To Be or Not to Be (1983 film)
Encyclopedia
To Be or Not to Be is a 1983 20th Century Fox
comedy-drama film directed by Alan Johnson
, produced by Mel Brooks
with Howard Jeffrey as executive producer and Irene Walzer as associate producer. The screenplay
was written by Ronny Graham
and Thomas Meehan
, based on the original story by Melchior Lengyel
, Ernst Lubitsch
and Edwin Justus Mayer
. It is a remake
of the 1942 film of the same title
.
The film starred Mel Brooks alongside his wife Anne Bancroft
; Tim Matheson
, Charles Durning
, Christopher Lloyd
, and José Ferrer
also had starring roles.
This remake was one of the first major American films to acknowledge that homosexuals were persecuted by the Third Reich, along with other Holocaust victims
. Homosexuality aside, this version was extremely faithful to the 1942 film
on which it was based, and in many cases dialogue was taken verbatim from the earlier film. The character of the treacherous Professor Siletsky (here spelled Siletski) was, however, made into more of a comic figure, and even into somewhat of a buffoon, whereas in the original he was the one completely serious character in the film. Siletski, played by Stanley Ridges
in the 1942 film, was here played by José Ferrer
.
For his humorous performance as Colonel Erhardt, Charles Durning was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award. Erhardt was played by Sig Ruman
in the original film.
in the New York Times, who called it "smashingly funny."
However, the film was not a great commercial success, grossing only $13,000,000.
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
comedy-drama film directed by Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson (choreographer)
Alan Johnson is an award winning choreographer, best known for his work on Mel Brooks films and for restaging Jerome Robbins original choreography in live productions of West Side Story in the United States and internationally. Johnson has been linked to West Side Story since making his Broadway...
, produced by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
with Howard Jeffrey as executive producer and Irene Walzer as associate producer. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by Ronny Graham
Ronny Graham
Ronny Graham was an American actor and theatre director, composer, lyricist, and writer.Graham was born Ronald Montcrief Stringer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence and Thomas Graham Stringer . Graham...
and Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College...
, based on the original story by Melchior Lengyel
Melchior Lengyel
Melchior Lengyel was a Hungarian writer, dramatist, and film screenwriter.-Biography:Lengyel was born Lebovics Menyhért in Balmazújváros, Hungary. He started his career as a journalist...
, Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
and Edwin Justus Mayer
Edwin Justus Mayer
Edwin Justus Mayer was an American screenwriter. He wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for 47 films between 1927 and 1958....
. It is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1942 film of the same title
To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
.
The film starred Mel Brooks alongside his wife Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
; Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
, Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
, Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
, and José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
also had starring roles.
This remake was one of the first major American films to acknowledge that homosexuals were persecuted by the Third Reich, along with other Holocaust victims
Holocaust victims
While the term Holocaust victims generally refers to Jews, the Nazis also persecuted and often killed millions of members of other groups they considered inferior , undesirable or dangerous....
. Homosexuality aside, this version was extremely faithful to the 1942 film
To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
on which it was based, and in many cases dialogue was taken verbatim from the earlier film. The character of the treacherous Professor Siletsky (here spelled Siletski) was, however, made into more of a comic figure, and even into somewhat of a buffoon, whereas in the original he was the one completely serious character in the film. Siletski, played by Stanley Ridges
Stanley Ridges
Stanley Ridges was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts...
in the 1942 film, was here played by José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
.
For his humorous performance as Colonel Erhardt, Charles Durning was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
Academy Award. Erhardt was played by Sig Ruman
Sig Ruman
Sig Ruman was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains.-Life and career:...
in the original film.
Cast
- Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
as Frederick Bronski - Anne BancroftAnne BancroftAnne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
as Anna Bronski - Ronny GrahamRonny GrahamRonny Graham was an American actor and theatre director, composer, lyricist, and writer.Graham was born Ronald Montcrief Stringer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence and Thomas Graham Stringer . Graham...
as Sondheim, Stage Manager - Estelle ReinerEstelle ReinerEstelle Reiner , described by The New York Times as "matriarch of one of the leading families in American comedy", was an actress, the wife of Carl Reiner, and the mother of Rob Reiner, Sylvia Anne Reiner and Lucas Reiner...
as Gruba - Jack Riley as Dobish
- Lewis J. StadlenLewis J. StadlenLewis J. Stadlen is an American stage and screen character actor.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York to voice actor Allen Swift, Stadlen studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Stella Adler...
as Lupinsky - George GaynesGeorge GaynesGeorge Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...
as Ravitch - George WynerGeorge WynerGeorge Wyner is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his role as ADA Bernstein on the series Hill Street Blues. Wyner graduated from Syracuse University in 1968 as a drama major, and was an in-demand character actor by the early 1970s. To date, Wyner has made guest...
as Ratkowski - Christopher LloydChristopher LloydChristopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
as S.S. CaptainHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Schultz - Jose FerrerJosé FerrerJosé Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
as Professor Siletski - Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
as S.S. ColonelStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Erhardt - Tim MathesonTim MathesonTim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
as Lieutenant Andrei Sobinski - Earl BoenEarl BoenEarl Boen is an American actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known as criminal psychologist Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator series...
as Dr. Boyarski - Ivor BarryIvor BarryIvor Barry was a British film and television actor.Born in South Wales, Barry served with the British Royal Artillery during World War II and completed his university studies prior to beginning his acting career...
as General Hobbs - William Glover as Major Cunningham
- James Haake as Sasha
- Max BrooksMax BrooksMaximillian Michael "Max" Brooks is an American author and screenwriter, with a particular interest in zombies. Brooks is also a television and voice-over actor.- Early life and education :...
as Rifka's son - Larry RosenbergLarry RosenbergLarry Rosenberg is an American Buddhist teacher who founded the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also a resident teacher there. Rosenberg was a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and Harvard Medical School...
as Rifka's husband - Milt Jamin as GestapoGestapoThe Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
soldier - Wolf MuserWolf MuserWolf Muser is a German actor most notably recognized for his role as Marcello Armonti on NBC's soap opera Santa Barbara. He portrayed the role in 1985. Prior to joining the show, he also appeared as Kurt Voightlander on CBS' drama Capitol in 1983...
as Desk sergeant - Henry Brandon as Nazi officer
- Tucker SmithTucker SmithTucker Smith, born Thomas William Smith , was an American actor/dancer/singer best known for his role as Ice in the movie musical West Side Story....
as Klotskis Klown - Phil Adams as Airport sentry
- Curt LowensCurt LowensCurt Lowens is a German actor of the stage and films, and a survivor and resistant of the Holocaust.-Life and career:...
as Airport officer - Terence MarshTerence MarshTerence Marsh is a British production designer. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for another two in the category Best Art Direction.-Production Designer:* Rush Hour 2 * The Green Mile...
as Startled British officer - Paul RatliffPaul RatliffPaul Hawthorne Ratliff was a Major League Baseball player, who played catcher for the Minnesota Twins during the 1963, 1970, and 1971 seasons and for the Milwaukee Brewers 1971-1972....
as Naval officer - Scott BeachScott BeachScott Beach was a popular actor, writer, and disc jockey.-Biography:Born Alvin Scott Beach, he appeared in numerous motion pictures, most notably as a German scientist patterned after Wernher von Braun in The Right Stuff.Beach's deep, resonant voice was often heard in films...
- Narrator
Reception
The film was favorably reviewed by Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
in the New York Times, who called it "smashingly funny."
However, the film was not a great commercial success, grossing only $13,000,000.
External links
- To Be or Not to Be film clip