starring Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
written by Edwin Justus Mayer
produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch
99 minutes
A troupe of Polish actors in Warsaw at the beginning of the Second World War help Lieutenant Sobinski (Robert Stack), a bomber pilot, intercept Professor Siletsky, a Polish spy who is working for the Germans, from handing over the details he has about the Polish Resistance. The troupe of actors are led by Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) whose wife Maria (Carole Lombard) began an affair with Sobinski just before the war began. The actors lure the professor into a trap but once he realizes that it is a trap, he tries to shoot his way out and winds up dead. Joseph impersonates Siletsky but things get a bit tricky after the Germans discover Siletsky's body.
I first saw this movie in the mid-1980s at the theater at the US Archives. I think I may have seen it since then but this is the first time I have watched it in probably more than 30 years.
I enjoyed this movie very much. It isn't perfect but there is a lot here to like. I think that the humor works very well. It's a bit dated but I didn't find anything that made me cringe.
Notes
I have seen Jack Benny in one other film: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). I have seen Carole Lombard in a few other movies including My Man Godfrey (1936). This was her final film. She was killed in an airplane accident before this film was released. I have seen Robert Stack in a few other movies including Uncommon Valor (1983). He was also the host of Unsolved Mysteries for 15 years. Sig Ruman and Lionel Atwill were also in this movie.
This is the first and only film written by Edwin Justus Mayer that I have watched. This is the third movie I have seen recently that was directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The other two are The Love Parade (1929) and Ninotchka (1939).
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