An indecent masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2019)

As Adolf Hitler starts ravaging Europe, a polish theatrical Nazi-satire is cancelled, the day of the very first performance. Nevertheless, while Poland is invaded by the Nazi army, the same theatrical team, with the same German soldier costumes, will deliver the best play of their entire career in order to thwart the actions of a spy.
This cinematographic gem directed by Ernst Lubitsch is built on a solid script, exquisite dialogues, and outstanding actors, especially Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and Sig Ruman. For obvious reasons, this indecent movie was initially coldly received: a comedy about world war II during world war II. This bitterness and/or bewilderment probably explains the blatant lack of nominations to the main Oscar categories. However, nowadays, we only remember the genius.
In bulk, ones of my favorite quotes: May I have your autograph, Mr Bronski? So they call me Concentration Camp Ehrhardt? To be or not to be. If we should ever have a baby, I'm not so sure I'd be the mother. They named a brandy after Napoleon, they made a herring out of Bismarck, and the Fuhrer is going to end up as a piece of cheese! Shall we drink to a blitzkrieg? Hey, wait a minute, you go to the hotel and I'll cross my fingers. I'm a good Pole and I love my country and I love my slippers. We do the concentrating and the Poles do the camping. Well, clearly it's nothing alarming, it's only Shakespeare. I'm willing to die for our Führer, at any moment, except for the next few hours. Schultz!