Film: To Be or Not To Be

The troubled relation of theatrical spectacle and politics is a recurring motif in most of these films, but this is especially true in To Be or Not To Be (1942), by Ernst Lubitsch. The tone of this comedy/drama, shot during World War II, is often heroic, yet the performances of Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, as self-centered thespians caught up in times of political crisis, contain the memorable satiric irony so typical of Lubitsch.

This film is part of the Politics, Theater, and Wagner Film Festival. 

Tickets $8, $6.40