To Be Or Not To Be

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Stereo - English
• Mono - Spanish, French
• Subtitles - Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

• Behind the Scenhes - Making-Of Featurette
• Interviews - Cast, Including Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning - Stars

Text/Photo Galleries:

• Biographies - Character Profiles

Description by OLDIES.com:

Mel Brooks takes on Shakespeare, Spies and the Gestapo!

Mel Brooks lets the Nazis have it with both barrels in this hilarious remake of Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy. Brooks stars as Frederick Bronski, the great Polish actor -- who an amazing amount of people have never heard of. Anne Bancroft co-stars as his actress wife, with whom he fights an eternal tug-of-war for center stage. He should only know about her backstage meetings with a handsome fighter pilot ... but all that is put aside when the Nazis invade Poland and the entire troupe gets involved in a frenzy of murder, mistaken identies and maniacal improvising to thwart the Gestapo and save the Polish underground. Co-starring Charles Durning in a Best Supporting Actor Oscar-nominated role as the SS colonel who stands in their way, will have you on your feet yelling encore! And chances are you've never heard of Bronski either.

Product Description:

Set during World War II, Bronski and his wife, both preoccupied with their egos on the theatrical stage, find themselves in the midst of Germany's invasion of Poland. A hilarious remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 classic. Academy Award Nominations: Best Supporting Actor--Charles Durning.

Plot Synopsis:

An elegant comedic story of a Polish acting troupe, who help, in their small way, to resist the Nazi occupation. When it is discovered that a Polish hero, residing in Britain, is actually a German agent, a Polish RAF officer is deployed to stop him. Upon arriving in Poland, the RAF officer, together with the already forewarned actors, concoct a convoluted charade designed to collect the information from the spy, kill him, and pass on the false information to the Gestapo.

Plot Keywords:

Black Comedy | Comedy | Farce | Theatrical Release | World War II

Exerpts:

"What he did to Shakespeare, we are doing to Poland"
- SS Colonel Ehrhardt

Production Notes:

• Actress Carole Lombard's final film; she was killed in a 1942 plane crash.
• Copyright 1942 Romaine Film Corporation.

Cast and Crew: