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To Be or Not to Be

  • 1983
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
13K
YOUR RATING
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft in To Be or Not to Be (1983)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:22
1 Video
33 Photos
ParodySatireComedyDramaWar

At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.

  • Director
    • Alan Johnson
  • Writers
    • Thomas Meehan
    • Ronny Graham
    • Edwin Justus Mayer
  • Stars
    • Mel Brooks
    • Anne Bancroft
    • Ronny Graham
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    13K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alan Johnson
    • Writers
      • Thomas Meehan
      • Ronny Graham
      • Edwin Justus Mayer
    • Stars
      • Mel Brooks
      • Anne Bancroft
      • Ronny Graham
    • 50User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    To Be or Not to Be
    Trailer 3:22
    To Be or Not to Be

    Photos33

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    Top cast83

    Edit
    Mel Brooks
    Mel Brooks
    • Dr. Frederick Bronski
    Anne Bancroft
    Anne Bancroft
    • Anna Bronski
    Ronny Graham
    Ronny Graham
    • Sondheim
    Estelle Reiner
    Estelle Reiner
    • Gruba
    Zale Kessler
    • Bieler
    Jack Riley
    Jack Riley
    • Dobish
    Lewis J. Stadlen
    Lewis J. Stadlen
    • Lupinsky
    George Gaynes
    George Gaynes
    • Ravitch
    George Wyner
    George Wyner
    • Ratkowski
    James 'Gypsy' Haake
    • Sasha
    • (as James Haake)
    Scamp
    • Mutki
    Christopher Lloyd
    Christopher Lloyd
    • Capt. Schultz
    José Ferrer
    José Ferrer
    • Prof. Siletski
    • (as Jose Ferrer)
    Charles Durning
    Charles Durning
    • Col. Erhardt
    Tim Matheson
    Tim Matheson
    • Lt. Andre Sobinski
    Earl Boen
    Earl Boen
    • Dr. Boyarski
    Ivor Barry
    Ivor Barry
    • General Hobbs
    William Glover
    William Glover
    • Major Cunningham
    • Director
      • Alan Johnson
    • Writers
      • Thomas Meehan
      • Ronny Graham
      • Edwin Justus Mayer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews50

    6.912.5K
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    Featured reviews

    Jamie-58

    a maligned minor classic

    This remake of Ernst Lubitsch's wartime comedy has often been dismissed as a ham-fisted and unnecessary vanity exercise. This is grossly unfair, as the Brooks' version is in fact a deft and funny comedy that stands up well in comparison to its forebear. Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft make their own the roles of the Bronskis, a Warsaw theatrical duo ("world famous in Poland")who star in revues at the Bronski theatre. When war breaks out the Bronskis become brood-hens to an ever-growing community of Jewish refugees while staying one step ahead of the Nazis. Brooks and Bancroft are fine in the roles of the battling Bronskis, particularly Mel Brooks who finds a touching level of vulnerability beneath the bombast and bluster of Frederick Bronski. Despite the farcical and improbable plot twists, the narrative is sound and genuine pathos registers throughout the film. Those with fond memories of Jack Benny and Carole Lombard in the lead roles may have boycotted this on first release, but they have denied themselves a rare treat - a sure-footed and genuinely entertaining film.
    8bkoganbing

    The Lubitsch Touch Or The Brooks Touch

    Rather than a satire of a film classic like Frankenstein or a genre of films like the western was done in Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks chose for the one and only time to do a remake of an already very funny film with the classic To Be Or Not To Be. 40 years later the Brooks remake has lost none of the laughs from the original, in fact Brooks could now talk about things unmentionable when Hollywood was under the Code.

    The 1942 original film that starred Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, and Robert Stack in the roles that Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, and Tim Matheson play here, was a sophisticated comedy that was not well received when first out, many thought the Nazis were no subject to joke about during wartime. Over time it gained acceptance as yet another of the masterpieces that Ernest Lubitsch did over his career. It may have been Jack Benny's best big screen performance. It was also Carole Lombard's farewell performance.

    Benny's comedy was droll, Brooks's humor hits you with a sledgehammer. Still the different approach works out in this remake. Anne Bancroft is more than a good substitute for Carole Lombard, in fact she's as funny in this as Lombard ever was on the screen.

    Many years ago one of my supervisors knew Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft and he told us at work that her image as a great dramatic actress, whose two career roles are in The Graduate and The Miracle Worker was a total fabrication. Mel Brooks he said was as zany a man in private as he was in film. But he also said that Bancroft was even zanier than he was and had few times to display that in public. In that sense the two were a perfectly matched couple. My supervisor said he lived in the same building as they did in Greenwich Village and got to know both of them.

    Mel Brooks got to show the effect of the Holocaust to come on gays in one of the first films to acknowledge that publicly. One of the touching performances in the supporting cast is by James Haake as Sascha the dresser for Bancroft who gets a one way ticket to a concentration camp, but the trip gets put on hold permanently by his friends in the theater. Charles Durning also does well as Gestapo head in Warsaw who gets constantly bamboozled almost like World War II era film Nazis by Brooks's ingenuity and his theater troupe who give the best performances of their lives. And we can't forget Jose Ferrer adding yet another ethnic group to his repertoire as the Polish traitor Siletsky.

    If you're not a fan of Mel Brooks you will become one after you see any of his films. And this review is dedicated to the late Robert Peregoff, one of my supervisors at work who provided me the insights I got into the Brooks-Bancroft screen and life partnership.
    10Mister-6

    Definitely meant "to Be"...

    I haven't seen the Ernst Lubitsch original of this gem but if I had, I might have been prejudiced in my decision of this being one of the finer films that Mel Brooks has been in.

    Though not written by or directed by Mel, he and wife Anne Bancroft take center stage as Frederick and Anna Bronski, Poland's most famous acting family. When the Nazi war machine overtakes Warsaw, they and their acting troupe use every actor's trick in the book to escape and make their way to England.

    All this, of course, while Anna becomes smitten with an American pilot (Matheson) who helps them both to freedom. In the meantime, there are threats from a devious doctor (Ferrer), a lecherous Nazi colonel (Durning) and a command for the troupe to perform for the Nazi Army with Hitler in the audience.

    There are so many classic moments here that to list them would be a dis-service to the movie. Let me just say that I enjoyed this whole film from opening to closing and even the closing had some doozies.

    The Nazis are seen as complete buffoons and the exchanges between Durning and his head officer (Lloyd) are classic. In fact, I can see why Durning was nominated for an Oscar for his role here; not just anyone could have pulled it off as well as he.

    Everyone here has a good scene or two, including Mel's regulars (Graham, Wyner, Riley) and the dialogue even manages to get the proper sentiment and tension out of the proper scenes. A great effort by all involved.

    Purists of the Jack Benny original may disagree, but this "To Be or Not to Be" is the "to Be" for me!

    Ten stars. Mazeltov!
    9f.gimenez

    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)
    CHARLIE-89

    Overlooked

    I've been a big fan of the Jack Benny movie since I was 10 years old. Then, just earlier this year, I sought out the Mel Brooks version. I had become a huge Mel Brooks fan and he is now my favorite entertainer. So I thought I'd see this version just because I sorta kinda had to as a Mel Brooks fanatic. My grandfather (also a big Mel Brooks fan) had seen the film on its release back in 1984 and thought it was a kind of pale copy of the Jack Benny version, which he loves too. But I personally thought that the film was a brilliant motion picture and contained more laffs and better music than the original. This quickly became one of my favorite Mel Brooks movies (even though he didn't direct or write it!) The supporting cast is great, in a different way than the original. Instead of trying to merely copy the original performances, they create their own, equally-funny ones, especially Charles Durning and Christopher Lloyd. Jose Ferrer was great. That underrated Jewish character comic George Wyner was also as funny as ever. Even Ronny Graham had a role as Sondheim("Sondheim, send in the Klowns!") James Haake as Sasha gave a brilliant performance. I wish he'd won an Oscar. Tim Matheson was good in his kind of bland role as the Polish Flier. But of course, the stars are Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Their highlights together include a Polish version of "Sweet Georgia Brown." Brooks sings "A Little Peace," "Ladies," and (on the soundtrack album only) "The Hitler Rap."

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Mel Brooks has said this is his favorite of his Brooksfilms movies.
    • Goofs
      In the Naughty Nazis song, "A Little Piece...", they mention Pakistan as one of the countries. Pakistan was not created until 1947.
    • Quotes

      Frederick Bronski: Let's face it, sweetheart: without jews, fags and gypsies there is no theatre.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening and closing credits show a picture of Bancroft and Brooks drawn side by side in overlapping profile, this is clearly an homage to the similar drawing of Benny and Lombard in the opening and closing credits of the 1942 version.
    • Connections
      Featured in An Audience with Mel Brooks (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Ladies
      Music & Lyrics by Mel Brooks and Ronny Graham

      Performed by Mel Brooks (uncredited)

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    FAQ

    • How long is To Be or Not to Be?Powered by Alexa
    • What year does the story take place?
    • Were gay folks like Sascha really rounded up and sent to Nazi concentration camps?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1, 1984 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Polish
    • Also known as
      • Soy o no soy
    • Filming locations
      • Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA(Hotel Europa; Polish Officers Club)
    • Production companies
      • Brooksfilms
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $9,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $13,030,214
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,020,958
      • Dec 18, 1983
    • Gross worldwide
      • $13,030,214
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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