To Be Or Not To Be 35075 ( 0184 )

In 1939, the well-known stars of a Warsaw theater company, including "ham" Joseph Tura and wife Maria, are rehearsing Gestapo, a play satirizing the Nazi regime. During the company's production of Hamlet that night, with Joseph in the title role, Maria receives a bouquet of flowers from Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski. After Maria arranges a secret meeting with Sobinski in her dressing room, he walks out as Joseph begins Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy. Soon, the government issues orders to cancel Gestapo in order to avoid worsening relations with Germany. The following night, Sobinski again walks out on Hamlet's soliloquy to meet Maria, infuriating Joseph. Sobinski confesses his love for Maria, but as Germany invades Poland, he leaves to join the Royal Air Force's Polish squadron.

In England, Sobinski and his fellows meet the Polish resistance leader, Professor Siletsky, who will soon return to Warsaw on a secret mission. As the men give Siletsky messages for their loved ones, Sobinski gives him a secret message for Maria, which reads "To be or not to be", but becomes suspicious when Siletsky fails to recognize the famous actress. After informing British intelligence that Siletsky has a list of names and addresses of Polish airmen's relatives, Sobinski is sent to Warsaw to warn the resistance. In Warsaw, Siletsky sends for Maria and relays Sobinski's message to her. He invites Maria to dinner, hoping to recruit her as a Nazi spy. Just before she arrives at her apartment, Joseph returns and finds Sobinski in his bed. Although confused, Joseph agrees to help Maria and Sobinski obtain Siletsky's list.

Siletsky is summoned to "Gestapo headquarters"—the theater—where Joseph impersonates Colonel Ehrhardt. After giving Joseph the list of Polish resistance fighters' relatives, Siletsky mentions Sobinski's secret message for Maria. Overcome with jealousy, Joseph inadvertently reveals himself. Siletsky pulls a gun on him and tries to escape but is shot dead by Sobinski. Joseph disguises himself as Siletsky and goes to Siletsky's hotel to retrieve an additional copy of his list. There, he finds Maria, who was unable to leave without Siletsky's approval, and Captain Schultz, who has come to take him to meet with Ehrhardt.

Posing as Siletsky, Joseph names recently executed prisoners as the leaders of the resistance. The next day, the real Siletsky's corpse is found in the theater, and Ehrhardt sends for Maria to inform her. Unaware of this, Joseph, again masquerading as Siletsky, arranges another meeting with Ehrhardt. To expose Joseph as an impostor, Ehrhardt leaves him in a room with Siletsky's dead body. Joseph shaves off Siletsky's beard and applies a spare fake beard. He then goads Ehrhardt into pulling it off, convincing him Joseph is the real Siletsky. The scheme works until several actors disguised as Adolf Hitler's safety squad arrive, yank off Joseph's fake beard, and pretend to arrest him. Everyone is safe but now cannot leave Poland on the plane Ehrhardt had arranged for Siletsky.

The Nazis stage a show to honor the visiting Hitler. The actors slip into the theater dressed as Nazis and hide until Hitler and his entourage take their seats. Jewish actor Greenberg suddenly appears and rushes Hitler's box while the rest of the actors infiltrate the real Nazis. Greenberg is captured by the Nazis, giving him the long-awaited opportunity to deliver Shylock's speech from The Merchant of Venice. Posing as Hitler's security chief, Joseph "arrests" Greenberg. All the actors—including Bronski disguised as Hitler—march out, get in Hitler's cars and drive away.

Ehrhardt arrives at Maria's apartment and tries to seduce her until Bronski, dressed as Hitler, arrives to pick her up. As Maria leaves with Bronski, a shocked Ehrhardt assumes she is Hitler's mistress and tries to shoot himself. The actors take off in Hitler's plane, and Sobinski flies to England. When Joseph is asked by the press what reward he would like for saving the underground movement, Maria declares that he wants to play Hamlet. While performing on stage, Joseph sees Sobinski in the audience, but to the surprise of both men, another young officer walks out on Joseph's soliloquy.