To Be or Not To Be-1942

The movie chronicles the adventures of a Polish theater company before and during Nazi occupation. The film draws its life from two players of that company: Josef Tura and his wife, Maria. The former is a ham who is fixated to play the soliloquy from Hamlet whenever he could hold the centre stage. Hence the title of the film.
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch who adapted from the story by Melchior Lengyel. The film stars Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman. Supposedly a comedy film the film fell flat on its release because the general public felt that making fun of such a real threat as the Nazis was revolting. (During the premier, Benny's own father walked out of the theater disgusted to see his son in a Nazi uniform during the first scene.) Worse still the film was released two months after actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane crash.
Plot

The movie chronicles the adventures of a Polish theater company that has also been performing Shakespeare's Hamlet, with Maria as Ophelia and Tura in the title role. Maria is curious to know the handsome young pilot who has been sending her flowers. Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski sends a note asking for permission to finally meet Maria, and she agrees, telling him to come to her dressing room when her husband begins his "To be or not to be..." speech, so they can be sure of privacy. As a result, the young man walks out (very obviously) just as Tura begins his monologue and it causes the highly-strung actor great distress. Maria is attracted to Sobinski when they meet, and the two arrange to meet again. But then



Germany has declared war on Poland just as Sobinski is beginning to win her heart and news such as this must spell disaster for lovers. He leaves to join the fight and the actors take shelter under the theater as bombs begin to fall. Rest of the proceedings are fairly predictable what with the theater troup trying hard to stay afloat while sinister plots to ferret out Polish resistance are put forward and checkmated. The film bears ‘the Lubitsch touch’ that keeps the film from falling apart. His light touch is evident throughout keeping what could be a mindless farce into a zany but intelligent caper . For an example let me sketch the final scene. Tura and Maria escape into England and the actor is once again on stage as Hamlet and reaches the moment of "To be or not to be." He eyes Sobinski in the audience as he begins the speech, but both of them are struck dumb when a new young man gets up and heads 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.
* Stanley Ridges as Professor Alexander Siletsky — A Nazi spy masquerading as a Polish resistance worker; tries to seduce Maria in order to persuade her to become a Nazi spy.
The film was remade in 1983 by Mel Brooks.
Trivia: ‘A prescient line was cut out of the film after the death of Carole Lombard: when Lombard is invited by Robert Stack's smitten airman to fly in a plane with him, she says: "What can happen on a plane?" The line has since been restored to available prints of the film’.(ack:wikipedia,all movie guide)


Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Produced by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Melchior Lengyel
Edwin Justus Mayer
Music by Werner R. Heymann
Uncredited:
Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography Rudolph Maté
Editing by Dorothy Spencer
Running time 99 minutes
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Movies with the Same Personnel
Ninotchka (1939, Ernst Lubitsch)
Heaven Can Wait (1943, Ernst Lubitsch)
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Nothing Sacred (1937, William Wellman)
That Uncertain Feeling (1941, Ernst Lubitsch)
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Wilson (1944, Henry King)
Tarzan Triumphs (1943, William Thiele)
Other Related Movies
is related to: Ay, Carmela! (1990, Carlos Saura)
Mephisto (1981, István Szabó)
has been remade as: To Be or Not to Be (1983, Alan Johnson)
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