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To Be or Not to Be



As nervy as it is hilarious, this screwball masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch stars Jack Benny and, in her final screen appearance, Carole Lombard as husband-and-wife thespians in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who become caught up in a dangerous spy plot. To Be or Not to Be is a Hollywood film of the boldest black humor, which went into production soon after the U.S. entered World War II. Lubitsch manages to brilliantly balance political satire, romance, slapstick, and urgent wartime suspense in a comic high-wire act that has never been equaled.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New, restored 2K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• New audio commentary featuring film historian David Kalat
• Pinkus's Shoe Palace, a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Ernst Lubitsch, with a new piano score by Donald Sosin
• Lubitsch le patron, a 2010 French documentary on director Ernst Lubitsch's career
• Two episodes of The Screen Guild Theater, a radio anthology series: Variety (1940), starring Jack Benny, Claudette Colbert, and Lubitsch, and To Be or Not to Be (1942), an adaptation of the film, starring William Powell, Diana Lewis, and Sig Ruman
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien

Kalat is the Jay-Z of commentators. very glad to see him show up here.

I sure am glad Kalat's retirement from commentaries is shaping up like Soderbergh's retirement from the film industry

The difference between Soderbergh and Kalat is that people would miss Kalat if he did actually retire though.

Bug bit you in the ass this morning I guess.

This was already a big deal release for me. But Kalat makes it a potential release of the year (I have much more interest in this film than THINGS TO COME). I hope it's the serious Criterion cash that has drawn him out of retirement. Criterion should know that, for me at least, his commentary is the reason I'll be buying this disc Day 1.

TMDaines wrote:The difference between Soderbergh and Kalat is that people would miss Kalat if he did actually retire though.

Look, you're saying this on a forum filled with a large number of posters who you know are Soderbergh fans, so your snide little comment is just straight-up trolling-- and I hate that word!

I hope Criterion have CLUNY BROWN on their radar as well (unreleased in R1, BFI release now OOP); presumably Kalat would be interested in doing a commentary for it too

Absolute gem of a piece by the way, would be nice to have it in commentary form.

Great film, and a Kalat commentary makes this a mandatory purchase even if you already have another release of this film. But whoever came up with that cover should be clubbed over the head. And I'm not someone who usually whines about such trifles. But, topic and plot notwithstanding, this is Lubitsch after all, and not some post-modern whizz-kid's film.

domino harvey wrote:

TMDaines wrote:The difference between Soderbergh and Kalat is that people would miss Kalat if he did actually retire though.

Look, you're saying this on a forum filled with a large number of posters who you know are Soderbergh fans, so your snide little comment is just straight-up trolling-- and I hate that word!

Oh c'mon, "fanboy", lighten up. It was a witty joke that was waiting to be made. Regardless, I'm being sincere when I say that I genuinely wouldn't be able to name a Soderbergh fan here, since I don't usually read all the threads in the New Films section. In any case, surely even his biggest fan would be able to see that his retirement has long since become a running joke, no? Not least because he seems to place a little bit too much stock in his own importance as a shining light in American cinema. I've enjoyed many of his films, but it's not as if anything he's done in the last decade has made a massive impact.

Anyway, I'm still trying to work out the Jay-Z and Kalat comparison, even though I love both.

That's the problem. It wasn't witty.

TMDaines wrote:Anyway, I'm still trying to work out the Jay-Z and Kalat comparison, even though I love both.

Jay-Z also had a remarkably short-lived retirement. Hopefully, like Jay-Z, Kalat will be all over the goddamn place for the next ten years.

matrixschmatrix wrote:

TMDaines wrote:Anyway, I'm still trying to work out the Jay-Z and Kalat comparison, even though I love both.

Jay-Z also had a remarkably short-lived retirement. Hopefully, like Jay-Z, Kalat will be all over the goddamn place for the next ten years.

Christ, I forgot all about that. As Kalat seems to be doing more commentaries for Criterion now, and not MoC, I wonder if a few greenbacks brought him out of retirement - not that he'll be on Jay-Z money. I can't imagine an audio commentary boils down to a great hourly rate when well prepared.

Don't commentators for Criterion more or less get offered a given amount of free releases in lieu of a minor paycheck? I seem to recall a former (current?) Criterion commentator explaining the process

TMDaines wrote:Regardless, I'm being sincere when I say that I genuinely wouldn't be able to name a Soderbergh fan here, since I don't usually read all the threads in the New Films section.

*grimaces, walks out of board*

This edition loses the 1930 Jack Benny comedy the Rounder and a filmed Benny plea for War Stamps which appeared on the Warners edition if that's enough to get someone to hold onto their old discs

Very excited about this, my favorite Lubitsch, one of my favorite 40s titles period.

The extras seem great and the cover is Perfection, one of the best CC covers ever.

Only thing I might have added would have been sitting down with Mel Brooks and a camera and having him speak about the influence this film was on him and the remake process, which to my mind is one of those rare worthy remakes.

domino harvey wrote:Don't commentators for Criterion more or less get offered a given amount of free releases in lieu of a minor paycheck? I seem to recall a former (current?) Criterion commentator explaining the process

when i was in NYC last year i ran into someone in Union Square carrying a VERY packed Janus tote bag. i asked him if he worked for Criterion and he said "I just finished working with them on Brazilian* cinema" so i'm definitely thinking this is the case. this dude's bag was like about to break level full

and as for the * above:

Spoiler

not on topic, but if you're curious how the rest of the conversation played out, when I asked him if this included Limite, which is like the only brazilian movie i know, he said "it's up to them!" and continued walking. it wasn't Robert Stam, though.

ryannichols7 wrote:and as for the * above:

Spoiler

not on topic, but if you're curious how the rest of the conversation played out, when I asked him if this included Limite, which is like the only brazilian movie i know, he said "it's up to them!" and continued walking. it wasn't Robert Stam, though.

My wild, hopeful, left-field guess would be Nelson Pereira dos Santos' Rio 40 Degrees! Championed by Mark Cousins in his Story of Film series.

If anyone is curious, here's what Kalat had to say about the release

Wow–I didn’t realize that TO BE OR NOT TO BE was public already–but I just confirmed at the Criterion web site that it is. And it’s got a fabulous cover! In the past I think Criterion’s struggled with coming up with cover art for comedies as clever as the ones they do for more traditional arthouse fare, but I’m glad that’s changing.

I’m still “retired,” but I can coaxed out of my reclusive hide with the right movie, now and again. TO BE OR NOT TO BE is as good as it gets, frankly, and if I said no to that, then I’d never say yes to anything, would I?

Another supplement's been added to this release:

Criterion wrote:Pinkus’s Shoe Palace, a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Ernst Lubitsch, with a new piano score by Donald Sosin

My favorite kind of supplement, nice! The film's trailer has been removed from the specs though.

Okay, now I know that I have to buy this release in spite of the cover. "Pinkus" is hilarious!

Buttery Jeb wrote:Another supplement's been added to this release:

Criterion wrote:Pinkus’s Shoe Palace, a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Ernst Lubitsch, with a new piano score by Donald Sosin

"short" = 60 minutes!

ryannichols7 wrote:

Buttery Jeb wrote:Another supplement's been added to this release:

Criterion wrote:Pinkus’s Shoe Palace, a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Ernst Lubitsch, with a new piano score by Donald Sosin

"short" = 60 minutes!

So 'The Merry Jail on the Trouble In Paradise disc' kind of short!