To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Stanley Ridges: Professor Siletsky
Photos
Quotes
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : Shall we drink to a blitzkrieg?
Maria Tura : I prefer a slow encirclement.
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Joseph Tura : [disguised as Colonel Ehrhardt] I can't tell you how delighted we are to have you here.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : May I say, my dear Colonel, that it's good to breathe the air of the Gestapo again. You know, you're quite famous in London, Colonel. They call you Concentration Camp Ehrhardt.
Joseph Tura : Ha ha. Yes, yes... we do the concentrating and the Poles do the camping.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : I wonder if you really know what Nazism really stands for?
Maria Tura : I have a slight idea.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : In the final analysis, all we're trying to do is create a happy world.
Maria Tura : And people who don't want to be happy have no place in this happy world. Well, that makes sense.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : Why don't you stay here for dinner? I can imagine nothing more charming. And before the evening is over, I'm sure you'll say, "Heil Hitler!"
Maria Tura : I would like to accept your invitation; but, just as you want to represent the Nazi case in the very best light, I would like to represent the Polish case in a more suitable dress.
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Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski : My people are fortunately out of Poland; but, well, there is someone in Warsaw...
Professor Alexander Siletsky : Oh, a lady?
Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski : Yes. It's a very confidential matter. Professor, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell her - oh, but don't tell her husband.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : Now I know exactly what to do.
Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski : Just say, "To be or not to be." She knows.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : Well, this young flyer gave me the message and I couldn't make head nor tail of it and neither will you. But, Mrs. Tura seemed to understand it perfectly.
Joseph Tura : [disguised as Colonel Ehrhardt] Well, what was the message?
Professor Alexander Siletsky : To be or not to be.
Joseph Tura : To be - To be or not to be!
Professor Alexander Siletsky : Well, clearly it's nothing alarming. It's only Shakespeare.
Joseph Tura : That's what you think!
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : As a matter of fact, I'm not responsible for your being brought here at all. There's a charming young man in England - gave me a message for you. A rather strange message: "To be or not to be." You, no doubt, know it's deeper meaning?
Maria Tura : Yes, I have a vague idea.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : Mrs. Tura, you're an actress aren't you?
Maria Tura : Yes.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : And naturally in the theater it's important that you chose the right part.
Maria Tura : Very.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : But, in real life it's even more important that you chose the right side.
Maria Tura : The right side? Well, what is the right side?
Professor Alexander Siletsky : The winning side.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : Here in Warsaw there are a lot of people that we know very well and there are a lot of people that we don't know quite so well and would like to know them a great deal better. And that's were you could help us, Mrs. Tura.
Maria Tura : Oh, you want me to be a spy!
Professor Alexander Siletsky : Oh, now, come, come, come. That's rather a crude word.
Maria Tura : You know, I once played a spy. It was a great success. I had wonderful notices. It was really an exciting part.
Professor Alexander Siletsky : Well, wouldn't it be exciting to play it in real life?
Maria Tura : Well, I got shot in the last act. I suppose that happens to most spies.
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Professor Alexander Siletsky : This is a very difficult place to get in. But, it's much more difficult to get out.
Maria Tura : Oh, I'm terribly frightened and terribly thrilled.
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Maria Tura : It took a bit longer than I thought. I wonder if the effect was worth it?
Professor Alexander Siletsky : I'm willing to die for our Führer, at any moment; except, for the next few hours.
Maria Tura : Oh, thank you, Professor.
