At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 6 nominations total
James 'Gypsy' Haake
- Sasha
- (as James Haake)
José Ferrer
- Prof. Siletski
- (as Jose Ferrer)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMel Brooks has said this is his favorite of his Brooksfilms movies.
- GoofsIn the Naughty Nazis song, "A Little Piece...", they mention Pakistan as one of the countries. Pakistan was not created until 1947.
- Quotes
Frederick Bronski: Let's face it, sweetheart: without jews, fags and gypsies there is no theatre.
- Crazy creditsThe opening and closing credits show a picture of Bancroft and Brooks drawn side by side in overlapping profile, this is clearly an homage to the similar drawing of Benny and Lombard in the opening and closing credits of the 1942 version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in An Audience with Mel Brooks (1983)
Featured review
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)
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)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Sein oder Nichtsein
- Filming locations
- Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA(Hotel Europa; Polish Officers Club)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,030,214
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,020,958
- Dec 18, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $13,030,214
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