Starts really great, stays solid

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2020)

"To Be or Not to Be" is an American black-and-white film from 1942, so almost 80 years old, that runs for almost 100 minutes and was directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It was nominated for one Oscar for its music and I must admit I did not find the soundtrack too memorable, but then again there is a saying that the best soundtrack is the one that does not distract any attention away from all the other components of a film. This is a definite contender for Lubitsch's most famous film from his days in Hollywood, even if other works by him attracted more Oscar attention. But the number of votes and also the really high rating are fairly telling. So not a bad choice if you want to start getting into Lubitsch's works. The most tragic thing about this film here is probably linked to the lead actress. Carole Lombard died in a plane accident before the film as released and she was only 30. She is perhaps the biggest star from the cast, but I am not an expert on American films from the 30s, just my perception. This is obviously from the days of World War II and while Lubitsch also made films during these dark times that had no connection with this war at all (because they were set earlier), this one here is all about it. There are even many references to Hitler, but also to other aspects inevitably connected to back then, like concentration camps, and it took a special set of skills really to take aspects like these and turn them into genuinely funny moment, like one character's nickname. Like I wrote in the title of my review, I thought this began really funny and if I only talkj about those moments that take place before the invasion, I may have given the film an even higher rating. Downright hilarious there with the repeated joke that one character leaves the audience when the words "To Be or Not to Be" (thus the title reference) are spoken and how the actor (the actor's actor) cannot deal with what he considers rejection, even if the actual rejection happens to come from his wife as he then does not know (yet). There are other really funny moments in this part and I want to say that, even if Lombard is good as well, the best performance comes from Jack Benny, not only because all the transformations (he is a true chameleon), but his face expressions were also downright funny every time, especially when he was on stage. And I also liked howw they made fun of him being a rather hammy actor. Which Hammy certainly was not, just his character maybe, that is also how he gets exposed, but I will get to that later. So big thumbs-up for Hammy, who reminded me a bit of a mix between Mark Ruffalo and the young Bruno Ganz here and there physically.
Now after the invasion happens, the film gets more serious here and there (okay, cheating on your significant other is serious too, but you know what I mean, maybe nothing happened even, the film as definitely not explicit in that regard, different times I guess). There were even some moments that seemed memorable from a dramatic perspective, such as when the Nazi spy realizes he is dealing with an impostor or when the woman is not allowed to leave the place becaue the guy she met there did not give permission, even if he probably just forgot. Or the moment when the male protagonist sits in a room with the corpse of the guy he was actually pretending to be. But this scene like almost all others also resulted in a lot of comedy, so this film can definitely be called a bit of a satire and it is never really a drama about this priceless list of associates whose lives may be in danger. It could have made for a tough drama too Ã la Argo, but they took a different route and the one they took, namely the comedic one, was a success. Basically all scene with Ehrhardt were really amazing (not just the concentration camp running gag), such as the mustache moments, but everything else really too. Big thumbs-up for Sig Ruman. Then again, I am not surprised. He worked with Lubitsch for example too in Ninotchka and there he was just as funny. Now back to this film here. I still think it wasn't a great watch, but a pretty decent one. It as all a bit too absurd and over the top for me the longer it went and the more characters the protagonist imitated. It's never really a weak watch, but I wished it could have had some more subtlety. And it was just really unrealistic overall too, so best way to enjoy it is maybe as a guilty pleasure I would say. Overall, there is no hesitation for me though in giving this one a thumbs-up and, like I said earlier, it's a good choice if you plan on taking a dive into Lubitsch's filmography and have not seen anything else before this one. I as lucky enough to watch this on the occasion of a Lubitsch film series in my local theater and this film is definitely among the ones I liked more, but nowhere near being close to my number one favorite. Still go check it out. I was amazed how packed the theater was by the way. Did not expect that and everybody wwas really having a fun time.