To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray

To Be or Not to Be

 (1942)

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
In occupied Poland during WWII, a troupe of ham stage actors (led by Joseph Tura and his wife Maria) match wits with the Nazis. A spy has information which would be very damaging to the Polish resistance and they must prevent it's being delivered to the Germans.

For more about To Be or Not to Be and the To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray release, see the To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray Review

Starring: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman
Director: Ernst Lubitsch

» See full cast & crew

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, March 15, 2012

Ernst Lubitsch's "To Be or Not to Be" (1942) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal. The supplemental features on the disc include a video interview with director Joe Dante; audio commentary by renowned French critic Jean Douchet; production stills; and an exclusive new featurette produced exclusively for Studio Canal. In English, with optional French and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Heil Me

August 1939, Poland. The streets of Warsaw are jammed with people. Suddenly, out of nowhere Hitler appears and heads straight to a famous deli. People immediately gather around him. Then, a little girl asks the dictator: "May I have your autograph, Mr. Bronski?"

Mr. Bronski (Tom Dugan) is a member of a Polish theatrical troupe getting ready to stage William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Most of his colleagues are not terribly impressed with the man whose instructions they must follow, the old fashioned producer Mr. Dobosh (Charles Halton), but are nevertheless doing their best to please him. It is important that they do because in these final hours before the premiere Mr. Dobosh must be happy.

Later that night the elegant actress Maria Tura (Carole Lombard) receives a beautiful bouquet from Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack), a handsome admirer, who is convinced that the two were meant to be together, even though he is fully aware that she is married to Joseph Tura (Jack Benny), who will be playing Hamlet. Maria instructs Sobinski to come to her dressing room as soon as he hears her husband utter the famous To Be or Not to Be line. Sobinski does exactly as he is told - and seriously upsets Tura, who incorrectly assumes that the young man is disgusted with his performance.

Soon after, Germany invades Poland, and Sobinski is sent to London. There, he meets the soft-spoken professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), who has established contact with the leaders of the Polish Resistance and is getting ready to head back to Warsaw. Sobinski becomes suspicious when he gives the professor a message for Maria and he admits to him that he has never heard of her. Shortly after the professor leaves, Sobinski also heads to Warsaw.

Meanwhile, Gestapo begins rounding up suspected members of the Polish Resistance.

Professor Siletsky meets Maria to give her the message from Sobinski and, struck by her charm and intelligence, immediately decides to make her a spy. While thinking about the opportunity, she reunites with Sobinski - and thus immediately upsets her husband, who vows to teach the young man a lesson he would never forget. But first, he and his colleagues decide to take care of the traitor Siletsky, who is getting ready to give the Gestapo a list with the names of the leaders of the Polish Resistance. They come up with a brilliant plan but are forced to update it when it is revealed that Hitler will attend a play in the same theater where they once staged Hamlet.

Critics were not overly impressed with Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be after its premiere in 1942, but today the film clearly stands as one of the director's very best. It is brilliantly scripted (some of the lines the actors utter are pure gold), terrifically acted, and also impressively directed.

It is true that some of the key sequences are far from believable - particularly during the final third of the film where the Polish actors become high-ranking Nazi officials - but this isn't a film that would have benefited from more realism. If anything, more realism would have made it far more politically correct, while its key characters would have evolved into boring patriots with transparent agendas.

Lombard and Benny make a superb couple - both have weaknesses, hilarious obsessions, and are willing to play games. Both are also terrific improvisators, the latter in particular being the key figure in the finest Nazi-mocking sequences.

Note: In 1942, Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash while the film was still in production. She was 34. Consequently, a scene from the film in which her characters utters "What can happen in a plane?" was edited.

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal.

I am very pleased with the presentation. While the high-definition transfer is not as impressive as the one Studio Canal used for their Blu-ray release of Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion (which was struck from a master prepared after the film underwent a 4K restoration), the basics we pay attention to in these reviews are certainly intact. Most close-ups convey good depth, clarity is far better when one compares the Blu-ray release to the R1 Warner DVD release, and contrast levels stable. The best news, however, is the fact that there are no traces of severe denoising corrections. Naturally, there is plenty of light grain that is very easy to spot. Admittedly, some of it is not always well resolved, and some is also mixed with extremely light noise, but considering the age of the film there are certainly strong organic qualities on display here. Additionally, there are no traces of problematic sharpening corrections. Lastly, blown through a digital projector the image remains tight around the edges and colors never collapse. Also, there are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, or stains. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content. Please note that the disc's main menu can be set in French or German).

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Studio Canal have provided optional French and German subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 serves the film very well. Werner R. Heymann's score, for instance, gets a surprisingly good boost (listen to the intro and then compare how it sounds on the French track). Additionally, the dialog has very pleasing depth and is free of strong background hiss. Also, there are no problematic distortions in the high-frequencies. For the record, there are no sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review.

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Commentary - an audio commentary on selected sequences from the film by the renowned French critic Jean Douchet. In French, with optional German subtitles. (18 min, PAL).

• To Be...A Classic - in this wonderful featurette, directed by Jerome Wybon for Studio Canal, film historian/professor at UCLA Janet Bergstrom and Positif journalist N.T. Bihn discuss To Be or Not to Be and Ernst Lubitsch's career and legacy. The featurette also contains archival footage with Francois Truffaut and Claude Berri. In English and French, with optional French and German subtitles. (36 min, 1080/50i).

• To Be...A Film Favorite - in this video piece, director Joe Dante discusses To Be or Not to Be, the era it was made in, and its tone and message. In English, with optional French and German subtitles. (10 min, 1080/50i).

• Galerie photo - a collection of stills from the production process. (1080p).

To Be or Not to Be Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be is a fantastic, truly original dark comedy that is rightfully regarded as one of the director's very best films. It is now available on Blu-ray as part of the Studio Canal collection in France and Germany (see here), and it certainly looks the best it ever has. Unlike Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, which first arrived in France and is now set to appear on Blu-ray in the UK (see here), it appears that To Be or Not to Be is unlikely to get a UK Blu-ray release because apparently a different party controls the rights for the film there. Naturally, if you wish to have a copy of the film and can play Region-B "locked" discs, my advice is to consider getting either the French or German releases. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.