For the past couple of years I’ve been making a selection of twelve movies for my Blindspot list at the start of the year. Movies which for example have been on my “to watch” list for ages or ones for which I’ve got the feeling I should have seen them at least once as a movie lover. I’ve also made a list for this year and as we’re already in october I noticed that I almost hadn’t watched any of them. So it was necessary to change that so I decided to check out this 1942 movie, by director Ernst Lubitsch. I hadn’t seen any of his previous work, but this one often is named as one of his best.
But this movie wasn’t always as highly regarded. When it came out there was a lot of negativity surrounding the film. The father of star Jack Benny walked out during the first showing and fans of Carole Lombard, who unfortunately died in a plane crash before the premiere, were shocked that this was her last film. The reason for all of this is that the movie is set during the second world war (which America got pulled into a few months earlier because of the bombing of Pearl Harbour) in Poland and is a comedy in which various actors appear in Nazi attire. The story is about a group of actors who use their acting talent, at a moment when Germany has occupied Warschau, to sabotage the local troops when they hear that a professor from the UK has information which could endanger Poland.
Of course this is a movie that is a product of the time it was made, which means everything has been shot on sound stages, making it all feel very theatrical. Because of that it doesn’t feel as intense as it could have been. Still, the script is very strong and the dialog is sharp and witty, with some saying regularly returning like “To be or not to be”, “So they call me Concentration Camp Ehrhardt?” and “Schultz!”, which become funnier every time you hear them. For it’s time this was a daring film which in the end got the appreciation it deserves. I was really able to enjoy it, especially the second half where the pace picks up and there are a lot of laughs.
