To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

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

Release Date:

6 March 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Poland | Acting Troupe | Actor | Polish Resistance

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Carole Lombard	...	Maria Tura
Jack Benny	...	Joseph Tura
Robert Stack	...	Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart	...	Greenberg
Lionel Atwill	...	Rawitch
Stanley Ridges	...	Professor Siletsky
Sig Ruman	...	Col. Ehrhardt
Tom Dugan	...	Bronski
Charles Halton	...	Producer Dobosh
George Lynn	...	Actor-Adjutant
Henry Victor	...	Capt. Schultz
Maude Eburne	...	Anna
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Gen. Armstrong
Miles Mander	...	Major Cunningham
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rudolph Anders	...	Gestapo Sergeant at Desk at Top of Hotel Stairs (uncredited)
Paul Barrett	...	Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Sven Hugo Borg	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Peter Caldwell	...	Wilhelm Kunze (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Scottish Farmer Without Mustache (uncredited)
Helmut Dantine	...	Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Leslie Denison	...	Captain (uncredited)
James Finlayson	...	Scottish Farmer with Mustache (uncredited)
James Gillette	...	Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Second Reporter (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Polonius in Warsaw (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Reporter (uncredited)
John Kellogg	...	RAF Flyer (uncredited)
Adolf E. Licho	...	Prompter (uncredited)
John Meredith	...	English Wireless Operator (uncredited)
Maurice Murphy	...	Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Russ Powell	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	Polish Official (uncredited)
Otto Reichow	...	Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Gene Rizzi	...	Polish RAF Pilot (uncredited)
Hans Schumm	...	(uncredited)
Roland Varno	...	Pilot (uncredited)
Ernö Verebes	...	Stage Manager (uncredited)
Armand 'Curly' Wright	...	Makeup Man (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Man in Bookstore (uncredited)

Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch

Writing credits
Melchior Lengyel		(original story)
Edwin Justus Mayer		(screenplay)
Ernst Lubitsch		original story (uncredited)

Produced by
Ernst Lubitsch	....	producer

Original Music by
Werner R. Heymann

Cinematography by
Rudolph Maté		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer

Casting by
Victor Sutker		(casting director)

Production Design by
Vincent Korda

Set Decoration by
Julia Heron		(interior decoration)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Walter Mayo	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director
William Tummel	....	assistant director

Art Department
J. McMillan Johnson	....	associate art director (as J. MacMillan Johnson)
Jack Caffey	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Frank Maher	....	sound

Special Effects by
Lawrence W. Butler	....	special effects (as Lawrence Butler)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	costumes: Miss Lombard

Music Department
Miklós Rózsa	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator: Miklós Rózsa (uncredited)

Other crew
Alexander Korda	....	presenter
Ryszard Ordynski	....	technical supervision (as Richard Ordynski)

Distributors

• United Artists (1942) (USA) (theatrical) (released through)
• Sonoro Filme (1946) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Nederland NV (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Masterpiece Productions (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Lunaris (1950) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Masterpiece Productions (1950) (USA) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1959) (Finland) (TV)
• Film Archives Trading Co. (1969) (USA) (all media)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1969) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2013) (USA) (DVD)
• Spiegel Media GmbH

Also Known As:

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7834) | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 (2003) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1947) | Netherlands:6 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) (1997) | UK:U (tv rating) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved

Trivia:

After the shooting of this film was finished, Carole Lombard told many people that this film was the happiest experience of her career from start to finish.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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).

Quotes:

Dobosh, Theatrical Producer:If we can manage that Greenberg suddenly pops up among all those Nazis...
Greenberg:It'll get a terrific laugh.
[a line he says several times earlier in the film]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

German National Anthem (Das Lied der Deutschen)

Jack Benny as Hamlet

This is one of the great movie farces of all time. I would rank it very close to my all time favorite "Dr. Strangelove." There are several tiers of interpretation as is true of any noteworthy satire. It is not only poking fun at the stupidity and vanity of Nazism, but at aggressive war in general. Referring to Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) playing Hamlet on stage, Colonel Ehrhardt (Sig Ruman) states, "What he did to Shakespeare we are doing to Poland." Only someone with the comic genius of Ernst Lubitsch could compare the Thespian rape of Shakespeare with the physical rape of a country and make it work.

Jack Benny, although one of the most popular entertainers of all time, never got his just deserts for his acting abilities. Though he utilizes many of his physical mannerisms that worked so well for his comedy routines on radio, in the movies, and later on TV, he also does some very fine acting in "To Be Or Not To Be." He is teamed with the multi-talented Carole Lombard yet keeps up with her all the way. The two work well together. Had Carole Lombard not been tragically killed in a plane crash while serving her country just before the release of this film, she would possibly have been teamed with Benny again. The rest of the cast, including newcomer Robert Stack, keep up the pace and give all the support needed to make Lubitsch's film a winner, in particular the histrionics of Sig Ruman, the definitive Nazi stooge, later parodied in the popular TV series "Hogan's Heroes."

The script which Lubitsch himself helped put together blossoms with hilarious one-liners such as "So they call me Concentration Camp Ehrhardt?" To read a few of the most famous ones, see IMDb quotes for the film. Better still, rent or buy a copy of this classic and watch it a few times to hear them for yourself. IMDb only lists some, not all, for that would take several pages.

The story sounds like one for a typical romantic or screwball type comedy. A troupe of Shakespearean actors in Warsaw, Poland, appear to be on the road to success due to the fame of the leading lady, Maria Tura (Carole Lombard). Her husband, Joseph (Benny), seems to be in her shadow, though he does his best as the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Yet each time he does the famous soliloquy that begins, "To be or not to be," the same man gets up and walks out. This leads Joseph to think he is a failure as Hamlet until later in the film he learns that the young man, Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack), is leaving each time for a rendezvous with Joseph's wife, Maria. At this point Hitler invades Poland and the theater is closed as the Nazi's come to town. A Nazi professor, Prof. Alexander Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), flies in with a list of names of traitors (Polish patriots) who are to be taken care of by the local Gestapo headed by Col. Ehrhardt (Ruman). It is up to the Shakespearean troupe to keep these names out of the hands of the Gestapo and then to escape with their lives. So they use their acting talents to impersonate Gestapo officers and even Hitler himself. Joseph becomes Ehrhardt but botches it when the professor brings up the relationship between Maria and Lt. Sobinski who is now in Warsaw also. The rest of the film involves several funny mix-ups and mistaken identities filled with satirical buffoonery.

Though this was somewhat controversial when first released because some, including Jack Benny's own father, misunderstood the satire, the film is possibly even more funny and relevant today than during World War II when the Nazi menace was for real. Because Lubitsch made the spoof universal in nature, "To Be Or Not To Be" transcends time and space.