To Be or Not to Be is a delightful little comedy-drama that manages to have its cake and eat it too. The film begins with some very strong humor before seemingly forgetting to be funny, then to surprise with more humor, and all the way to the end. While most films couldn’t handle such a shift, this one knows exactly what it is and pulls it off. You must accept the danger of the Nazis in order to more expertly make fun of them, thus they initially are threatening, exemplified by how many there are. A lesser film would have two such drastically different styles depending on the genre of a scene that it feels like you accidentally put on a different movie. Here, there’s a through line due to the progressive building of stakes and the various scenes being and feeling necessary.
As a Mel Brooks fan, it’s interesting that there’s this little earlier film that jokes about Nazis with such class, though here the Nazis are portrayed as threatening and stupid instead of just the latter. If you didn’t know who the Nazis were and you watched Brooks’ The Producers, you may think they were not as bad as they were. The Producers’ portrayed them as too incompetent to be taken seriously, which isn’t entirely the case in reality. The Nazis are consistently portrayed as blindingly loyal to absurd degrees. Some World War 2 films of the time want their Nazi villains to be intimidating while also incompetent, so as to satisfy the Ally audience. This film finds a clever work around. The Nazis are never portrayed as very bright, but simply have power in numbers. If you get a mob without a mind in a car, they can still run you over.
Some of the funniest jokes involve picking on or fooling the Nazis. Those that have seen this film may recall the simple command, “Jump.” Any scenes of the Nazis being tricked are formulated as great bits of snow that roll into the giant ball of comedy that is perpetuated as the film gets more and more intense. These scenes further the plot and the stakes. Other World War 2 films have the problem of someone’s in power and we’re supposed to take them seriously, but they are portrayed as far too incompetent. Here, we also focus on a real phenomena of Nazis (or Fascists in general) being idiotic and contradictory in their logic and actions to the point that they create problems for themselves. Anyone with their eye in the political sphere could see how people manipulate information for the sake of gaining power, at the cost of not making sense. This movie serves as a good reminder of how the Nazis were as we inch closer to a world where no one alive at this time will still be.
The main characters consist primarily of a group of actors. All get a little moment to shine and are progressively less seen as unlikely heroes. Interestingly, the protagonist of this story is initially unclear. At first it could be said to be the down-on-his-luck Bronski, played by Tom Dugan. The first moment where we are to sympathize with a character is given to him. We get a sense of what he wants and that he doesn’t have it. After no time, this character loses the limelight, probably having more lines in the first few minutes of the film than the rest combined. We move to the somewhat egotistical and beautifully charmed Maria Tura, played by Carole Lombard. She has many little moments between her and male characters, with the men drawn to her by her beauty. While the trope of devolving women to just their looks is sexist, the trope is not as bad here. A lot of the characters, including the ones that ogle her, are portrayed as having problems to one degree or another. That being said, Lombard shows quite a few comedic chops left unappreciated and it wouldn’t shock if someone involved in conceptualizing the film held the biases of the time that a pretty woman is little more than a stylish body.
Interested in her is Lt. Sobinski, played by Robert Stack. The film initially focused most on Maria and decently on Sobinski. When he started getting more focus, it seemed he was the protagonist. He is portrayed as patriotic and too determined in his ways to respect those he doesn’t like or see things outside of his own bubble. At about the one-third mark, he suddenly becomes way less important, as the shift moves back to Maria. One thing he was supposed to do was ultimately done by Maria, symbolizing the shift. Maria has some good scenes before another symbolic shift occurs to her husband, the overly emotional and proud Joseph Tura, played by Jack Benny. Benny seems to delight in stealing the spotlight. His arrogance and desire for respect makes him a likable lead and depository of well written jokes, despite his faults. He can be a jerk, but you want him to get his way, even when factoring out that his enemy is the Nazis. Many of the funniest lines and concepts are given to him. He is the main character despite the movie taking its time to focus on him. The film’s madcap energy makes these shifts more palatable than they could be.
The humor is very rich, from the simple “How dare you call me a ham” to the weirder moments. A personal favorite is the over the top narration. The film starts by focusing on something and describing how strange it is, with sharp turns of the camera to focus on what needs to be focused on. The narrator gets a handful of good jokes. It’s such a delight to see two or so characters bounce their ridiculous personalities off of each other, as if the involved actors want to steal the other’s spotlight. Issues are minor, but still present. A movie so clever sadly has two exposition dumps. One is between Joseph and Maria, who describe their character’s dynamics. They are a married couple, why would they be explicitly saying this in this way and time and place, or even at all? What is communicated in this scene is also communicated in their actions across the movie, so just cut it out! Another depicts Bronski and another character, Greenberg, who wants to have better roles. While information they share isn’t repeated in their actions, it could be with a scene of more believable dialogue. Maybe Greenberg pleads for a better role and is denied or when someone announces that he’s been cast as an extra, he cringes or looks upset?
Near the beginning, the inciting incident leads to some time jumps and the narrator explaining what is going on. This scene, which is effectively a montage, has strange pacing. It’s mostly brisk, though it sometimes slows down. The “montage” being condensed would benefit the flow, though it ultimately is just a few minutes. The only point where the film was boring was in a scene of one character trying to think of things to say to keep a conversation going. It’s uncomfortable in its tedium and sudden lack of life, the scene being slower than most. It covers the character suddenly and strangely out of their element, despite their earlier scenes. Things quickly pick up, though.
SPOILERS
When impersonation is needed by the main characters at different points, Joseph insists on being the one to do it. Why would his colleagues let him? He is shown to have a temperament in the past and that very thing gets everybody in trouble later. Among a group of actors, you’d think someone else could be recruited? His ego even potentially got one of his colleagues killed, to exemplify the blunder. While this plot hole is never explained, there are reasons that could’ve been added. As an example, of all the actors, he has the strongest resemblance to Professor Siletsky, so it makes sense he’d be asked to play him. In terms of the other roles he plays, it could’ve been added that he has a certain piece of information or someone has heard his voice and thus he has to play the role.
An issue some may have is that the protagonists don’t face serious adversity. You’d expect for their plans to go wrong or for particularly bad things to happen more than they do. When Professor Siletsky discovers that he’s talking to Joseph in disguise and not the actual person he wanted to speak to, you’d think he might escape or in some way cause a problem. While unintended, that was ultimately the best thing that could have happened for our heroes, as the Professor was killed and Joseph could then pretend to be him. In another film, the Professor may have pretended to not discover the trick, leave, and tell actual Nazis about what’s going on. It’s impossible not to love the band of goofballs that we follow and thus their string of victories or minor misses is not a fault, as it would be for other films. The point is more to see them win and laugh along the way than to see trials and tribulations that may befall a person in a more realistic situation.
After the movie generally focused on her, Maria is literally forced to stay in a room, probably accidentally, representing her from then on having a less significant involvement. Her husband and the other male characters run around and get in adventures, with her usually missing out. Before the big final plan takes place, someone says to Maria, “We can’t use you, there’ll be no ladies.” More opportunities for Lombard to shine would be nice, but they aren’t needed other than one exception, as the film works well as it is. Putting her into the action would connect the first and second halves of the whole thing together. That would also be appreciated due to getting scenes where she’s not just being a man’s gaze.
Some moments have little-to-no pay off. At one point, Maria writes a letter for someone saying she’s going to kill herself, as part of some plan. We never learn what her plan is or what that was for. It literally never shows up again. Why include this? Was it part of a cut subplot that was accidentally kept in? A more crucial issue is that Maria’s relationship with her husband and Sobinski is never resolved. It is mostly covered in the first half with Sobinski confessing his love, then later Joseph finds out and tells his wife he knows in the second. Joseph and Maria never breakup and their last collective scene shows them seeming content. A more explicit ending of their plot thread would’ve given the film finality. Its lack of such an ending is strange and unfortunate, as the film has been good at having clever belated endings to jokes, yet it can’t remember to solve a recurring plot point between two main characters? Creating one would be so easy.
Maybe Maria admits to her husband that she likes attention from other men and her husband seems unbothered, more focused on performing Hamlet? That would serve as a great setup to the ending joke of the film, where someone walks out during his big scene, though it’s still very funny on its own. Due to Maria spending so much of her screen time being the affection of a man, an umph; either a subversion, a twist, or a final statement would give catharsis. Maybe she tells her husband she likes being the way she is or has had her thrill and won’t anymore? Maybe he says it’s okay as long as he can flirt with other women and she has a funny reaction? There are several possibilities to give the film a payoff. Could no one think of one or did no one realize the problem?
OVERVIEW
While To Be or Not to Be does have some issues, on occasion coming across as bizarre oversights, the rest of the film is an absolute riot. The cast is consistently excellent in a nutty and unashamed story about fighting Nazis. Despite the dark subject matter, there’s a perfect balance of lightheartedness and taking the matter seriously. Anyone who likes to laugh won’t be disappointed.
The Filme Diary 