MovieChat Forums > To Be or Not to Be (1983) Discussion > Best scene of the film and unique to a M...

Best scene of the film and unique to a Mel Brooks picture


This movie is wonderful, I loved every second of it and it is my favorite Mel Brooks movie. There is a very important scene in this movie and the characteristic of it had never been in any Brooks movie prior and hasn't since. The scene I am referring to is when the theatrical troupe is performing in front of Hitler and all the Nazi soldiers at the end of the movie. The scene comes at the end of the performance when all performers leave the stage to make their exit and escape. Since the troupe was harboring Jewish people in hiding, they had to make them part of the act. At the end of the performance as all were escaping one of the Jews in hiding (old lady in clown costume) starts panicking as she looks out at all the Nazis in the audience. Her husband (old man) is trying to get her to leave faster but he is unable to get her to move. The gay performer, Sasha, needs to hurry back to the couple and save them from getting caught. He proceeds to yell out to the Nazi audience, there in the middle of the theater aisle, Juden, Juden. This is the German word for Jew and after each shout of Juden he sticks a Jewish star on each of their chests respectively. The Nazis laugh and the characters escape. This scene, though very brief in the movie, is a key moment in Mel Brooks' career. Never before and never again would Mel allow a scene of this nature make its way into his movies. The correct interpretation of this scene is very deep with regard to the Jewish plight during the Holocaust in Germany during WW2. The scene provides us with a situation where the fact that the actual putting of the star on the Jewish person is the only way to save the two from doom because the Nazis, witnessing this action by Sasha, believes that it was just part of the show that the characters were in a panic. Mel makes this scene to show the shameful things that were done to Jewish people during that awful time. It shows that these putrid Nazis are amused by disgraceful human behavior and the way Sasha emphasizes Juden in this scene makes it clear that Mel is trying to make a dramatic point. Never has this occurred in any other Brooks picture prior and since. I was so profoundly affected by this scene that after being stunned to see this in a Brooks picture, I nearly vomitted at the fact that these two Jewish people had to be degraded like this in such a fearful moment for them just to save their lives. I cannot imagine experiencing, even as a Jew myself, what Jewish people had to experience during that horrible time. Fantastic work by Brooks and the rest of the cast and crew in this movie. The movie was indeed a remake but I don't know if a scene like this was in the original. Just by Mel allowing this scene in the movie is credit in itself and I found a new respect for Mel after watching this movie and the scene I discussed.

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Very moving -- but your comment is misinformed. Mel Brooks did not write or direct this film, therefore crediting him with the creation of this moment is inaccurate. Without viewing the original, it is understandable that people enjoy this film, but its comedy is broad and schticky compared to the far superior original.

If you really want to be moved, check out the original TO BE OR NOT TO BE, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. When you realize this dark, mature and powerful comedy was made DURING World War II -- and there are scenes just as poignant as the one you allude to in the remake, you can see why this is an underrated masterpiece that deserves to be listed as one of the great Hollywood films alongside Casablanca, Citizen Kane and Sunset Blvd.

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I also like the original better because Carole Lombard is more fearless, so much more secure in her superiority to the stupid brutes in charge. She manipulates them with absolute disdain.

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Response to comment made by wadesheel on Oct 7 2003 (I know I'm a few years late) - You're right, Mel Brooks did not direct this film, but he was the PRODUCER. Credit definitely should be given to him for every aspect of this movie.

I will say both movies were fantastic!

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Well then I stand corrected. I still think it is unique that Mel Brooks was involved in a movie that had a scene like that.

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Mel was still involved in the film as producer and star. He also wrote the two songs he sings in the film: Ladies and A Little Piece. Also, a producer does put involvment into a film, even one he didn't write.

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Whether or not Brooks himself put the scene in the movie is pointless. It was indeed a very deep scene (though not on the surface, as it were) and until I just read your post, I didnt really read into it as much as I could have. Thank you for your intelligent observations.
I've loved this movie since I was a kid and will continue to enjoy it with an even deeper appreciation.

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I didn't think anybody was moved by that scene as much as I was. I get goosepimples every time I see it.

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Yes, somebody else was indeed moved by that scene. Even as a young kid I was struck by the Nazi soldiers laughing at the terror so plainly displayed by the elderly Jewish woman. I laughed at the stupidity of the audience, but was also wondering at why they were so amused.

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Me too. More so because I thought the rest of the film, while it had its disturbing moments, was very funny. But this scene just made me feel cold to my stomach. And it's the thing I remember most about this movie.

What a great film...!

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Mel was the producer, star and wrote two of the songs. He didn't direct or write the script. Still No easy feet for anyone to take on so many different hats.

In the original, the Holocaust hadn't been fully discovered when the film had been made. Early foreign press had talked about some of what the Nazis did, but the full horror was not known until after the war and, in particular, during the war crimes tribunal.

For example, the gay character was one of the main changes in the remake. The Nazi persecution of homosexuals and their destruction of the early gay rights movement were pretty much ignored until the 1970s.

This is probably the first mainstream Hollywood film to acknowledge this persecution.

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It also shows how scared that Jewish woman was. She felt that even the disguise they are in wouldn't fool these *beep* Even when she is dressed as one of the Army people you see her getting off the truck in fear, as though the plan won't work. It almost didn't.

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It's one of my favorite scenes too, but for very different reasons. The old woman is paralyzed with fear because she, a Jew, is facing a roomful of Nazis. Her reaction makes the Nazis suspicious, which increases her terror, which increases their suspicion. If someone doesn't act quickly, they'll soon figure out that she's a Jew and the game will be up. Sasha saves the day, and how? By announcing to everyone that she is a Jew. It reminds me a little of Grosse Point Blank in which a John Cusack doesn't want to go to his high school reunion because he doesn't know what to tell people to hide the fact that he's a hitman. He finally finds that the perfect cover is just to tell them he's a hitman, because everyone assumes he must be joking.

The scene is striking on another level, too. The Nazis thought they were the ultimate macho warriors. Yet right under their very noses, Sasha, the 'sissy', pulls off an act of such courage and daring that if it had been performed on the field of battle, he certainly would have won a medal of honor. The Nazis will never know that this clown has just shown more genuine courage than they could ever hope to have. This touches on the theme of the entire movie. The Bronskis are unlikely heroes. They're basically vain, petty, foolish people, but confronted with the evil of Nazism they demonstrate a depth and courage they never dreamed they had. The Nazis thought they were supermen who would crush people like Sasha and the Bronskis with ease. But thanks to millions of small acts of incredible heroism by millions of 'little' people, they were ultimately defeated.

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I just this morning decided that this is possibly my favorite moment in all of cinema history.

... And I logged in here to see if the scene was in the original (since it may be a while until I can see the original). I still don't know.

...

Another point about this ... it's not that the picture is making fun of how the Jews, blacks, gays, and gypsies suffered at that time. After all, Brooks makes jokes about it all through the movie (more in the tone of "This is so horrible to live through!").

In this case, however, it is a glimpse of what depths *Nazi* humor could sink to, or, if you realize it, the humor of any bullies who are on top. The Nazis laugh and laugh because it is, actually, such a "natural" idea. Of course you could have clown Nazis, chasing clown Jews, and dragging them off to the final solution. It is what the Hitler and the others were doing all the time, why NOT have a good laugh at it. ... And we can see that their laughter is of an inhuman tone ("Let's squeeze another chuckle out of the Jewish thing!")

The humor throughout the movie is of the "We're being persecuted!" kind. This particular joke (from the Nazi's perspective) is of the "We're persecuting them!" kind, and the film makes them seem both silly and evil.

This really hits home.

Of course, as was said, the ironies are deep. The one best way to "sneak" the Jews out of the theatre is to parade them out right under Hitler's nose. When the Nazis begin to suspect they are Jews, the effective response is to just call them that, even pinning the stars on them.

Humor is an amazing tool, but the film shows that it can be just as evil as humans can be.

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That scene, and the whole 'Jews in the basement' subplot is unique to this version. So is Sasha. The dresser in the original was a middle-aged woman.

I hope giving you the answer to this mystery won't discourage you from seeking out the original. It's a wonderful film in its own right. Some lines and scenes in the remake are lifted directly from the original, but others are entirely different and there's a lot of difference in tone. The original was made during WWII when the outcome was still far from certain -- the US had not yet entered the war -- so the laughter is necessarily more muted. It's still a comedy, but without the broad humor of the remake. Even without the differences, the original would still be worth seeing. Brooks and Bancroft are wonderful, but Benny and Lombard are incomparable.

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interesting point in the original Lombard died in a plane crash before the film was released so they decided take out Lombard's line of "What can happen in a plane?"

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Thaks for answering the mystery, and I definately am still eager to see the original.

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In the larger context of the film, there's a little bit more to this scene: earlier on, the troupe attempted to conceal Sasha from the Gestapo--by putting him on stage as a drag queen (in a role originally intended for Anna Bronski)! He's not an actor (or a drag queen) and is clearly terrified at what might happen to him, and so cannot pull off the charade and gets arrested. It's irrelevant here how he comes to be in the finale, but at that point, he recognises the paralysing terror the Jewish couple are enduring because he had felt it himself, and just because of that can find the inner strength to parody the horrifying reality and transform it into a means of salvation.

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Truly well said, User-38.

On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

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Wow, great observation and very well stated.

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Yes, that was a good scene. It was hard for that woman to move at times because she wasn't an actress and she was scared of the Nazis finding out what she was. Put yourself in her place. But I also enjoyed the part when Bronski comes into the English bar as Hitler and calls out, "Excuse me, is this England?" Just the way everyone freezes and the camera moves in on him is so funny, as well as the waitress dropping her tray.

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> But I also enjoyed the part when Bronski comes into the English
> bar as Hitler and calls out, "Excuse me, is this England?"

I actually prefer the equivalent "Hitler arrives in Britain" scene in the original. I can understand why it was changed for the remake, though. By then, too high a percentage of the audience would not catch the reference.

In the original, it is not Benny's character who is disguised as Hitler, but one of the other actors in their troupe who is cast specifically because of his striking resemblance to Hitler. (Really, when Brooks comes into that pub, there's no way that *anybody* would mistake him for Hitler. They would just be wondering why somebody would be wearing a Hitler costume.) Text on the screen says that they're in Scotland. The Hitler-disguised actor comes down on a parachute (after anti-aircraft guns had been shown shooting at the German plane) and lands on a haystack. Two farmers are standing nearby. When the actor throws the parachute off of himself to reveal his appearance, one farmer deadpans to the other one: "First Hess, and now HIM."

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I haven't seen the original so I can't compare. I just thought it was funny the way Mel Brooks did that. And would they realize he wasn't Hitler? It is hard to tell. Don't forget a war is going on here.

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> And would they realize he wasn't Hitler? It is hard to tell.
> Don't forget a war is going on here.

Yes, they would definitely realize that Brooks wasn't Hitler.
Hitler had been a constant presense in newsreels and newspaper photos since at least 1932 or 33. (And, yes, I *do* mean internationally.) And during the war his constant presense in the media would only have increased with all of the propaganda; he was the primary personification of "the enemy".

It would be one thing if Brooks bore at least some physical resemblance to Hitler ...... but he doesn't ...... at all. It's like going back to the Gulf War and asking whether Woody Allen could be mistaken for Saddam Hussaein if he was wearing the right uniform and a fake mustache.

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Well, they eventually realized it, of course. It was just for a moment that they thought he was. He did sort of resemble Hitler to me in the get-up, which was what made it so convincing.

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Brooks may not have written and directed this film, but it's still a Mel Brooks film, and it shows the depth that he can bring to things when he has a mind to (listen to his director's commentary on the DVD of Young Frankenstein).

The scene the original poster mentions is one of my all-time favorites. I was fairly young when I first saw it, and it was the first time I'd seen a portrayal of a gay man as heroic. In fact, it may have been the first positive image of a gay man I'd ever seen on film. Mel Brooks will forever hold a place of honor in my book.

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Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?

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Just saw this film on the MOVIES channel, and wondered why it's rarely ever shown on TV---enjoyed it, since it was nice old-school entertainment. Another thing---when the gay member of the troupe comes into the dressing room and mentions homosexuals being forced by the Nazis to wear pink triangles to single them out,that was the first time I've ever heard that actually said in a film (it was a true fact, BTW.) All in all, it was a nice,funny entertaining film,despite the subject matter with the Nazis, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again, since I missed the beginning of it. And it was nice to see both Brooks and Anne Bancroft (one of my fave actresses) both star in a film together, especially one suited to both their talents. Brooks was able to show some range with the disguises and all, instead of just being the loudmouth comic most of the time. For some reason, this film rarely comes up when Brook's work is mentioned, the name of this film (and THE TWELVE CHAIRS) rarely comes up,so I'm giving it its props.

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I just discovered this gem on Netflix, so if you have access to it you can watch it from the beginning. If not, Movies usually repeats films, so it should come back around. Heaven knows we've seen parts of "Mahogany" more times than we care to count!

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I saw a reference to this on the 'tv tropes' page for this movie that covers both versions. In the original, apparently, someone played Hitler here that looked more like him. In the original, Mel Brooks' "role" here was divided up.

I did find this weak. His imitation of the character played by Jose Ferrer (a great old time actor too btw who worked into the '80s) was much more believable and in the process funny. This final bit showed how they went a bit too far in the last scenes. The number of people they had to sneak out, for example, made it hard to believe it would be a quick getaway.

And, the thing is rushed and handled somewhat weakly at the airport. Just sneaking out the theater troupe, including non-acting staff would have been better & still allowed the clown stuff.

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< When the actor throws the parachute off of himself to reveal his appearance, one farmer deadpans to the other one: "First Hess, and now HIM." >

That's awesome. I guess by now most people wouldn't get it though. It's shameful how England treated Hess, fwiw.

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You are right. Before even reading your comment, I knew you were going to mention that scene. The addition of the Jewish refugees and Sasha's plight distinguish this movie from just being a retread of the original.

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