"In years to come, the fact that Hollywood could convert part of a world crisis into such a cops and robbers charade will certainly be regarded as a remarkable phenomenon." - Life magazine

"Hamlet's most famous soliloquy was a positive declaration when compared to the jangled moods and baffling humors of Ernst Lubitsch's new film... To say it is callous and macabre is understating the case." -- Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

"Typically Lubitsch...one of his best productions in a number of years." -- Variety

"A weird mixture of melodrama, anti-Nazi propaganda and low comedy. Mr. Lubitsch lays on his effects with a heavy hand, permitting his actors to indulge in the broadest of burlesques." - New York Sun

"An incongruous mixture...which many people will protest against... There's no escaping what, to use the gentlest terms for it, must be called a lapse of taste in the picture. There have been, and will be, harsher words for it." - The National Board of Review Magazine

"Time has been kind to this magnificent film... Looking back, we can fully appreciate how daring it was for Lubitsch to tackle this material when he did... The film isn't so much about Nazi overtaking Poland as a troupe of Polish actors invading the world of Nazidom; therein lies its brilliance as a topical satire. The cast couldn't be better, from its incomparable lineup of character actors to its leading man, Jack Benny, in his finest screen performance as 'that great, great actor, Joseph Tura.' He and Lombard (never more beautiful) work together splendidly." - Leonard Maltin, 2013

Awards and Honors - TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Named to the National Film Registry of the National Film Preservation Board, 1996.

Compiled by Roger Fristoe