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.
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.
Our next film is 1942's "Casablanca", a timeless story about a man and a woman who were previously involved and become thrown together in the midst of World War II in Morocco.
The film's cast includes Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Dooley Wilson, S.Z. Sakall, Peter Lorre, Norma Varden, Helmut Dantine, Leonid Kinskey, and Frank Puglia.
Casablanca is a hub of activity. In order to get out of Europe, war refugees must make their way through occupied France and get to Casablanca where they can catch a plane bound for America. It's fraught with dangers and once one is in the city, one's safety is always in jeopardy.
On this particular evening, a man comes to Rick and tells him that he's got letters of transit signed by de Gaulle which cannot be rescinded. The man has a buyer lined up, but he asks Rick to hold onto them while he makes the final arrangements. Rick agrees. However, the man is arrested before the night is out, leaving Rick with the valuable travel documents.
Also at Rick's is Signor Ferrari, who runs a black market business and is a friend of Rick's. "As the leader of all
illegal activities in Casablanca, I am an influential and respected
man," he says about himself.
Laszlo does indeed arrive at the club alongside his beautiful wife Ilsa.
While her husband unsuccessfully sees about the travel papers, we get to know more about Ilsa. It seems she knows the pianist, Sam, from days she spent with Rick in Paris. She asks Sam to play "As Time Goes By". He doesn't want to, as Rick as expressly forbidden him from playing it.
And Rick is very surprised to see Ilsa. He is gracious throughout their time together, but as he watches them leave later, his eyes are full of regret.
When everybody goes home, Rick starts drinking. "Of all the gin
joints in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine," he moans. He instructs Sam to play "As Time Goes By". Once again, Sam hesitates. "If she can stand it, so can I," Rick says.
Through a series of flashbacks, we find out about Rick and Ilsa's past romance. "Here's looking at you, kid," he toasts her.
When they plan to escape German occupied France, Ilsa sends a note and disappears without an explanation. This causes Rick to become quite cynical about love.
Back in the present, Victor and Ilsa go to see Signor Ferrari to find out about the travel documents they were supposed to have. Ferrari tells them that he suspects the documents are with Rick.
Victor goes to Rick and asks him for his help with the documents. Rick refuses. When Victor asks the reason, Rick coldly tells him to ask his wife.
Ilsa later goes to see Rick. When begging and pleading won't work, she pulls a gun on him.
Ilsa weakens and eventually tells Rick why she left him in Paris. Victor was her husband then, but he was presumed dead while attempting to flee a concentration camp. She received word that he was alive and in hiding when she and Rick were to leave France. So, instead of going with Rick she went to her husband. Rick understands the situation she was in and agrees to help her. Ilsa, however, says she was in love with Rick then and still is now and doesn't think she will leave him again.
When the time comes for Victor to leave, Rick tells Ilsa she must go with him. When she protests, Rick tells her that she will come to regret the decision, "maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon...and for the rest of your life." Ilsa reluctantly boards the waiting airplane with her husband. In order for them to get away safely, Rick (with the assistance of the corrupt police officer) must kill a high ranking Nazi officer.
Renault and Rick watch the airplane take off for Lisbon safely. Now that they must leave Casablanca, the two make plans to join the "Free French" movement in Brazzaville, Congo. "Louis," says Rick, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Helmut Dantine...............................Jan Brandel
Leonid Kinskey................................Sascha
Frank Puglia....................................Arab Vendor
And that's it for Casablanca. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1989, it was selected by the US Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
My favorite scene in the entire film has to be this one. Only three members of the cast were American born. A large number of the extras in the film were refugees from the Nazis in Germany. In this scene, the German officers in Rick's are loudly singing "Die Wacht Am Rhein". Victor Laszlo goes to the band and tells them to play "La Marseillaise", to which the entire club joins in drowning out the German anthem. The scene is especially touching because it is so poignant. Many of the actors had tears in their eyes as they sang the French anthem. This "dueling anthems" scene has become an iconic part of the movie.
