To Be or Not to Be

1942 1 hr 39 min

35mm

Oscar Nominations

Oscar Winners

Ernst Lubitsch directed this audacious 1942 comedy about a troupe of Shakespearean actors who become entangled in the hunt for a German spy in Warsaw during the Nazi-occupation. Comedy legend Jack Benny stars alongside screwball queen Carole Lombard in a funny, unique perspective on a dark and troubled time period, all presented with the “Lubitsch touch.” Presented on a 35mm print courtesy of the Library of Congress.

This ongoing series allows staff at the Ambler Theater to pick and present their favorite films to our engaged community of cinephiles. Our screening of TO BE OR NOT TO BE was selected and will be introduced by Ambler Theater Board Member, Wynn Lee.

"When I’m asked “What’s your favorite film?” I resort to a couple choices: an all-time greatest, no-possible-objection film (Orson Welles – Citizen Kane) or a comedy-everybody-loves (Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot). But no lover of film can possibly have just one favorite! So this time around I have depended on these two brilliant creators for help. Welles called Ernst Lubitsch “a giant,” and Billy Wilder famously had a sign above his office door that asked “How would Lubitsch do it?” Trouble in Paradise (1932) is arguably his masterpiece (but it’s been seen recently at the Ambler). His To Be or Not To Be (1942) is clearly another candidate. It turns my favorite genre, screwball comedy, on its ear (laughing at Nazis? Jack Benny as Hamlet?), and features Carole Lombard in her final film. Tragically, she was never funnier, or more beautiful."- Wynn Lee

Director Ernst Lubitsch

Cast Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

Country USA

Language English

Aspect 1.37

More info on IMDB ››