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A Fascist Farce: “To Be or Not to Be” (1942)
Description
Mel Brooks famously said that the only way to get even with Hitler is to make fun of him. Although Mel said it, he wasn’t the first to do it. That honor goes to Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator”, 1940) and to the director of our film for today, the legendary Ernst Lubitsch and his brilliant political satire from 1942, “To Be or Not To Be.”
To be or not to be, that is the question of this movie. A troupe of second rate actors are the last line of defense against the onslaught of fascism and somehow it’s hilarious and terrifying at the same time. We walk through why this wartime dark comedy still feels so modern today, from the brilliantly incisive dialogue, to the sleight of hand structure, to the hysterical and meta performances of its stars: the incomparable Jack Benny and the luminous Carole Lombard, in her final screen performance.
The story keeps asking “what’s real and what’s staged?” as characters impersonate other characters, romances collide with resistance work, and jokes snap into suspense without warning. Along the way, we dig into what people mean by “the Lubitsch touch” and why the film’s sharp dialogue and careful misdirection reward repeat viewings.
This film also kicks off our listener requested “Swan Songs” series, as it’s impossible to separate the movie from the legacy of the great Carole Lombard. We talk about her brilliance on screen, her war bond tour, and the tragic circumstances that made this her final film, adding a haunting layer to an already daring piece of political comedy.
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