‘To Be Or Not To Be’ --- A Brilliant Anti-War Film --- (Film Review 6)

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In occupied Poland during WWII, a troupe of ham stage actors match wits with the Nazis. They have rehearsed an anti-Gestapo play but before the opening night (yet after the dress rehearsal) they are told not to perform in order not to anger the Germans. They decide to play Hamlet instead which is considered harmless. The stars of the troupe are Josef Tura (Jack Benny) and his beautiful wife Maria (Carole Lombard), both extremely vain and in constant competition with each other about the question: “Who’s the better actor“? Maria has an ardent admirer, Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack), who she allows to visit her in her dressing room while her husband is reciting the famous soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’. When Germany invades Poland, Sobinski has to go to England as a member of the Polish squadron of the RAF. Their mentor, Prof. Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), tells the men that he’s on a secret mission to Warsaw. Hearing this Sobinski becomes suspicious and from then on it’s ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ for the whole Polish resistance movement. Under all circumstances must Prof. Siletzki be hindered from meeting Nazi Colonel ‘Concentration Camp‘ Ehrhardt (Sig Rumann) in Warsaw. Sobinski engages the help of the actors who - as you may remember - all have Nazi uniforms from the play they weren‘t allowed to perform. The actors dress up and perform, but this time not for an audience in a theatre but for the good of their country. What we see here is high quality acting, we see brilliant real life actors playing ham actors playing as best as they can to save their and their friends’ lives. The pace is brisk, there’s never a boring moment, the dialogues are witty. There’s a lot to this film: it is a black comedy, a political thriller and also an anti-fascist propaganda film. It seems light but is really profound. Ernst Lubitsch was a master of creating light comedies with depth. To Be Or Not To Be is perhaps the most serious of all his films. Like so many of the great Hollywood directors, Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) was a German émigré. He was first an actor and then became a director. I’ve mentioned the main actors’ names, but to be honest, they don’t mean anything to me. To Be Or Not To Be is from 1942! I’ve learnt from information on the net that they were famous in their time. I know that what I feel when watching the film is very different from what the audience felt in 1942. After all 76 years have passed. On its initial release the film was a flop. The USA had just gone to war and it was considered bad taste. People didn‘t like the Germans to be shown as ridiculous characters only, they felt that ridiculing them trivialised them. It gained fame over the years, though, and later was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. ------------ I would like to add the link to the film on youtube. But there are only trailers. If you want to watch the film, you have to buy it. :-( Yet, it's definitely worth your money.