When the Nazis invade Poland, a group of actors with a lot of Nazi uniforms on their hands find a new role to play. As a spy arrives in Warsaw, the actors turn to impersonating Nazi officers–and even Hitler himself– in order to outwit the enemy and keep the resistance safe from spies.

Shocking and scandalous when released at the height of WWII, Ernst Lubitsch’s satire of Nazism is now remembered (rightly) as one of the funniest, bravest, noblest, most modern comedies Old Hollywood ever produced: a tribute to laughter in dark times, and a true essential.