To Be or Not to Be

To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, and featuring Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges and Sig Ruman. The plot concerns a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch (uncredited) and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel. The film was released one month after actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane crash. In 1996, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot The well-known stars of a Warsaw theater company, including "ham" Josef Tura and wife Maria, are rehearsing Gestapo, a satirical play. That night, when the company performs Hamlet, with Josef in the title role, one actor, Bronski, commiserates with colleague Greenberg about always being spear carriers. Greenberg, implied to be Jewish, reveals he's always dreamed of playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Maria receives an admiring letter from Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski; she invites him to visit her in her dressing room that night when Josef begins his "To be, or not to be" speech. Soon, the government issues orders to cancel Gestapo in order to avoid worsening relations with Germany. The following night, Sobinski again walks out during "To be..." to meet Maria, infuriating Josef. Sobinski confesses his love to Maria, assuming that she'll leave her husband, and the stage, to be with him. Before Maria can correct him, news breaks out that Germany has invaded Poland. Sobinski leaves to join the Polish division of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the actors hide as Warsaw is bombed. Sobinski and his fellows meet the Polish resistance leader Professor Siletsky. Siletsky will return to Warsaw soon, and the men give him messages for their loved ones. However, Sobinski becomes suspicious when Siletsky doesn't know of Maria Tura. The Allies realize that Siletsky knows the identity of Polish airmen's relatives, against whom reprisals can be taken should he tell the Nazis. Sobinski flies back to warn Maria; however, Siletsky has Maria brought to him by German soldiers and passes on Sobinski's message to her. He invites Maria to dinner, hoping to recruit her as a Nazi spy. Just before she arrives home, Josef returns and finds Sobinski in his bed.