This was a Movie Club pick from last week but I had to get through some other stuff first.
Polish WWII resistance learns that a supposed ally, Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), is actually a German spy about to present a list of family and friends of Polish RAF officers to the Gestapo. A pilot, Lieutenant Sobieski (Robert Stack), has flown to Warsaw and used his pre-war connection to famed actress Maria Tura (Carole Lombard), now leading the resistance, to have her intercept Siletsky. Tura's husband, Josef (Jack Benny), pretends to be the Gestapo commander to get Siletsky to hand over the documents. Identities switch back and forth as Josef and Maria give the performances of their lives.
So the plot does not give an indication of how funny the movie actually is. It's a comedy about how dumb the Nazis are and that seems really relevant today. Sometimes the only way to combat evil is to point out how ridiculous it is. Lombard is luminous in this, effortlessly seducing every single man she comes across. Normally, it would seem like lazy writing that she's just so beautiful men fall over themselves to offer her state secrets, but with her it seems completely believable.
It does feel a little dated, mostly because everyone has a different accent and that's just not addressed at all, but it is still very good and remains funny thanks to a very sharp script and fast, glib dialogue.
There is a 1983 remake starring real-life husband and wife Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft that is also very good. Either version is well worth watching, but the 1942 one is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and (sigh) Max.
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