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To be or not to be [videorecording (DVD)].

Warner Home Video, c2005.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland -- Drama.

Nazis -- Drama.

Video Difference legacy collection.

Criterion collection 670.

9781604657616 (2013 Criterion Collection ed.)

[videorecording (DVD)].

1 (or 2) videodisc(s) (91 min.) : Dolby digital mono. sd., b&w & col. ; 12 cm.

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1942.

Special features: Jack Benny in: Comedy short the Rounder ; wartime promo buy savings bonds! A patriotic drama.

Special features (2013 Criterion 2-DVD special ed.): New audio commentary featuring film historian David Kalat ; Pinkus's Shoe Palace, a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Ernst Lubitsch, with a new piano score By Donald Sosin ; Lubitsch Le Patron, a 2010 French documentary on the director's career ; two episodes of The Screen Guild Theater, a radio anthology series: Variety (1940), starring Jack Benny, Caludette Colbert, and Lubitsch, and To be or not to be (1942), an adaptation of the film, starring William Powell, Diana Lewis, and Sig Ruman ; PLUS: a booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and a 1942 New York Times op-ed By Lubitsch.

Presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition.

At head of title: Alexander Korda presents.

A selection of the National Film Registry, 1996.

In English with optional English, French or Spanish subtitles. Criterion collection copies include English (SDH) subtitles only.

Closed-captioned.

Original story by Ernest Lubitsch and Melchoir Lengyel ; screenplay by Edwin Justus Mayer ; produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

Carole Lombard and Jack Benny with Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman.

"The world is on the brink of war but the show must go on. So Joseph Tura, the Polish actor who put the ham in Hamlet, stares beyond the footlights and says: 'To Be or Not to Be...' That is the question, as well as the classic in which director Ernst Lubitsch, whose witty 'Lubitsch touch' had stylishly lampooned sex and wealth, now took on a new target: Nazism. The story centers on a Warsaw theatrical troupe that outwits Nazi occupiers by playing the roles of (and for) their lives. Jack Benny stars as Tura, underplaying hilariously. In her final role, Carole Lombard is zany and radiant as his alluring wife. Typical of Lubitsch, a gem-sprinkled ensemble has opportunities to shine. No question: watching this To Be is to be gloriously entertained!"--Container.

Dark comedy films.

Show business films.

Political films.

Satirical films.

Films for the hearing impaired.

Lubitsch, Ernst, 1892-1947.

Korda, Alexander, Sir, 1893-1956.

Lombard, Carole, 1908-1942.

Benny, Jack, 1894-1974.

Stack, Robert, 1919-2003.

Bressart, Felix, 1890-1949.

Atwill, Lionel, 1885-1946.

Ridges, Stanley, 1892-1951.

Rumann, Sig, 1884-1967.

Criterion Collection (Firm)

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