To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
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To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American black comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman. The plot concerns a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch (uncredited) and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel.
Plot
The setting is Warsaw, Poland, just before the 1939 Nazi Germany invasion. The well-known stars of a Warsaw theater company, "ham" actor Josef Tura (Jack Benny) and his beautiful wife, Maria (Carole Lombard), along with the rest of the company, are rehearsing "Gestapo", a play satirizing the Nazis. One of the actors, Bronski (Tom Dugan), even proves that he can pass for Hitler in the street.
That night, when the company is performing Shakespeare's Hamlet, with Tura in the title role, Bronski commiserates with friend and colleague, Greenberg (Felix Bressart), about being limited to being spear carriers. Greenberg, who is implicitly Jewish (although the words "Jew" or "Judaism" are never used), reveals he has always dreamed of playing Shylock in Merchant of Venice, especially the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech, which he proceeds to recite.
Meanwhile, the lovely Maria has received flowers from handsome young pilot Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack). She tells Sobinski to come to see her in her dressing room when Tura begins his "To be or not to be..." speech, to ensure privacy. As her husband, Tura begins his monologue, Sobinski very obviously walks out, causing the highly-strung actor great distress at the apparent insult. Shortly thereafter, the company is ordered by the government to cancel "Gestapo", to avoid possibly worsening relations with Germany. The following night, after a brief (and chaste) assignation, Sobinski again walks out during "To be or not to be", freshly infuriating Tura. Sobinski confesses his love to Maria, assuming that she will leave her husband, as well as the stage, to be with him. Before Maria can correct Sobinski's assumption, news breaks out that Germany has invaded Poland. Sobinski, a pilot, leaves to join the fight, and the actors huddle in the basement of the theater as Warsaw is bombed.
Hitler conquers Poland, but the Polish division of the British Royal Air Force is fighting to free its mother country. Lt. Sobinski and other young pilots of the division sing together, with the Polish resistance leader Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges) as their guest. Siletsky will return to Warsaw shortly, and the men give him messages for their loved ones. However, Sobinski becomes suspicious when Siletsky doesn't know of the famous actress Maria Tura. Sobinski reports the incident, the Allies now realize that Siletsky has a list of the names and addresses of relatives of Polish airmen in the RAF, against whom reprisals can be taken.
Sobinski flies back to warn Maria, and she goes to pass on the message to the underground. However, Siletsky has returned as well, and has Maria brought to him by Nazi soldiers. He invites Maria to dinner, hoping to recruit her as a spy, as well as to sample her charms. She plays along and returns home to dress for dinner, but just before she arrives home, Tura returns and finds Sobinski in his bed wearing his bathrobe. Maria and Sobinski try to figure out what to do about Siletsky, while Tura tries to figure out what is going on with his wife and the pilot. In the end, Tura proclaims that he will kill Siletsky.
Later that evening, Maria returns to Siletsky's room and pretends to be attracted to him, but just as they kiss, there is a knock at the door. A member of the acting company disguised as a Nazi officer summons Siletsky to "Gestapo headquarters", which is the theatre, hastily disguised with props and costumes from their play. Tura pretends to be Col. Ehrhardt of the Gestapo and Siletsky gives him the information he has gathered. He also reveals that Sobinski's message for Maria, and that "To be or not to be" was the signal for their rendezvous. Tura jealously over-reacts, and blows his cover. Siletsky pulls a gun on Tura and tries to escape but is shot and killed by Sobinski. Tura quickly disguises himself as Siletsky in a fake beard and glasses, goes to the hotel to destroy Siletsky's extra copy of the information, and to confront Maria about her affair. He is met at the hotel by the real Col. Ehrhardt's (Sig Ruman) adjutant, Capt. Schultz (Henry Victor), and taken to meet him. Tura passes himself off, and names recently executed prisoners as the leaders of the resistance. He also learns that Hitler will visit Warsaw the next day.
The following day, Siletsky's body is discovered in the theater. Ehrhardt sends for Maria and tells her but she is unable to warn Tura. In the meantime, still posing as Siletsky, Tura has arranged another meeting with Ehrhardt. With a lot of assumptions, swaps, feints and beard pulling, Tura "proves" he is the real Siletsky. Just as Tura is about to leave Gestapo headquarters, some of the actors, in Nazi costume having been sent by Maria, storm in to yank off Tura's false beard, and pretend to drag him out. Everyone is safe for the moment, but they cannot leave the country as previously planned on the plane Ehrhardt had arranged for Siletsky.
The Nazis stage a show at the theater to honor Hitler during his visit. Sobinski, Tura, Bronski and the other actors slip into the theater dressed as Nazis and hide until Hitler and his entourage arrive and take their seats. As the Nazis are singing the Deutschlandlied (the German national anthem) Greenberg suddenly appears and rushes Hitler's box, causing enough distraction to exchange the real Nazis for the actors.Template:Clarify Acting as the head of Hitler's guard, Tura demands to know what Greenberg wants, giving the actor his chance to deliver Shylock's famous speech from The Merchant of Venice, ending with "if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?!" Tura orders Greenberg to be "taken away"; all the actors march out, get in Hitler's cars and drive away.
Back at her apartment, Maria waits for the company, from where they all intend to leave on Hitler's plane. Col. Ehrhardt unwittingly shows up and tries to seduce Maria. Then the door opens, and "Hitler"/Bronski enters, sees them, and then turns and walks out without a word. Ehrhardt is first completely amazed, but quickly alarmed that he has just been caught trying to seduce the Führer's mistress! Maria dashes after Bronski calling, "Mein Führer, Mein Führer!"
The actors take off in the plane, disposing easily of the Nazi pilots. Sobinski flies to Scotland, where the actors are interviewed by the press. Asked what reward he would like for his service to the Allies, Maria quickly responds for him, "He wants to play Hamlet", and so, Tura goes back, once again, on stage as Hamlet. On reaching the critical moment of his soliloquy, he is relieved to see Sobinski sitting quietly in the audience. As he proceeds, a handsome new officer gets up and heads noisily backstage.
Cast
- Carole Lombard as Maria Tura, an actress in Nazi-occupied Poland
- Jack Benny as Joseph Tura, an actor and Maria's husband
- Robert Stack as Lt. Stanislav Sobinski, a Polish airman in love with Maria
- Felix Bressart as Greenberg, a Jewish member of the company who plays bit parts and dreams of playing Shylock
- Lionel Atwill as Rawich, a ham actor in the company
- Stanley Ridges as Professor Alexander Siletsky, a Nazi spy masquerading as a Polish resistance worker
- Sig Ruman as Col. Ehrhardt, the bumbling Gestapo commander in Warsaw
- Tom Dugan as Bronski, a member of the company who impersonates Hitler
- Charles Halton as Dobosh, the producer of the company
- George Lynn as Actor-Adjutant, a member of the company who masquerades as Col. Ehrhardt's adjutant
- Henry Victor as Capt. Schultz, the real adjutant of Col. Ehrhardt
- Maude Eburne as Anna, Maria's maid
- Halliwell Hobbes as Gen. Armstrong, a British intelligence officer
- Miles Mander as Major Cunningham, a British intelligence officer
- Olaf Hytten as Polonius in Warsaw (uncredited)
- Frank Reicher as Polish Official (uncredited)
- Maurice Murphy as Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
- James Finlayson as Scottish Farmer (uncredited)
