To Be or Not to Be

original title:
To Be or Not to Be
other titles:
Sein oder Nichtsein
country / year of production:
USA / 1942
original length:
99 min. , black/white
premiere:
06 March 1942, USA
28 January 1959, Deutschland
genre:
Comedy
based on:
director:
Ernst Lubitsch
film script:
Melchior Lengyel , Edwin Justus Mayer , Ernst Lubitsch
producer:
Alexander Korda
cinematographer:
Rudolph Maté
editor:
Dorothy Spencer
composer:
Werner R. Heymann
cast (role):
Carole Lombard (Maria Tura) , Jack Benny (Joseph Tura) , Felix Bressart (Greenberg) , Robert Stack (Lieutnant Stanislav Sobinski) , Lionel Atwill (Rawitch) , Carole Lombard , Jack Benny , Robert Stack , Felix Bressart , Lionel Atwill
more:
plot synopsis:
Warschau, August 1939: A theater group is rehearsing for a piece that is directed against the Gestapo, but the polish government prohibites the performance. Instead, "Hamlet" is put on the playing plan. As the Germans march into Poland the actors go together into resistance. In the german uniforms out of their costume repertoire they play a funny game with the occupiers.
keywords:
resistance, opposition
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
remarks:
The film was first presented to a German audience shown on January 28th 1959 on Ernst Lubitsch`s birthday - 17 years after its American release - on the occasion of the annual "Ernst-Lubitsch-Award".
availability:
Video, DVD