During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
- Polish RAF Pilot
- (uncredited)
- German Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Melchior Lengyel
- Edwin Justus Mayer
- Ernst Lubitsch(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Jack Benny's father went to see this movie, he was outraged at the sight of his son in a Nazi uniform in the first scene and even stormed out of the theater. Jack convinced his father that it was satire, and he agreed to sit through all of it. His father ended up loving the film so much he saw it forty-six times.
- GoofsAlthough having Maria Tura give the cue line "To be or not to be" to the men in the audience she wishes to meet in her dressing room is a very funny premise of the film, it actually would be highly impractical for Maria to think she would have time to meet backstage. Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy is only about 3-4 minutes long and Ophelia has the very next line in the play (in fact Hamlet announces her entrance at the end of his soliloquy), which would barely give Maria any time to meet men in her dressing room.
- Quotes
Joseph Tura: [disguised as Professor Siletsky - speaking about Maria Tura] Her husband is that great, great Polish actor, Josef Tura. You've probably heard of him.
Colonel Ehrhardt: Oh, yes. As a matter of fact I saw him on the stage when I was in Warsaw once before the war.
Joseph Tura: Really?
Colonel Ehrhardt: What he did to Shakespeare we are now doing to Poland.
- Alternate versionsIn Poland, a brief introduction was edited in. Polish actor Kazimierz Rudzki assured the audience that the movie was done with best intentions by their "American friends". At the time the movie screened in Poland, many people still lived in trauma from the events of World War II; few could find comedy in the German invasion of Poland, instead finding the movie in poor taste, offensive, or hard to swallow.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Showbiz Goes to War (1982)
- SoundtracksPolonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, 'Military'
(1838) (uncredited)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Orchestral arrangement by Aleksandr Glazunov
Heard during the opening and closing credits
- littlemartinarocena
- Dec 26, 2018
- How long is To Be or Not to Be?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Sein oder Nichtsein
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,270,000
- Gross worldwide
- $4,578,000
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
![Jack Benny and Carole Lombard in To Be or Not to Be (1942)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTIwNDcyMjktMTczMy00NDM5LTlhNDEtMmE3NGVjOTM2YjQ3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc0MzMzNjA@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)