To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

 

To Be Or Not To Be - 1942

Coming up next we have 1942's "To Be Or Not To Be", a story about a group of Polish actors who must fool the occupying Nazi troops in order to safeguard the identities of Polish airmen in the British RAF.

The film's cast includes Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan, Charles Halton, Henry Victor, Maude Eburne, and Helmut Dantine.

Adolf Hitler is apparently walking the streets of Warsaw.  Don't worry.  It's not really him.  It's a publicity ploy to get people to come to a new play that is rehearsing entitled "Gestapo".

The play's lead actors are husband and wife team Joseph and Maria Tura, who insist on making changes to the play.  When the producer asks Maria if that is what she is supposed to be wearing in a concentration camp, she replies, "I think it’s a tremendous contrast.  Think of me being flogged in the darkness.  I scream.  Suddenly, the lights go on and the audience discovers me on the floor in this gorgeous dress."

Privately, the couple bickers back and forth over who should have top billing.  Each of them claims that they have the bigger name and are the bigger audience draw.

Their current play, however, is "Hamlet", with Joseph starring in the title role.  However, whenever he starts his "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy, a young man gets up and interrupts.

The young man, a Polish flier in the RAF names Sobinski, takes an opportunity to visit the woman of his dreams, Maria, backstage.  She's flattered, but doesn't let his attentions go too far.  "I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little clumsy, but this is the first time I ever met an actress," he tells her.  She smiles and says, "Lieutenant, this is the first time I ever met a man who could drop three tons of dynamite in two minutes."

The acting company's play "Gestapo" is scrapped by order of the Polish government.  They are concerned about the play worsening the country's relationship with Germany.

Soon, though, the German forces invade Poland and tighten its grip on the struggling country.  The actors are out of work and forced to live in reduced circumstances.

In London, the RAF flier Sobinski bids goodbye to a certain Professor Siletsky, the leader of the Polish resistance, who is flying back to Warsaw.  Sobinski asks Siletsky to deliver a message to Maria Tura, but Siletsky has no clue who she is.  Sobinski suspects that the professor is a German agent, and warns the Polish underground ahead of his arrival.

Sobinski makes it to Warsaw, and Maria hides him in her apartment while her husband is out.  Then, she is summoned by Siletsky to his offices, where he attempts to cultivate her to become a spy.  "This is a very difficult place to get in, but it’s much more difficult to get out," he warns.  She responds with, "Oh, I'm terribly frightened and terribly thrilled."

Back in the Tura apartment, Joseph arrives to find Sobinski wearing his pajamas, and he is not at all thrilled about what he thinks has gone on between his wife and the young flier.  "We're all in the same boat," says Sobinski.  To which Joseph asks, "Oh, in the same boat, eh?  Well then, let me ask you something as one sailor to another.  What ill wind blew you into my slippers?"

Once Maria returns, the three of them work together to come up with a plan to stop Siletsky from exposing the names of Polish fliers working in the RAF.  Maria agrees to become a spy for Siletsky so she can find out where he keeps his important papers.

And Joseph masquerades as Colonel Ehrhardt, who is to be Siletsky's contact in Warsaw.  Professor Siletsky is quite happy about meeting the "colonel".  "You know, you’re quite famous in London, Colonel.  They call you Concentration Camp Ehrhardt."  Joseph laughs and jokes, "Yes, yes.  We do the concentrating and the Poles do the camping."

The Turas, along with Sobinski and the rest of the acting company, succeed in getting rid of Siletsky before he can expose anyone, which results in Joseph having to impersonate him in front of the real Colonel Ehrhardt, which is absolutely hilarious.

Now, seeking to get out of Poland to safety, they must outwit the Fuhrer himself while he is at the theater in order to escape.

They use the actor who portrayed Hitler at the beginning of the story in order to make their way to a plane that will take them to England.

Once they arrive safely on English soil, the group of actors, along with Sobinski, are heralded as heroes for protecting the identities of the Polish airmen.

As a reward, Joseph gets to play Hamlet on the London stage.  However, he gets upset when he begins his "To Be Or Not To Be" speech, and someone gets up and leaves.

Cast rundown:

   Carole Lombard...............................Maria Tura

   Jack Benny......................................Joseph Tura

   Robert Stack...................................Lt. Stanislav Sobinski

   Felix Bressart..................................Greenberg

   Lionel Atwill....................................Rawitch

   Stanley Ridges................................Prof. Alexander Siletsky

   Sig Ruman......................................Colonel Ehrhardt

   Tom Dugan.....................................Bronski

   Charles Halton.................................Producer Dobosh

   Henry Victor....................................Captain Schultz

   Maude Eburne.................................Anna

   Helmut Dantine...............................Co-Pilot

And that's it for To Be Or Not To Be.  This very funny film proved to be Carole Lombard's last before her untimely death in a plane crash.  It has been recognized as #49 on the American Film Institute's list "100 Years...100 Laughs".  The film was remade in 1983 under the same name, and it starred Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft in the lead roles.

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