To Be or Not to Be (BFI Film Classics) [Paperback]

Peter Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2008

In To Be or Not to Be (1942), Ernest Lubitsch brought his legendary comic touch to the most unpromising situation: life in Nazi-occupied Poland. In this study, Peter Barnes considers what it is to make comedy out of tragedy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Barnes is one of the UK's most respected dramatists, with numerous stage, screen and radio plays to his name. His work has been performed by Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud and Paul Scofield (among others). He won the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright award for The Ruling Class in 1969 and the Olivier Award for Best Play in 1985 for Red Noses. His screenplay for Enchanted April (1992) was nominated for an Academy Award.

Product Details

• Paperback: 79 pages
• Publisher: British Film Institute (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851709192
• ISBN-13: 978-0851709192
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,603,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Great as Tura's Acting, December 2, 2002

By 

Michael Samerdyke (Big Stone Gap, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To Be or Not to Be (BFI Film Classics) (Paperback)

This is a very enjoyable discussion of a very good movie. I devoured it quite rapidly.

The book isn't perfect. Barnes makes some mistakes (I think he means to refer to Fields' "That Fatal Glass of Beer" and not "Face on the Barroom Floor.) He is also clearly writing for a British audience, since he seems to have no idea how Carole Lombard's death affected the initial American response to the film.

However, this are quibbles. While Barnes' approach to the film is not novel, his is the first examination of the film to delve so deeply into the performance of Sig Rumann as Erhardt, as well as the contributions of Lionel Atwill and the "spear carrier" who gets to play Hitler. He pays loving attention to the theatrical details of the movie to such a degree that it will be playing in your mind as you read him.

Also, he reprints the numbskull 1942 reviews of the movie, which provide a dark humor of their own.

In short, this book is a must for the fans of this film. (As a bonus, he doesn't even mention the Mel Brooks version of the film.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read...informative, November 6, 2011

By 

J. Whitney "Mac-Knight" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Be or Not to Be (BFI Film Classics) (Paperback)

This was a required book for my Film Class on Comedy....Comic Mode. The book was informative and an easy read allowing the user to be able to participate in class discussion even without a lot of Film knowledge or background.