🎭 Laughter in the Face of Tyranny

Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be (1942) is a razor-sharp wartime satire that seamlessly blends screwball comedy with biting political commentary. Set in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, it follows a troupe of Polish actors who use their stagecraft and quick wits to outsmart the Gestapo.

Starring Carole Lombard—radiant in her final screen role—and the incomparable Jack Benny, this classic remains a bold, clever, and subversive gem. It dared to mock the Nazis at a time when few would—and pulled it off with style, grace, and pitch-perfect timing.

🎞️ Why This Film Deserves the Big Screen

To Be or Not to Be is more than a comedy—it’s a bold act of resistance wrapped in farce. Lubitsch’s legendary ‘touch’ gives it lightness, but beneath the laughter lies real courage and commentary.

Seeing it on the big screen allows its wit, timing, and visual inventiveness to truly shine. And with an audience, the humour lands just as Lubitsch intended—bold, brilliant, and unflinchingly relevant.

🌟 Critics Still Hail It as a Masterpiece:

“A complex and timely satire with as much darkness as slapstick, Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be delicately balances humour and ethics.”
— Rotten Tomatoes

“The film’s high purpose propels Lubitsch to unsurpassed extremes of inventive audacity.”
— The New Yorker

“It took the mix of grace, sex, and slapstick energy that makes up the Lubitsch touch to create the funniest film ever made about the German invasion of Poland.”
— Stream on Demand

🎟️ Join Us at Block Cinema

Don’t miss the chance to experience this audacious classic on the big screen. Every ticket supports local community projects and helps keep cinema vibrant in our neighbourhood.

Book now—because sometimes the best way to resist is to laugh.