I'm pushing my way through a collection of Mel Brooks films. Along the way, I've revisited some classics, been introduced to others, and stumbled across the occasional odd title I've never even heard of before. One of those is TO BE OR NOT TO BE. From the title, I assumed it would be Brooks lampooning the works of William Shakespeare in the same fashion he's tackled Hitchcock, big budget sci-fi adventures, and westerns. I came to discover this wasn't a Mel Brooks movie in the traditional sense. For starters, he didn't write or direct it. It was directed by a man named Alan Johnson, whose film credits are primarily choreography and the only other film he directed was SOLARBABIES (a movie I'm only familiar with thanks to an episode of the "How Did This Get Made" podcast). TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a remake of a film of the same name from 1942; it tells the story of the world famous (in Poland, at least) theater duo Frederick and Anna Bronski, played by Mel Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft. Their marriage is a rocky one, with Anna skirting the idea of a possible affair with the smitten Lieutenant Sobinski (Tim Matheson), but there's hardly time for any of that to come to pass as Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich have begun their invasion of Poland. Fate intervenes and the Bronskis will find their acting skills put to the ultimate test as they accidentally become involved in the Polish underground resistance.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a strange little anomaly in my experience with Brooks' films because this one plays out as a normal narrative. His spoof films are different in that the jokes always come first and the plot only really exists on which to hang the gags. Make no mistake though; this is still very much a Brooks' film. The comedic styling of the film is very much in line with what you would expect from the man. Seeing as how director Johnson made a living as a choreographer, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Brooks was a helping hand behind the scenes in crafting the film. The film is also interesting in that it gives Brooks a chance to dive into a more serious subject than we're accustomed to seeing from him: World War II. Or, more specifically, the Third Reich and the subjugation of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a comedy but it's got its serious moments, even if it manages to try and inject a little fun in them to keep the movie from becoming too heavy. One prime example is a scene in the film when the Nazis arrive at the Bronskis' theater to arrest their homosexual friend, Sascha (James Haake). It's a frightening moment (because we as an audience understand what his arrest would mean for him) that's made a little easier to swallow because it plays comedically during a music number on stage where Sascha tries to hide amongst the showgirls in the routine.
Brooks and Johnson manage to balance the humor and weight of the situation pretty well. It never really lets it get too heavy. They don't need to hit us upside the head with the real world horrors because we know all that; this is the tale of some nobodies (in the grand scheme of the war) and how they pulled the wool over the eyes of the foolish, bumbling Nazis. For a film with Holocaust themes looming, TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a lot of fun. The jokes are pretty consistent and the movie is loaded with a fantastic supporting cast including Christopher Lloyd in a small role as a beleaguered Nazi captain, Charles During as the Nazi S.S. colonel in charge, and the Bronski theater troupe including the talents of George Gaynes, George Wyner, and Jack Riley. All of this is topped off with the natural chemistry between stars Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, real life husband and wife, in the starring roles. For being one of Brooks' lesser-known films (I mean, I assume I know I hadn't heard of it before), TO BE OR NOT TO BE is one of his more solid. Let me put it this way: I was watching this and my nine-year-old daughter, who could only enjoy it at face-value with the jokes because she doesn't know anything about the war context at this point, couldn't take her eyes off the screen. This and SPACEBALLS are the two Mel Brooks movies we can enjoy together (she couldn't be bothered with MEN IN TIGHTS or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and she's too young for BLAZING SADDLES or HISTORY OF THE WORLD).
So, if you haven't seen TO BE OR NOT TO BE, I invite you to check it out. It's a hidden gem in his filmography that doesn't get much attention, and you generally can't go wrong with Brooks in the starring role. It may not rank up there with his greatest hits but it's a respectable, fun movie.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a strange little anomaly in my experience with Brooks' films because this one plays out as a normal narrative. His spoof films are different in that the jokes always come first and the plot only really exists on which to hang the gags. Make no mistake though; this is still very much a Brooks' film. The comedic styling of the film is very much in line with what you would expect from the man. Seeing as how director Johnson made a living as a choreographer, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Brooks was a helping hand behind the scenes in crafting the film. The film is also interesting in that it gives Brooks a chance to dive into a more serious subject than we're accustomed to seeing from him: World War II. Or, more specifically, the Third Reich and the subjugation of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a comedy but it's got its serious moments, even if it manages to try and inject a little fun in them to keep the movie from becoming too heavy. One prime example is a scene in the film when the Nazis arrive at the Bronskis' theater to arrest their homosexual friend, Sascha (James Haake). It's a frightening moment (because we as an audience understand what his arrest would mean for him) that's made a little easier to swallow because it plays comedically during a music number on stage where Sascha tries to hide amongst the showgirls in the routine.
Brooks and Johnson manage to balance the humor and weight of the situation pretty well. It never really lets it get too heavy. They don't need to hit us upside the head with the real world horrors because we know all that; this is the tale of some nobodies (in the grand scheme of the war) and how they pulled the wool over the eyes of the foolish, bumbling Nazis. For a film with Holocaust themes looming, TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a lot of fun. The jokes are pretty consistent and the movie is loaded with a fantastic supporting cast including Christopher Lloyd in a small role as a beleaguered Nazi captain, Charles During as the Nazi S.S. colonel in charge, and the Bronski theater troupe including the talents of George Gaynes, George Wyner, and Jack Riley. All of this is topped off with the natural chemistry between stars Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, real life husband and wife, in the starring roles. For being one of Brooks' lesser-known films (I mean, I assume I know I hadn't heard of it before), TO BE OR NOT TO BE is one of his more solid. Let me put it this way: I was watching this and my nine-year-old daughter, who could only enjoy it at face-value with the jokes because she doesn't know anything about the war context at this point, couldn't take her eyes off the screen. This and SPACEBALLS are the two Mel Brooks movies we can enjoy together (she couldn't be bothered with MEN IN TIGHTS or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and she's too young for BLAZING SADDLES or HISTORY OF THE WORLD).
So, if you haven't seen TO BE OR NOT TO BE, I invite you to check it out. It's a hidden gem in his filmography that doesn't get much attention, and you generally can't go wrong with Brooks in the starring role. It may not rank up there with his greatest hits but it's a respectable, fun movie.