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Post by snsurone on Sept 17, 2017 16:15:38 GMT
This excellent movie is most notable for being Carole Lombard's last film, released after her tragic death in a plane crash while returning from a successful bond-selling tour.
It arguably contains Jack Benny's finest screen performance, and the young Robert Stack acquitted himself very well.
And it hasn't dated at all; its message is just as timely today as it was then.
BTW, did Bobby Watson (who played Hitler in a number of movies) play Hitler in this film, too?
I never saw the remake with Mel Brooks.
How does it compare?
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 17, 2017 16:44:30 GMT
This excellent movie is most notable for being Carole Lombard's last film, released after her tragic death in a plane crashed while returning from a successful bond-selling tour. It arguably contains Jack Benny's finest screen performance, and the young Robert Stack acquitted himself very well. And it hasn't dated at all; its message is just as timely today as it was then. BTW, did Bobby Watson (who played Hitler in a number of movies) play Hitler in this film, too? I never saw the remake with Mel Brooks. How does it compare? No, it was Tom Dugan impersonating Hitler in that one. Here he is, making an entrance: "Heil myself." And here as he normally appeared:  He also had the distinction of a featured role in the very first all-talking picture, 1928's Lights Of New York. 1983's To Be Or Not To Be is actually one of Mel Brooks's better pictures, based as it was on Lubitsch's solid original story, and is well-regarded by Brooks aficionados. It does, however, suffer by comparison with the original. |
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Post by marianne48 on Sept 17, 2017 19:30:36 GMT
Don't forget Lionel Atwill as Rawitch, the actor who's an even bigger ham than Benny's Tura. I wish Atwill had done more of these comic roles. Since this is one of my all-time 10/10 favorites, I was expecting to dislike the Mel Brooks version, but I found it very enjoyable--one of his best films since the mid-'70s. |
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Post by nutsberryfarm 🏜 on Sept 18, 2017 2:38:11 GMT
i'm a fan.
that and 'trouble in paradise' are the 2 best films by ernst lubitsch to me.
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Post by snsurone on Sept 18, 2017 3:34:07 GMT
Lubitsch's final film project was THAT LADY IN ERMINE, with Betty Grable and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
However, he died about midway through production, and Otto Preminger completed it.
IMHO, it was not a very good movie, and I wonder if Preminger's direction had anything to do with that.
It certainly lacked the "Lubitsch touch".
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Post by teleadm on Sept 18, 2017 17:26:11 GMT
One of my favorite movies.  |
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Post by snsurone on Sept 18, 2017 19:30:37 GMT
Sig Rumann was hysterical, LOL.
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Post by Nalkarj on Sept 19, 2017 1:03:39 GMT
I never saw the remake with Mel Brooks.
How does it compare? Call me crazy ("'e's crazy, t'at Salzmank! Crazy!" "T'at's roight." "T'ey're all crazy except fer yew and me. An' sometoimes Oi 'ave me doubts about yew"), but I wasn't all that fond of the Mel Brooks remake. I'm a huge fan of the original To Be or Not to Be--it's one of my favorite Lubistch pictures--but I just found the remake dull. I find Brooks rather hit-and-miss; of Brooks' "classics," The Producers, funny though it is, is a bit too frenetic for my tastes, and Blazing Saddles too juvenile. I've got to say that only Young Frankenstein has consistently worked for me--I think it's a laugh riot from beginning to end. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 19, 2017 3:41:42 GMT
I never saw the remake with Mel Brooks.
How does it compare? Call me crazy ("'e's crazy, t'at Salzmank! Crazy!" "T'at's roight." "T'ey're all crazy except for you and me. And sometoimes I 'ave me doubts about you"), but I wasn't all that fond of the Mel Brooks remake. I'm a huge fan of the original To Be or Not to Be--it's one of my favorite Lubistch pictures--but I just found the remake dull. I find Brooks rather hit-and-miss; of Brooks' "classics," The Producers, funny though it is, is a bit too frenetic for my tastes and Blazing Saddles too juvenile. I've got to say that only Young Frankenstein has consistently worked for me--I think it's a laugh riot from beginning to end. I'm pretty much in agreement with you on Brooks, overall. And I'd put Young Frankenstein at the top of my list, too (if burlesque can be elegant, YF is that, and is all of a piece as they used to say), were it not for The Twelve Chairs: for me, that one stands apart and above all the others. Although it bears some of his trademarks, much of it plays as though it was the work of another director, sailing adroitly from sharp satire to broad farce to startlingly brutal drama and gentle pathos. Oh, and I should add: it was good to 'ear from ol' Martin again. "'Ooo wants to eat floys? Yew dew, ya lewny." |
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Post by Nalkarj on Sept 19, 2017 3:49:56 GMT
I'm pretty much in agreement with you on Brooks, overall. And I'd put Young Frankenstein at the top of my list, too (if burlesque can be elegant, YF is that, and is all of a piece as they used to say), were it not for The Twelve Chairs: for me, that one stands apart and above all the others. Although it bears some of his trademarks, much of it plays as though it was the work of another director, sailing adroitly from sharp satire to broad farce to startlingly brutal drama and gentle pathos. Oh, and I should add: it was good to 'ear from ol' Martin again. "'Ooo wants to eat floys? Yew dew, ya lewny."Ah, you've caught me: I haven't yet seen The Twelve Chairs, but I'll put it near the top of my "to-see" list. Thanks for the recommendation! |
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