To Be or Not to Be | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Ernst Lubitsch |
Screenplay by | Edwin Justus Mayer Ernst Lubitsch (uncredited) |
Story by | Melchior Lengyel |
Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch |
Starring | Carole Lombard Jack Benny Robert Stack Felix Bressart Lionel Atwill Stanley Ridges Sig Ruman |
Cinematography | Rudolph Maté |
Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
Music by | Werner R. Heymann Miklós Rózsa (uncredited) |
Production company | Romaine Film Corp.[1] |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date | |
Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.2 million[4] |
Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals)[5] |
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American black comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, and featuring Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman. The plot concerns a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch (uncredited) and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel.[6] The film was released one month after actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane crash.[7] In 1996, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[8][9]