Amusing comedy has the Lubitsch touch...

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2008)

JACK BENNY and CAROLE LOMBARD are ideally cast as a ham actor and his zany actress wife in TO BE OR NOT TO BE, a story of Poland facing the Nazi invasion and how a theater troupe gets to do some real acting by fooling the Nazi authorities.
The real comedy highlight of the film is SIG RUMAN as Col. Ehrhardt, foolishly thinking that Benny is a loyal German involved in spying activities for the Fuhrer and afraid of showing any disloyalty to Hitler by telling Earhardt a joke poking fun at the Fuhrer. His scenes with Benny and Lombard are a joy to watch.
ROBERT STACK plays the young pilot who always walks out on Benny's "to be or not to be" oration as soon as it begins, for reasons unclear to Benny. STANLEY RIDGES does a nice job as the real professor doing the spying for Hitler, the man Benny must impersonate with some hilarious results.
Must have seemed way ahead of its time in '42. Sadly, it was Lombard's last film. Shortly after filming ended, she went on a bond selling tour and was killed in a plane crash on her return to Hollywood and Clark Gable, her husband.
Throughout, the direction is well paced and assured under Ernst Lubitsch's clever and light-hearted touch. Well worth watching.