's being delivered to the Germans.

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 29 July, 2018.