A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years. Silent movie follows the antics of mel funn brooks, marty eggs marty feldman, and dom bell dom deluise. To be or not to be 1983 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Mel brooks and anne bancroft are perfect for their roles in to be or not to be. A series of event, misunderstandings occur which make you laugh out loud. I dont need any more the screenwriter, producer, director and actor, whose name has become synonymous with american. To be or not to be 1983 frederick bronski mel brooks and his adulterous wife, anna anne bancroft, are a pair of hammy actors running a lowrent theater in warsaw, poland.
Mel brookss remake of ernst lubitschs 1942 classic, to be or not to be, is smashingly funny. All 11 mel brooks movies ranked from worst to best taste. At the onset of ww2, a polish actors family and the polish resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape poland and the invading nazis. The movie costars brooks and his wife, anne bancroft, working together for the first time on screen as frederick and anna bronski, the impresarios of a brave. To add to this point about cleavon little not being in this movie if he was offended, keep in mind that richard pryor cowrote this movie and was approached by mel brooks to play this sheriff.
The title is of course lifted from the shakespeare play hamlet. In to be or not to be, brooks combines a backstage musical with a wartime romance and comes up with an eclectic comedy that races off into several directions, usually successfully. All 11 mel brooks movies ranked from worst to best page. There we were, knocking ourselves out to be funny, and behind the camera, not a snicker. Rent to be or not to be 1983 on dvd and bluray dvd. And yet mel brooks movie debut which earned him the oscar for best original screenplay was the most original work of his career, combining subversive humor with a tender bromance between zero. But its hard to not fear the headline news, reading that another one of your heroes has passed on, and brooks has been defying the reaper for. Every glorious second of the totallynottoolong spaceballs intro. Mel brooks has made some of the funniest films ever but. Frederick bronski brooks leads a struggling theatrical company that offers. Brooks was a little short on cash at that time, so he felt compelled to make the movie work. Soundtrack to alan johnsons movie to be or not to be starring mel brooks, anne brancroft, tim matheson, charles durning, jose ferrer, george gaynes, christopher lloys, george wyner, lewis j. With mel brooks, marty feldman, dom deluise, sid caesar.
Mel brooks to be or not to be top of the pops 8th march 1984. When he was born in brooklyn, his name was melvin kaminsky he has directed, produced and written several movies. Funny man by patrick mcgilligan shows mel brooks to be cocky and obnoxious. Some critics wondered why mel brooks was parodying star wars four years after what was then assumed to be the final star wars movie. Dont miss adding this to your dvd collection or it would make an ideal christmas gift. Though to be or not to be finds mel brooks leaving behind both the directors reins and genre parody of his bestknown works, the film, more importantly, finds the directorasshowman in fine form. Mel brooks simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The trio has a plan to make a silent movie, forty years after talkies took over the. Mel brooks on the love of his life, anne bancroft, and. Big jake full movie, english film, western movie, wild west, full length free cowboy movie duration. Mel brooks and his wife anne bancroft costar in this funny remake of a 1942. Mel brooks, one of the funniest people on the planet, has recently turned 91.
After 50 years of making sound movies, they were afraid if. To be or not to be, with mel brooks the new york times. To be or not to be is a 1983 comedydrama film directed by alan johnson, produced by mel brooks with howard jeffrey as executive producer and irene walzer as associate producer. To be or not to be, mel brooks second world war comedy. My painting, the schwartz was never with van gogh, in beautiful full saturated color on everything from shirts to. Im not at all sure that its a classic, but its so good in its own right. On the movies soundtrack album, but not in the movie, is a novelty rap song entitled to be or not to be the hitler rap. Mel brooks performs his musical play naughty nazis in the film to be or not to be. When mel brooks was casting his absurdist western parody, the film that ended up as the biggest hit of 1974, brooks. Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at movies. This song was released as a single, complete with music video, and peaked. This incredible cinematic debut of mel brooks instantly marked him as a comedy legend. Bancroft was with him during blazing saddles, brooks bold.
Culture film features movies you might have missed. Mel brooks and his wife anne bancroft costar in this funny remake of a 1942 comedy of the same title, based on a story by ernst lubitsch and melchior lengyel about a downandout warsaw theater. Not only did it land mostel a golden globe nomination, but it also won brooks his first and only oscar and launched a career that has lasted more than 50. Mel brooks leaves audiences laughing but not always the. With mel brooks, anne bancroft, ronny graham, estelle reiner. To be or not to be is a 1983 american war comedy film directed by alan johnson, produced by mel brooks, and starring mel brooks, anne bancroft, tim matheson, charles durning, christopher lloyd, and jose ferrer. Mel brooks loves show business and has worked it into a lot of his. To be or not to be the hitler rap 1983 an audience with mel brooks 1983 history of the world. Normally im not a big fan of movies with mel brooks in them, although i am a fan of his writing. The revelation for film audiences is that miss bancroft is such a wildly gifted comedienne. Id say silent movie is my best film by far, mel brooks was saying, and, lets face it, the others were pretty good. Perhaps he never reached this height again, though the jury will always be indecisive when it comes to the best mel brooks movie, and the three that stand out are always the producers, blazing saddles or young frankenstein. Mel brooks updates fans on whether or not there is an actual chance spaceballs 2 could be made and begin searching for more money. Fielding questions after a screening of blazing saddles in london last week, mel brooks was asked for the secret to a long life.
Mel brooks can be an acquired taste for some and his name on this film could be a turnoff to. Ive been a fan of mel brooks for a while, and decided to pick this up so i could finally have some of the movies on dvd. To be or not to be the hitler rap by mel brooks songfacts. Around the period when mel brooks had first taken on the blazing saddles script, his son max was born. This is the funniest, the hardest to accomplish, the best. It included a few movies i hadnt heard of like high anxiety and to be or not to be, but i loved the movies. Earlier this year, members of the writers guild of america voted for. Mel brooks explains why the producers is still relevant. The screenplay was written by ronny graham and thomas meehan, based on the original story by melchior lengyel, ernst lubitsch and edwin justus mayer. Its an incredible age and in seeing his recent interviews, its remarkable how much energy and clarity he still has. To be or not to be 1983 cast and crew frederick bronski mel brooks and his adulterous wife, anna anne bancroft, are a pair of hammy actors running a lowrent theater in warsaw, poland. In a world gone mad, mel brooks, now 90, is determined to get people back on his laugh track.
Make a noise journeys through brooks early years in the creative beginnings of live television with sid caesar on your show of shows to the film genres he so successfully. Mel brooks born june 28, 1926 is a jewish american actor, comedian, writer, movie director, and producer. Of the mel brooks films ive got, ive not seen this one and kudos for throwing in the full movie. Most of these are comedies that make references to other movies. To be or not to be is a 1983 american war comedy film directed by alan johnson, produced by mel brooks, and starring. Blazing saddles clowned on westerns and racists film. The american filmmaker worked on the script of springtime for hitler, which later became the producers. Assembling a comedy with enough melancholy and covert soul to make it stick, alan johnson puts together a film whose mirth can not fully conceal. Second, we know far more than was known in 1942 of the full extent of the nazi evil, especially in regard to the fate of.