First Thoughts on "To Be or Not To Be"

Ernst Lubitsch has perhaps made his greatest balancing act with "To Be or Not To Be" the wartime satire involving a theatre troop from Warsaw who must "act" their way out of the country and into England. Watching it for the first time just now, I don't think there is a doubt in my mind at how brilliant the film works as a satire, but also a human comedy.

Made at the height of the second world war, this film is probably Lubitsch at his most enraged. The film starts off in a sort of prelude where the Polish district of Warsaw is amazed to see none other than Adolf Hitler standing in the street. The narrator tells us how this event came to be, and we are soon taken into an office of a high ranking German official (Jack Benny). But it is soon revealed to us that the office is in fact a set for a play about to be produced and the German official is actually Warsaw's greatest actor Joseph Tura. When the director of the show insists the man playing Hitler doesn't look the part, the actor tries to prove it by standing on the streets of Warsaw convinced no one will know the difference. Very soon a young girl approaches the Hitler actor on the street and isn't fooled for a minute, she then asks for the actor's autograph. It's a very clever and satirical opening for the film.

While rehearsing for this new play, Tura also is playing "Hamlet" along with his wife Maria (Carole Lumbard). Lubitsch sets up his usual romantic triangle with Maria having secret rendezvous with a young English pilot (Robert Stack). The signal for them to meet is when her husband begins his "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy, knowing he'll be on stage for awhile. However when Joseph begins the monologue, he notices the pilot exit the performance which he takes as him being walked out on. Lubitsch creates a perfect scenario and a terrific satire on the life of actors. However, it seems as if this love triangle will have to be put aside in favor of a more serious subject matter.

War has now struck Warsaw, and the once rich and famous Polish actors are put into small shacks and apartments, Lubitsch does not shy away from the actual living conditions of Warsaw at that time. Joseph, his wife, and the pilot must work together to stop the plot of a German spy to come into fruition all the while trying to escape to England.

I wasn't sure what to expect from "To Be or Not To Be", but after now having just finished it for the first time, I was very impressed with how it handled the dark subject matter. Lubitsch puts in so many thoughtful touches of wit it makes this hard pill easier to swallow. Lubitsch is known for his many fine moments in films, and this one has so many wonderful ones. The one that sticks out the most for me is the scene in which Joseph is portraying a Nazi spy who has just been murdered in order to fool the other German officials. He is then put alone in a room with the dead body of the same Nazi spy with the Germans right in the other room. It's a moment of great comedy and high suspense, and Joseph's solution to the problem fits so perfectly well with the situation.

One thing I love about Lubitsch films is he never makes them into a one man show, and in this film he gives as much spotlight to the supporting cast as he does to the stars. Perhaps the most poignant moment of the film comes when one Polish actor who has always dreamed of playing Shylock gets to recite the famous "If you prick us do we not bleed...." monologue in front of actual Germans who are guarding Hitler. It's a brilliant scene as it brings home the message of the entire movie while not doing it sentimentally and instead keeping it with the situation and the character.

Jack Benny never had a better film role than this, the role of Joseph perfectly suited his on-screen persona but I never felt he was playing Jack Benny, he was playing a character. When the film was first released, it was overshadowed by the sudden tragic death of its star Carole Lumbard. Lumbard is one of my absolute favorite actresses who always felt at home playing high screwball comedy in films like "My Man Godfrey". In "To Be or Not To Be" she has perhaps never been so elegant and glamorous, she underplays her character so well, I will no doubt probably find hidden riches in her performance the more times I watch it.

This film was probably the most controversial film in Lubitsch's career, it was in fact the only time he was accused of bad taste. While many peers and critics agreed with the tone of the film there was one line that to this day remains controversial.

There is a scene where Jack Benny in disguise tells a German official "Perhaps you have heard of Warsaw's greatest actor Joseph Tura". The German official replies "Oh yes I saw him perform Shakespeare before the war. He did to Shakespeare what we're doing to Poland".

The line was deemed in bad taste, but Lubitsch even wrote defending it, saying it was him satirizing both actors and Nazism and shouldn't be deemed tasteless. In context, I should say that Lubitsch was right.

I loved my first viewing of "To Be or Not To Be", much like his earlier film "Ninotchka" it was a chance for Lubitsch to satirize a certain ideal, but this was something he himself took more personal., Never in a film of his have I seen so much anger and contempt with a society. But the bravery of the film comes by not losing its humanity and even in the face of evil, Lubitsch showed the best weapon was to laugh at it.