Mel Brooks took on a huge challenge when he decided to Produce and star in a remake of the classic Ernst Lubitsch black comedy To Be or Not To Be from 1941. Critical opinion was mixed at the time with most saying it would have been better if Brooks had left the sardonic and extremely sarcastic war film alone. The result, To Be or Not To Be 1983 presents itself as a very noble attempt to give the story a slightly different take including dealing with a painful past and cultural myths using slapstick and civil rights. Watch the film while playing this podcast and perhaps we’ll see our mixed opinion about this 80’s comedy change much like it did for Lubitsch’s original masterpiece. The Super 70 Podcast is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, and my website at www.thatdylandavis.com. You can also find me on Twitter @thatdylandavis All music on The Super 70 Podcast is provided by Rozalind MacPhail and Joshua Cunningham whom you can also find on SoundCloud. Works Cited for this episode are: To Be Or Not To Be the BFI paperback by Peter Barnes available on Amazon.com.
