Synopsis

Mel Brooks appears as Adolf Hitler in a deliberately gaudy stage setting, delivering a fast, comic rap that summarizes Hitler's rise, Nazi rule, and wartime ambitions. Surrounded by dancers in provocative cabaret-style costumes, Brooks turns the dictator into a ridiculous nightclub performer rather than a figure of power. The video builds its satire through exaggerated choreography, theatrical gestures, Nazi imagery, and a final joke about Hitler's supposed escape to Argentina. Its central purpose is not historical explanation, but comic humiliation.

Factoids & Trivia

• "To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap)" was recorded in 1983 for Island Records and was produced and co-written by musician Pete Wingfield.

• The song was connected to Brooks' film *To Be or Not to Be*, but it does not actually appear in the movie. It was originally conceived as part of a burlesque-show sequence and was ultimately made as a promotional music video.

• Brooks' performance continues his long-running use of Nazi and Hitler satire, most famously seen in "Springtime for Hitler" from *The Producers*.

• The song echoes the earlier number with the line "Don't be stupid, be a smarty. Come and join the Nazi Party."

• The single became an unexpected international novelty hit, reaching No. 12 in the United Kingdom and No. 3 in Australia.

• The video was filmed in a Los Angeles studio and runs for approximately four minutes.

• Brooks' Jewish identity gives the performance an especially pointed dimension: the video treats Hitler not with solemnity or fear, but as an absurd, vain entertainer stripped of his authority.