To Be or Not to Be (1983)

Director:

Alan Johnson

Writers:

Thomas Meehan (screenplay) &
Ronny Graham (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 February 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War | Comedy

Tagline:

That is the movie!

Plot:

A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when what should intrude but World War II in the form of an invasion...

Plot Keywords:

Satire | Polish Stereotype | Gay Interest | Gay | World War Two

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Ronny Graham	...	Sondheim
Estelle Reiner	...	Gruba
Zale Kessler	...	Bieler
Jack Riley	...	Dobish
Lewis J. Stadlen	...	Lupinsky
George Gaynes	...	Ravitch
George Wyner	...	Ratkowski
James 'Gypsy' Haake	...	Sasha (as James Haake)
Scamp	...	Mutki
Christopher Lloyd	...	Capt. Schultz
José Ferrer	...	Prof. Siletski (as Jose Ferrer)
Charles Durning	...	Col. Erhardt
Tim Matheson	...	Lt. Andre Sobinski
Mel Brooks	...	Dr. Frederick Bronski
Anne Bancroft	...	Anna Bronski
Earl Boen	...	Dr. Boyarski
Ivor Barry	...	General Hobbs
William Glover	...	Major Cunningham
John H. Francis	...	British Intelligence Aide (as John Francis)
Raymond Skipp	...	R.A.F. Flight Sergeant
Marley Sims	...	Rifka
Larry Rosenberg	...	Rifka's Husband
Max Brooks	...	Rifka's Son
Henry Kaiser	...	Gestapo Officer
Milt Jamin	...	Gestapo Soldier
George Caldwell	...	Gestapo Guard
Wolf Muser	...	Desk Sergeant
Henry Brandon	...	Nazi Officer
Lee E. Stevens	...	2nd Nazi Officer
Frank Lester	...	Officer in Command Car
Roy Goldman	...	Hitler
Robert Goldberg	...	Hitler Adjutant
John McKinney	...	Elite Guard Officer
Eda Reiss Merin	...	Frightened Jewish Woman
Manny Kleinmuntz	...	Frightened Jewish Woman's Husband
Phil Adams	...	Airport Sentry
Curt Lowens	...	Airport Officer
Robin Haynes	...	Polish Flier
Ron Kuhlman	...	Polish Flier
John Otrin	...	Polish Flier
Blane Savage	...	Polish Flier
Joey Sheck	...	Polish Flier
Ron Diamond	...	Pub Bartender
Gillian Eaton	...	Pub Barmaid
Paddi Edwards	...	Pub Waitress
Terence Marsh	...	Startled British Officer
Winnie McCarthy	...	Picadilly Usherette
Paul Ratliff	...	Naval Officer
Scott Beach	...	Narrator
Sandra Gray	...	Lady
Clare Culhane	...	Lady
Laurie Manning	...	Lady (as Lainie Manning)
Leeyan Granger	...	Lady
Antoinette Yuskis	...	Lady (as Antonette Yuskis)
Stephanie Wingate	...	Lady
Ian Bruce	...	Klotski's Klown
John Frayer	...	Klotski's Klown
Edward J. Heim	...	Klotski's Klown
Spencer Henderson	...	Klotski's Klown
George Jayne	...	Klotski's Klown
Bill K. Richards	...	Klotski's Klown
Neil J. Schwartz	...	Klotski's Klown
Tucker Smith	...	Klotski's Klown
Ted Sprague	...	Klotski's Klown
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrice Cole	...	Theater Patron (uncredited)
Richard Halpern	...	Theater Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan Johnson

Writing credits
Thomas Meehan		(screenplay) &
Ronny Graham		(screenplay)
Melchior Lengyel		story
Ernst Lubitsch		story
Edwin Justus Mayer		1942 screenplay

Produced by
Mel Brooks	....	producer
Howard Jeffrey	....	executive producer
Irene Walzer	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Morris

Cinematography by
Gerald Hirschfeld		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Alan Balsam

Casting by
Terry Liebling

Production Design by
Terence Marsh

Art Direction by
J. Dennis Washington

Set Decoration by
John Franco Jr.

Costume Design by
Albert Wolsky

Makeup Department
John M. Elliott Jr.	....	makeup artist (as John M. Elliot Jr.)
Cheri Ruff	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Jack Frost Sanders	....	production manager
Jack Frost Sanders	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ross G. Brown	....	assistant director
Pamela M. Eilerson	....	second assistant director (as Pamela Eilerson)
Dennis Maguire	....	dga trainee (as Dennis P. Maguire)

Art Department
Craig Edgar	....	set designer
Joseph E. Hubbard	....	set designer
Guy A. MacLaury	....	construction foreman (as Guy Allan MacLaury)
Mary Mathews	....	assistant property master
William S. Maxwell III	....	leadman (as William Maxwell III)
Dennis J. Parrish	....	property master
Hope M. Parrish	....	assistant property master (as Hope Parrish)
John A. Scott III	....	swing gang (as John Scott III)
S. Bruce Wineinger	....	construction coordinator
Steven Kerlagon	....	stand-by painter (uncredited)
Robert Van Dyke	....	propmaker gangboss (uncredited)
Peter Van Zyl	....	greensman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
Gene S. Cantamessa	....	production sound mixer
Louis L. Edemann	....	supervising sound editor
Richard C. Franklin	....	sound editor (as Rick Franklin)
Gregg Landaker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Phil Abramson	....	visual effects designer (uncredited)
Roy Arbogast	....	visual effects designer (uncredited)
Robert Blalack	....	optical effects (uncredited)
Chuck Comisky	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)
Christopher Dusendschon	....	optical compositor (uncredited)
David Emerson	....	optical lineup (uncredited)
Alan G. Markowitz	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Austin McKinney	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Rexford L. Metz	....	visual effects director of photography (uncredited)
Christopher Nibley	....	visual effects director of photography (uncredited)
Mark M. Pompian	....	visual effects camera operator (uncredited)
Chris Regan	....	optical supervisor (uncredited)
Jay Riddle	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)
Robert Skotak	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Bernie Godlove	....	stunt pilot
Buddy Joe Hooker	....	stunts
Harvey Parry	....	stunts
Art Scholl	....	stunt pilot
Dick Ziker	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Billy Beaird	....	dolly grip (as Bill Beaird)
Mike Benson	....	camera operator (as Michael A. Benson)
Michael W. Blymyer	....	best boy (as Michael Blymyer)
Alfred Budniak	....	best boy (as Al Budniak)
Joe Collins	....	best boy
Lindsay P. Hill	....	video playback operator
Marc Hirschfeld	....	assistant camera (as Marc D. Hirschfeld)
Ronald W. McLeish	....	gaffer
Charles L. Sereci	....	best boy (as Chuck Sereci)
Stephen Vaughan	....	still photographer
Robert West Sr.	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bruce Ericksen	....	costume supervisor: men
Ann Somers Major	....	costume supervisor: women

Editorial Department
Nancy Forner	....	assistant editor
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter
Patrick Magee	....	apprentice editor (as Patrick W. Magee)

Music Department
Ralph Burns	....	orchestrator
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Eugene Marks	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (as Danny Wallin)
Greg Fulginiti	....	music engineer (uncredited)
Tommy Tedesco	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Michael Connolly	....	transportation coordinator
Steve Bonner	....	picture car coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
William Allyn	....	production suggested by
Bruce Bahrenburg	....	unit publicist
Penny Brocato	....	craft service
Bart Doe	....	title illustrator
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Stanley Gibbs	....	production assistant
Tom Gillman	....	assistant: Mr. Johnson
Iwona Izdebska	....	dialogue coach: Polish
K. Lenna Katich	....	production controller (as K. Lenna Woodward)
David Lunney	....	production suggested by
Michele Markus	....	assistant: Mr. Brooks
Princess O'Mahoney	....	production assistant (as Princess McLean)
Charlene Painter	....	assistant choreographer: Mr. Johnson
Pattie Pica	....	assistant: Mr. Jeffrey
Cynnie Troup	....	script supervisor
John R. Woodward	....	location manager
Anna Zappia	....	production coordinator
Leah Zappy	....	assistant: Mr. Brooks (as Leah S. Zappy)
Art Scholl	....	pilot (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Brooksfilms
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (1984) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Video (1985) (Belgium) (video)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Fox Video (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (DVD) (Blu ray)

Other Companies

• DeLuxe Laboratories  color by (as DeLuxe)
• Island Records  soundtrack available on (as Island Records and Cassettes)
• Lightflex America Inc.  Lightflex system
• Modern Film Effects  title design
• Pacific Title  opticals
• Panavision  lenses and Panaflex cameras (as Panavision®)
• Weatherwax Trained Dog  trainer: Mutki (as Weatherwax Trained Dogs)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:S | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | UK:U (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

Though this is the first time that Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft actively star-teamed together, they had actually appeared in a number of the same productions prior to this as they had been married for several years.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Naughty Nazis song, "A Little Piece...", they mention Pakistan as one of the countries. Pakistan was not created until 1947.

Quotes:

Frederick Bronski:It's a, it's a, it's a RAT hole.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Brief Film Reviews: My DVD/Blu-Ray Collection" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Georgia Brown

The Mel Brooks way!

This is the great Mel Brooks at his best!.

He revisits this classic film and makes it even crazier than the original, adding a lot of new stuff... (there are 3 numbers where Mel dances and sings, there are clowns, jews and a homosexual hairdresser pursued by the evil and stupid nazis.)

All the actors in this movie, and I mean ALL, are just terrific.

I´d like to state that this is not a remake of the Ernst Lubistch classic, (at least that´s my opinion), to me this is a tribute to the great director and his masterpiece.

I´ve watched the Lubistch "To be or not to be" a lot of times for it´s one of my favorite films, and the Mel Brooks version is completely different from the original. It was made the Brooks way, which I really adore.

So watch this film, you´ll have a lot of fun and won´t stop laughing.

Oh, just one more thing...

This is an asking to 20th Century Fox: When you decide to release this movie in DVD, include the absolutely amazing video-clip: "To be or not to be - Hitler Rap" performed by Mel Brooks please!!. I can assure you that a lot of people will buy it just for that.

(9 out of 10)