| Edition |
Two-DVD special ed. |
| Description |
2 videodiscs (99 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (23 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm.) |
|
digital optical mono |
|
videodisc |
|
laser optical, NTSC |
|
video file DVD video Region 1 rda |
|
Motion picture |
| Series |
The Criterion collection ; 670 |
|
Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs) ; 670.
|
| System Details |
DVD; NTSC; Region 1; 1.37:1 aspect ratio; PCM monophonic. |
| Language |
English dialogue; optional English SDH subtitles. |
| Cast |
Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan. |
| Credits |
Production designed by Vincent Korda ; photographed by Rudolph Maté ; musical score by Werner R. Heymann ; interior decoration, Julia Heron ; costumes, Irene ; film editor, Dorothy Spencer. |
| Note |
Originally produced as a motion picture in 1942. |
| Summary |
As nervy as it is hilarious, a masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch, 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. |
| Note |
Special features: Disc 1: Audio commentary featuring film historian David Kalat. Disc 2: Pinkus's shoe palace (1916 film starring Ernst Lubitsch as a slapstick Jewish sterotype); Lubitsch le patron (a 2010 French documentary written by film scholar New Testament Binh and directed by Jean-Jacques Bernard, traces the career of filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch); The Screen Guild Theater (two episodes of the radio anthology series: Variety (1940) and To Be or Not to Be (1943)). Booklet features an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and a 1942 New York Times op-ed by Lubitsch. |
| Subject |
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland -- Drama.
|
|
Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945 -- Drama.
|
|
Theater -- Poland -- Drama.
|
| Genre/Form |
Dark comedy films.
|
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War films.
|
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Feature films.
|
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Fiction films.
|
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
|
| Added Author |
Lubitsch, Ernst, 1892-1947, screenwriter, film director, producer.
|
|
Korda, Alexander, Sir, 1893-1956, film producer.
|
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Lengyel, Menyhért, 1880-1974, screenwriter.
|
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Mayer, Edwin Justus, 1896-1960, screenwriter.
|
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Lombard, Carole, 1908-1942, actor.
|
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Benny, Jack, 1894-1974, actor.
|
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Stack, Robert, 1919-2003, actor.
|
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Bressart, Felix, 1890-1949, actor.
|
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Atwill, Lionel, 1885-1946, actor.
|
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Ridges, Stanley, 1892-1951, actor.
|
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Rumann, Sig, 1884-1967, actor.
|
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Dugan, Tom, 1889-1955, actor.
|
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Korda, Vincent, 1896-1979, production designer.
|
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Maté, Rudolph, 1899-1964, director of photography.
|
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Heymann, Werner Richard, 1896-1961, composer (expression)
|
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Heron, Julia, set designer.
|
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Irene, 1901-1962, costume designer.
|
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Spencer, Dorothy, 1909-2002, editor of moving image work.
|
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Kalat, David, 1970- commentator.
|
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Binh, N. T., 1958- filmmaker.
|
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Bernard, Jean-Jacques, film director.
|
|
O'Brien, Geoffrey, 1948- writer of added text.
|
|
United Artists Corporation.
|
|
Criterion Collection (Firm)
|
| Added Title |
Screen guild theater. Selections.
|
|
Pinkus's shoe palace.
|
|
Lubitsch le patron.
|
| ISBN |
9781604657616 |
|
1604657618 |
| Standard No. |
715515109017 |
| Music No. |
CC2298D The Criterion Collection |
|
