An excellent dark comedy

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2020)

To Be or Not to Be is one of those great classics that can make a fan of old movies from someone who would never normally want to watch one. My brother and sister-in-law are two examples; he'll only watch something in black-and-white if forced to, and she'll fall asleep in ten minutes during any movie that doesn't star Benedict Cumberbatch. Both of them loved this movie for the simple reason that it's fantastic.
You may have seen the Mel Brooks remake, but I prefer this version because it was made during the time that no one knew who was going to win the war and everyone was terrified. There's an added sense of fear and desperation in wartime movies that's absent from any other movie made after 1945. In this dark comedy, a Polish theater troupe get in over their heads after the Gestapo take over their country. Everyone in the film is frightened, and everyone who watched it at the time was frightened. And, adding a terribly tragic tone to the finished product, Carole Lombard died one month before the film's release. It's a very unique feeling to watch an actress risking her life for her country in a movie when that's exactly what she did in real life.
Carole and her egotistical husband Jack Benny are the stars of a theater troupe, and when she has an affair with a young flyer, Robert Stack, their lives catapult from the stage to the warfront. Robert is involved in the Polish rebellion, and when a Nazi spy infiltrates his mission, Carole is enlisted to help save her people before the spy hands over a list of names to the Gestapo. The story itself is extremely dark and frightening, but Edwin Justus Mayer's screenplay is so clever and fast-paced, you'll find yourself laughing while you're tensely on the edge of your seat. I won't tell you what happens because it's so much fun to see it all play out, with surprises around every corner.
Carole's comic timing is its usual best, and Ernst Lubitsch balances the line between comedy and drama in every scene. In the supporting cast are Sig Ruman as an incompetent Nazi Colonel who continually shifts the blame to others, Charles Halton as the theater's producer, Miles Mander, and Halliwell Hobbs. Felix Bressart is Jewish actor in the troupe, and since he was a German refugee to the United States, his lines carry an extra depth of emotion. He delivers Shylock's monologue from The Merchant of Venice three times, each time with a different meaning behind his delivery. This is an excellent film, so even if you're not usually drawn to movies made 80 years ago, give it a chance. I know you'll love it.