Directed by Ernst Lubitsch • 1942 • United States
As nervy as it is hilarious, this screwball masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch stars Jack Benny and, in her final screen appearance, Carole Lombard as husband-and-wife thespians in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who become caught up in a dangerous spy plot. TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a Hollywood film of the boldest black humor, which went into production soon after the U.S. entered World War II. Lubitsch manages to brilliantly balance political satire, romance, slapstick, and urgent wartime suspense in a comic high-wire act that has never been equaled.
Up Next in Noah Baumbach’s Adventures in Moviegoing
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Noah Baumbach on MONSIEUR HULOT'S HOL...
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Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Directed by Jacques Tati • 1953 • France
Starring Jacques Tati, Nathalie PascaudMonsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well...
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Noah Baumbach on WINTER LIGHT
