To Be or Not to Be
United Artists | Release Date: March 6, 1942 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The DissolveKeith Phipps
To Be Or Not To Be works as both comedy and thriller, ratcheting up the tension and humor as the actors’ scheme threatens to fall apart, and the gags build on one another. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyKeith Staskiewicz
One of Hollywood’s funniest, and most poignant, classics. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
It could be [Lubitsch's] finest achievement, and it's certainly one of the most profound, emotionally complex comedies ever made, covering a range of tones from satire to slapstick to shocking black humor. Read full review
100
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
To Be or Not to Be, co-starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, under expert guidance of Ernst Lubitsch, is absorbing drama with farcical trimmings. It's an acting triumph for Lombard, who delivers an effortless and highly effective performance that provides memorable finale to her brilliant screen career. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
Many of the film’s pleasures, then, derive from watching these characters successfully use the tools of the stage (improvisation, sense memory, prosthetics) to successfully subvert the Nazis. Read full review
100
IndieWireLeornard Maltin
[A] magnificent film. Read full review
100
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
It's certainly one of the finest comedies ever to come out of Paramount, the allegations of dubious taste missing the point of Lubitsch's satire - not so much the general nastiness of the Nazis as their unforgiveable bad manners. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
A masterpiece of satire and one of the more controversial films of its day, TO BE OR NOT TO BE is a brilliant example of how comedy can be as effective in raising social and political awareness as a serious propaganda film, while still providing hilarious entertainment. Read full review
90
TimeStaff (Not Credited)
To Be is a very funny comedy, salted to taste with melodrama and satire. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsKate Cameron
The picture, produced by Alexander Korda, under Lubitsch's direction, has some deliciously funny moments and every now and then a serious sequence is injected that startles the audience into an attitude of taut suspense. But it seems to me that the background of the Melchior Lenggel story is a bit too grim for joking. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'Angelo
Because the second half of To Be Or Not To Be, once Benny starts impersonating Nazis, is so outlandishly hilarious, it’s easy to forgive the film’s comparatively sluggish first half, which is mostly setup for gags to come. Read full review
50
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Ernst Lubitsch, who directed, starts off on the wrong foot and never gets his balance; the performers yowl their lines, and the burlesque of the Nazis, who cower before their superior officers, is more crudely gleeful than funny.
30
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
In a spirit of levity, contused by frequent doses of shock, Mr. Lubitsch has set his actors to performing a spy-thriller of fantastic design amid the ruins and frightful oppressions of Nazi-in-vaded Warsaw. To say it is callous and macabre is understating the case. Read full review
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