To Be or Not to Be (1942)

"Now, look, Tura, you're playing for our lives."

"I know. Dobash, I'm going to do the impossible. I'm going to surpass myself!"

"Don't, Tura! Take it easy and don't draw out the scene. Please! I hate to leave the fate of my country in the hands of a ham."

In 1939, the Warsaw Theater Company is preparing a play satirizing the Nazis, while performing "Hamlet" at night.  The company is led by actor Joseph Tura (Benny) and his wife Maria (Lombard).  As Joseph delivers Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech, Lieutenant Sobinski (Stacks) leaves the theater to meet Maria.  This happens every performance and unnerves Tura.  Everything changes when the Germans invade Poland.  Sobinski is called to fight, while the actors struggle to survive.

Months later, the theater has been shut down.  Sobinski uncovers a German spy, Professor Alexander Siletsky (Ridges), masquerading as a loyal Polish citizen.  He flies back to Poland to alert the underground, but Siletsky also returns to Poland.  Can Sobinski, the Tura's, and the actors stop Siletsky and save the underground?


This iconic screwball comedy has something for everyone: satire, politics, romance, suspense, and more.

The Good:
Everything about this film works.  The story moves at a solid pace and packs a punch, while also juggling multiple genres with ease.  The cast is great.  Jack Benny and Carole Lombard are great together.  They have never been funnier.  The supporting cast is equally entertaining and elevates the film.

The Bad:
There is really no downside to the film.

Other Comments:
-The film is now considered a classic, but audiences did not understand it when it was first released.
-It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
-In 2000, the film ranked #49 on the American Film Institute's (AFI's) 100 Years... 100 Laughs.
-The film was remade by Mel Brooks in 1983, starring Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft.
-Lombard died in a plane crash before the film was released.

To Be or Not to Be (1942) 99 minutes
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Carole Lombard as Maria Tura
Jack Benny as Joseph Tura
Robert Stack as Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski
Felix Bressart as Greenberg
Lionel Atwill as Rawich
Stanley Ridges as Professor Alexander Siletsky
Sig Ruman as Colonel Ehrhardt
Tom Dugan as Bronski
Charles Halton as Dobosh
George Lynn as Actor-Adjutant