To Be or Not to Be (1942)

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Melchior Lengyel (original story), Edwin Justus Mayer (screenplay)

Stars:

Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carole Lombard	...	Maria Tura
Jack Benny	...	Joseph Tura
Robert Stack	...	Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart	...	Greenberg
Lionel Atwill	...	Rawitch
Stanley Ridges	...	Professor Siletsky
Sig Ruman	...	Colonel Ehrhardt
Tom Dugan	...	Bronski
Charles Halton	...	Producer Dobosh
George Lynn	...	Actor-Adjutant
Henry Victor	...	Captain Schultz
Maude Eburne	...	Anna
Halliwell Hobbes	...	General Armstrong
Miles Mander	...	Major Cunningham

Storyline

In occupied Poland during WWII, a troupe of ham stage actors (led by Joseph Tura and his wife Maria) match wits with the Nazis. A spy has information which would be very damaging to the Polish resistance and they must prevent it's being delivered to the Germans.

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Plot Keywords:

poland | nazi | professor | actor | acting troupe | 

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

6 March 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ser o no ser

Company Credits

Production Co:

Romaine Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In early January 1942, as Ernst Lubitsch was editing the film, United Artists informed him that To Be or Not to Be, with its Shakespearean reference, seemed "too highbrow" a title and that thought should be given to changing it. Impishly, because he had anticipated censorship problems with the script, Lubitsch suggested The Censor Forbids as an alternate title. Suspiciously, both Carole Lombard and Jack Benny fired off almost identical cables describing the new title as "suggestive" and allowing that, as participants and investors in the film, they objected strongly to the change. Benny even said he would refuse to promote the movie on his radio show if such a title were used. Lubitsch then informed UA that, in view of these objections, he had no choice but to withdraw the alternate title. UA, clearly overmatched, said no more about it.

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Goofs

When Maria types the memo to put under the pillow, she types two lines with a total of 18 keystrokes. However, the actual memo is four lines of about 80 plus keystrokes (not counting spaces).

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Quotes

Colonel Ehrhardt: They named a brandy after Napoleon, they made a herring out of Bismarck, and the Fuhrer is going to end up as a piece of cheese!

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Connections

Referenced in The Jack Benny Program: Musicale (1961)

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Soundtracks

German National Anthem (Das Lied der Deutschen)
(1797) (uncredited)
(Also called "Deutschland über alles")
Music by Joseph Haydn (1797)
Lyrics by August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben (1841)
Sung by German military men

User Reviews

One of the great romantic/satirical comedies of all time

There is a famous review of this film by the late Sunday Times critic, Dilys Powell which begins 'Is the joke funny?'... what Miss Powell was getting at was that, given the horror of the Holocaust, it is appropriate to laugh at the Nazis. The answer is, ultimately, irrelevant to the viewing of this modest masterpiece.

Lubitsch was, by this time, coming to the end of an exquisite career that defined the nature of sophistication in 'light' cinema. 'To Be or Not To Be' skips lightly over all of the minefield of a subject like this and it is difficult or impossible to think of any other filmmaker who might have managed it (if you look at Mel Brooks' limp remake, you can see why).

In 1996, I presented a massive season of 'the greatest' films in Belfast for the centenary of cinema - 250 titles in 9 months. Of all of them, this was the film which got the greatest ovation - about 5 minutes with a nearly full house standing and applauding! They may have applauded for many reasons, but here are certainly some of them...

The very complicated narrative is presented virtually flawlessly and the comedy is never allowed to hold up the narrative. The principle actors - Carole Lombard (breathtakingly beautiful) and Jack Benny in particular, but many of the supporting cast as well - throw themselves into the affair with a gusto that is completely infectious. Apart from the satirical aspect of the story and the way in which Hitler and the Nazis are mercilessly ridiculed for their authoritarianism and the fear which is their only motivator, the film pokes gentle fun at the vanity of actors in a warm and happy manner. Finally, and most important, is the notion of farce. Farce rarely works in the cinema, but here it does, and in the grand manner - just look at how many times the situation regarding Professor Siletsky changes profoundly during the film - it is dizzying - yet the characters manage to come up with (often self-defeating or inappropriate) schemes on every occasion.

This is a wonderful work that, I have no hesitation in saying, is absolutely vital for anyone who wants to really understand the glory of the cinema. But to answer Dilys Powell's question... yes, the joke is deliriously funny.