To Be or Not to Be

21 April 2013

To Be or Not to Be 1942

• Director: Ernst Lubitscht
• Based on book: No, not the movie itself
• Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Carole Lombard and Jack Benny  – amazingly nothing, they’re just generally recognizable
• Robert Stack  – Joe and the Volcano, Good Morning Miss Dove  
• Why bought: connection to Hamlet
• Seen: Twice. First time 2011. Second time: January 26, 2013

  There are several things about this film that I like, apart from all the Shakespeare.

 Carole Lombard is so cool! How sad that she was killed in a plane crash right after the movie was made.

The black and white photography is beautiful as it so often was in those days.

There were some good laughs.

And of course defeating the Nazis, especially by using Shakespeare, is always good to see.

Considering all this I should love the film but I don’t. I only like it. If it wasn’t for the Shakespeare connection, I’d probably say, “Oh yeah, I saw that one. It was pretty good. But I don’t need to see it again.”

Except to see Carole Lombard again. She and Shakespeare lift it.

3* of 5