To Be or Not to Be

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by Peter Barnes

British Film Institute

Due/Published June 2002, 96 pages, paper

ISBN 0851709192

In To Be or Not to Be (1942) Ernest Lubitsch brought his legendary comic "touch" to the most unpromising situation: life in Nazi-occupied Poland. The film brought light and warmth to wartime calamity, but without trivializing reality.

A group of ham actors have to abandon a theater production set in Nazi Germany as Poland is invaded. Instead they bring their dubious talents to the work of resistance, role-playing and inveigling their way under the noses of the Gestapo led by "Concentration Camp" Erhardt (Sig Ruman). The central roles of Joseph and Marion Tura are taken by Jack Benny and Carole Lombard and their performances are marvels of comic acting.

In this study, Barnes considers what it is to make comedy out of tragedy. To Be or Not to Be tells us that in the face of the brutality and unimagined ignorance of men in power, one must never lose one's style. If everything is lost, but lost with style, despair can be kept at bay and turned into a small victory. Barnes also shows how the comedy is achieved and in so doing sheds light on the enigmatic "Lubitsch touch.

Series: BFI Film Classics