Fish and Cherries Productions

To Be or Not to Be (1983) is an often overlooked entry in the Mel Brooks library and I think it deserves more attention. It’s not the most lighthearted story, but then again, how lighthearted can a story of Nazi-occupied Poland told from a Jewish perspective be? At the same time, this perspective gives us some very biting jokes at the Nazi party, all of them hilarious. Throw in a wacky and beleaguered Gestapo played by Christopher Lloyd and and bellowing and terrified S.S. Colonel played by Charles Durning and you have a great recipe for comedy. Mel Brooks is funny, the situations are tense and hilarious, it’s definitely worth a watch.