吸血鬼日记01（觉醒）第一章
Diaries 01 - The Awakening
吸血鬼日记01
Chapter One&
（第一章）
4&&（9月4日）
Dear Diary,
亲爱的日记，
Something awful is going to happen
今天将会发生一些可怕的事。&
I don't know why I wrote that.
It's crazy. There's no reason for me to be upset and every reason
for me to be happy, but...
我不知道我为什么要写这些。这很疯狂。我没有理由对每个会让我开心的事感到烦乱，但是……
But here I am at 5:30 in the
morning, awake and scared. I keep telling myself it's just that I'm
all messed up from the time difference between France and
here.&But that doesn't explain why I feel so
scared，&So lost。
但是现在，我在早晨5：30的时候伴随着惊恐而醒。我一直告诉自己这只是因为我被法国和这儿的时差弄得烦乱了。但这并不能解释为什么我如此害怕，如此迷惑。
The day before yesterday, while
Aunt Judith and Margaret and I were driving back from
the&airport, I had such a strange feeling. When we
turned onto our street I suddenly thought, "Mom and Dad are waiting
for us at home. I bet they'll be on the front porch or in the
living room looking out the window. They must have missed me so
前天，当朱迪恩姑姑以及玛格丽特和有我从机场开车回去时，我有一种很陌生的感觉。在我们拐弯到达街区时我突然想到，“妈妈和爸爸正在家里等着我们。我打赌他们会在前沿或者起居室的窗子那看着。他们一定非常想念我”。
I know. That sounds totally crazy.
我知道，这听起来完全疯了。
But even when I saw the house and
the empty front porch I still felt that way. I ran up the
steps&and I tried the door and knocked with the
knocker. And when Aunt Judith unlocked the door
I&burst inside and just stood in the hallway
listening, expecting to hear Mom coming down the
stairs&or Dad calling from the den.
可当我看见房子和空空的前沿是我甚至还是有这样的想法。我跑上台阶试着敲门。当朱迪恩姑姑打开门后我立刻冲进去，站在走廊仔细听着，我期待听见妈妈从楼梯上下来的声音还有爸爸从丹麦打来的电话铃声。
Just then Aunt Judith let a
suitcase crash down on the floor behind me and sighed a huge sigh
and said, "We're home." And Margaret laughed. And the most horrible
feeling I've ever felt in my life came over me. I've never felt so
utterly and completely lost.
可只有朱迪恩姑姑在我身后放下手提箱，并重重地叹了一口气，说：“欢迎回家。”然后玛格丽特笑了。我生命中最大的恐惧感向我扑来。我从未感到如此彻底的迷茫。
Home. I'm home. Why does that
sound like a he?
家。我的家。为什么听起来像一个他？
I was born here in Fell's Church.
I've always lived in this house, always. This is my same
old&bedroom, with the scorch mark on the
floorboards where Caroline and I tried to sneak
cigarettes&in 5th grade and nearly choked
ourselves. I can look out the window and see the big quince tree
Matt and the guys climbed up to crash my birthday slumber party two
years ago. This is my bed, my chair, my dresser.
我出生在菲尔教区。我从小就是在这个房子里度过的，总是如此。这是我的就房间，在地板上还有烧焦的洞，那是我和凯若琳在五年级的时候尝试抽烟，然后差点把自己呛死。透过窗户能看见一棵很大的柑桔树，马特和那些家伙们曾在两年前我身日晚会那天爬上去。这是我的床，我的化妆台。
I was too tired yesterday to go to
Orientation.
我昨天太累了，没法适应这个环境。
Meredith picked up my schedule for
me, but I didn't feel like talking to her on the phone.
Aunt&Judith told everyone who called that I had
jet lag and was sleeping, but she watched me at dinner with a funny
look on her face.
梅雷迪恩为我精选了计划表，但是我不想和她通电话。朱迪恩姑姑告诉每一个打电话来的人我因为时差的缘故还在睡觉，但她在午饭的时候用一种怪模怪样的神情看着我。
I've got to see the crowd today,
though. We're supposed to meet in the parking lot before school. Is
that why I'm scared? Am I frightened of
我今天还是见到了这些群众。我们料想到上学前会在停车场见面。这就是为什么我会感到害怕？我害怕他们吗？
Elena Gilbert stopped writing. She
stared at the last line she had written and then shook her head,
pen hovering over the small book with the blue velvet cover. Then,
with a sudden gesture, she lifted her head and threw pen and book
at the big bay window, where they bounced off harmlessly and landed
on the upholstered window seat.
埃琳娜.吉伯停下写字了。她瞪着她写下的最后一行然后摇了摇脑袋，钢笔悬在蓝色天鹅绒封面的笔记本上。然后，伴随着一个山洪暴发般的手势，她把钢笔和笔记本丢在丢在很大的窗台上，它们并无恶意地反弹回来落在靠窗的长椅垫子上。
It was all so completely
ridiculous.
这些如此荒谬可笑。
Since when had she, Elena Gilbert,
been scared of meeting people? Since when had she been scared of
anything? She stood up and angrily thrust her arms into a red silk
kimono. She didn't even glance at the elaborate Victorian mirror
above th she knew what she'd see. Elena
Gilbert, cool&and blond and slender, the fashion
trendsetter, the high school senior, the girl every boy wanted and
every girl wanted to be. Who just now had an unaccustomed scowl on
her face and a pinch to her mouth.
她这么做，埃琳娜.吉伯，是因为害怕人群吗？还是害怕一切事情？她站起来，气愤地把胳膊插进红色的丝绸里。她甚至没有看一下这个樱桃木化妆台上精致的维多利亚女王时代的镜子，她知道她会看见什么。埃琳娜.吉伯，这个酷酷的，金发的苗条女孩，时尚的开创者，高中毕业班里全校男生都想得到所有女生都想成为的女孩。而现在是一副不习惯的怒视在她的脸上，嘴唇也紧紧收住。
A hot bath and some coffee and
I'll calm down, she thought. The morning ritual of washing and
dressing was soothing, and she dawdled over it, sorting through her
new outfits from Paris. She finally chose a&pale
rose top and white linen shorts combo that made her look like a
raspberry sundae. Good enough toeat, she thought, and the mirror
showed a girl with a secret smile. Her earlier fears had melted
away, forgotten.
一些热水浴还有一些咖啡就能让我平静下来，她想。早晨的洗刷仪式还有穿衣让她平静了一些，她整理了从巴黎带来的新的生活品。她最后挑选了一个月牙白的的玫瑰花纹套衫和白色亚麻短裤，这让他看起来就像是覆盆子冰淇淋。足够去吃了，她想，然后镜子里的女孩秘密地笑了一下。她最初的恐慌融化了，被忘却。
"Elena! Where are you? You're
going to be late for school!" The voice drifted faintly up from
“埃琳娜！你在哪？你上学要迟到了！”声音从楼下朦胧地传来。
Elena ran the brush one more time
through silky hair and pulled it back with a deep rose ribbon. Then
she&grabbed her backpack and went down the
埃琳娜继续拿起一把梳子温和地拉扯头发然后用一个玫瑰色绸带绑好放回去。然后她拿起她的双肩背包走下楼梯。
In the kitchen, four-year-old
Margaret was eating cereal at the kitchen table, and Aunt Judith
burning something on the stove. Aunt Judith was the sort of woman
who always look she had a thin, mild face and
light flyaway hair pushed back untidily. Elena landed a peck on her
在厨房，四岁大的玛格丽特在厨房桌子上吃燕麦粥，看上总是去含糊慌乱，她有一个尖瘦的，温和的脸庞，光亮的头发被挤成一堆。埃琳娜低下头啄了一下她的脸颊。
"Good morning, everybody. Sorry I
don't have time for breakfast."
“早上好，各位。很抱歉我没时间吃早饭了。”
"But, Elena, you can't just go off
without eating. You need your protein-"
“可是，埃琳娜，你不能不吃就离开。你需要蛋白质——”
"I'll get a doughnut before
school," said Elena briskly. She dropped a kiss on Margaret's tow
head and&turned to go.
“上学前我会吃些油炸圈饼的。”埃琳娜欢快地说。她在玛格丽特的脑门上亲了一下就转身离开了。
"And I'll probably go home with
Bonnie or Meredith after school, so don't wait dinner.
放学后我大概会和邦妮或者梅雷迪恩一起回去，所以别等我吃饭了。拜拜！”
“埃琳娜——”
Elena was already at the front
door. She closed it behind her, cutting off Aunt Judith's distant
protests,and stepped out onto the front porch.
埃琳娜已经在前门之外了。她在身后关上门，切断了朱迪恩姑姑遥远的抗议，然后离开了门廊。
And stopped.
然后停下。
All the bad feelings of the
morning rushed over her again. The anxiety, the fear. And the
certainty that something terrible was about to happen.
所有早晨那些糟糕的感觉又匆匆回来了。那些焦虑，那些恐慌。以及确信某些糟糕的事会发生。
Maple Street was deserted. The
tall Victorian houses looked strange and silent, as if they might
all be&empty inside, like the houses on an
abandoned movie set. They looked as if they were empty of
people,but full of strange watching things.
枫树街已经被废弃了。那些高耸的维多利亚时代的房子看起来陌生而沉默，似乎里面都是空的，就像是被遗弃的电影建设道具里的房子。看起来似乎里面没有人，却有着一些奇怪的东西在注视着。
T something was
watching her. The sky overhead was not blue but milky and opaque,
like a giant bowl turned upside down.
这代表的意思是：一些东西在看着她。宽广的天空并不蓝，确实不透明的乳白，就像巨大的翻转的碗。
The air was stifling, and Elena
felt sure that there were eyes on her.
天气沉闷地让人窒息，埃琳娜肯定有双眼睛在看着她。
She caught sight of something dark
in the branches of the old quince tree in front of the
她突然看见在房子前面的老柑桔树上有什么黑暗的东西。
It was a crow, sitting as still as
the yellow-tinged leaves around it. And it was the thing watching
那是一只乌鸦，静止地坐在淡黄色的树叶中。这就是看着她的东西。
She tried to tell herself that
this was ridiculous, but somehow she knew. It was the biggest crow
she had&ever seen, plump and sleek, with rainbows
shining in its black feathers. She could see every detail of it
clearly: the greedy dark claws, the sharp beak, the single
glittering black eye.
她试着告诉自己这很可笑，但是不知怎么的她就是知道。那时她见过的最大的乌鸦，丰满而光滑，在它黑色的羽毛上有彩虹一样的光亮。她能清楚地看见它的每一个细节：贪婪的黑色的爪子，锋利的嘴，闪闪发光的纯黑色的眼睛。
It was so motionless that it might
have been a wax model of a bird sitting there. But as she stared at
it,Elena felt herself flush slowly, heat coming in waves up her
throat and cheeks. Because it was... looking at her. Looking the
way boys looked at her when she wore a bathing suit or a sheer
blouse. As if it were undressing her with its eyes.
它一动不动，就像一个静止的蜡像模型。但是她瞪着着它，埃琳娜感到她的脸有一些发红，心脏一波一波在喉咙里和脸颊下跳动着。因为它……注视着她。看上去就像那些当她穿着泳衣或者贴身的衬衫时看着她的那些男孩子们。似乎它能用它的眼睛为她脱衣。
Before she realized what she was
doing, she had dropped her backpack and picked up a stone from
beside the driveway. "Get out of here," she said, and heard the
shaking anger in her own voice. "Go on! Get away!" With the last
word, she threw the stone.
在她意识到她在做什么的时候，她褪下她的书包然后从旁边的路上捡起一块石头。“离开这。”她说，然后听到了语气里晃动的愤怒。“走！走开！”说完最后一个词，她扔出了石头。
There was an explosion of leaves, but
the crow soared up unharmed. Its wings were huge, and they made
enough racket for a whole flock of crows. Elena crouched, suddenly
panicked as it flapped directly over her head, the wind of its
wings ruffling her blond hair.
树叶里有一阵爆发，但乌鸦安然无恙地往上飞了。它的翅膀巨大，它们足以拍打下一群叶子了。埃琳娜蹲下，突然感到很恐慌似乎拍打直接进到了她的脑子里，他飞翔时刮得风弄乱了她的头发。
But it swooped up again and circled,
a black silhouette against the paper-white sky. Then, with one
harsh croak, it wheeled away toward the
但是它想上盘旋着，黑色的轮廓闪现在天空之中。然后，随着一声刺耳的嘎嘎声，它翻滚进入了树丛里。
Elena straightened up slowly, then
glanced around, self-conscious. She couldn't believe what she had
just done. But now that the bird was gone, the sky felt ordinary
again. A little wind made the leaves flutter,
and Elena took a deep breath. Down the street a door opened and
several children poured out,
埃琳娜缓缓站起来，然后自觉瞥了一眼周围。她没法相信她刚才做了什么。但现在这只鸟已经走了，天空仍旧那样普通。一阵微风使几片树叶落下，埃琳娜深深吸了一口气。在街道的那头一扇门打开着，几个孩子跑出来，欢笑着。
She smiled at them, and took another
breath, relief sweeping through her like sunlight. How could she
have been so silly? This was a beautiful day, full of promise, and
nothing bad was going to
她对着他们笑了，然后再深深深呼吸，感到轻松一些。她怎么会那么愚蠢？这是多么美妙的一天，充满希望，没有什么糟糕的事会发生。
Nothing bad was going to
happen-except that she was going to be late getting to school. The
whole crowd would be waiting for her in the parking
没有什么糟糕的事会发生——除了她上学将要迟到。全部的人将在停车场等着她。
Without a backward glance at the
quince tree, she began to walk as quickly as she could down the
没有再向后看一眼那棵柑桔树，她开始尽可能快得沿着街道往前走。
The crow crashed through the top of
the massive oak, and Stefan's head jerked up reflexively. When he
saw it was only a bird, he
乌鸦的的轰隆声从巨大的橡树顶上传来，斯蒂芬的脑袋条件反射地抽动了一下。当他看见这只是一只鸟时，他放松下来了。
His eyes dropped to the limp white
form in his hands, and he felt his face twist in regret. He hadn't
meant to kill it. He would have hunted something larger than a
rabbit if he'd known how hungry he was. But, of course, that was
the very thing that frightened him: never knowing how strong the
hunger would be, or what he might have to do to satisfy it. He was
lucky that this time he'd killed only a
他的眼睛看向受理柔软的白色，他感到自己的脸上写满了懊悔。他没有想要杀它。如果他知道他有多饿的话他会猎捕一些比兔子还要大的东西。但是，当然，这是让他受惊吓的最合适的东西：不知道饥渴将会有多么强壮，或者他可能会做什么来满足它。他很幸运这次他只杀了这只兔子。
He stood beneath the ancient oak
trees, sunlight filtering down onto his curly hair. In jeans and
T-shirt,Stefan Salvatore looked exactly like a normal high school
他站在这棵古老的橡树下，阳光透过树叶洒在他的卷发上。穿着牛仔裤和T恤衫，斯蒂芬.塞尔瓦托看上去正好很像一个普通的高中学生。&
He wasn't.
Deep in the woods, where no one would
see him, he'd come to feed. Now he licked at his gums and lips
painstakingly, to make sure there was no stain on them. He didn't
want to take any chances. This masquerade was going to be hard
enough to pull off as it was.
在森林深处，没有人看见他，他开始进食。现在他费力地舔着他的牙龈和嘴唇，确保上面没有污点。他不想发生任何意外。这个化妆舞会将会很努力地实现。
For a moment he wondered, again, if
he should just give it all up. Perhaps he should go back to Italy,
back to his hiding place. What made him think that he could rejoin
the world of daylight?
一会儿之后他再次惊愕，是否他应该不去参加。也许他应该回到意大利，回到他躲藏的地方。是什么想要让他再回到日光之下的？
But he was tired of living in
shadows. He was tired of the darkness, and of the things that lived
in it. Most of all, he was tired of being
但是他厌烦活在阴暗之下了。他厌倦黑暗，厌倦在它之中生活着。绝大部分，他是厌倦独自一人。
sure why he'd chosen Fell's Church, Virginia. It was a young town,
the oldest buildings had been put up only a
century and a half ago. But memories and ghosts of the Civil War
still lived here, as real as the supermarkets and fast-food
他不确定为什么选择了菲尔教区。这是一个年轻的城镇，有它自己的规格，最古老的建筑在一个半世纪以前就被建立了。但记忆和南北内战的幽灵仍旧在这，和超级市场以及快餐店一样真实。&
appreciated respect for the past. He thought he might come to like
the people of Fell's Church.And perhaps-just perhaps-he might find
a place among them.
斯蒂芬很钦佩并且感激这一部分。他觉得也许他能加入菲尔教区的人们。而且也许——仅仅是也许他会在他们之中找到一个地方生存。
He'd never be accepted completely, of
course. A bitter smile curved his lips at the idea. He knew better
than to hope for that. There would never be a place where he could
belong completely, where he could truly be
他没有完全被录取，这是当然。想到这里他露出一个微笑。他比那希望的知道的还要多。那里绝不会是一个完全让他属于的地方，但他很真实。
Unless he chose to belong to the
shadows...
除非他选择属于黑暗……
He slapped the thought away. He'd
re he'd left the shadows behind him. He was
blotting all those long years out and starting afresh,
他把这些思想全部丢掉。他弃绝黑暗，他让黑暗留在了深厚。他在黑暗里呆了那么多年，知道今天，他站在了阳光之下。
Stefan realized he was still holding
the rabbit. Gently, he laid it down on the bed of brown oak
leaves.Far away, too far for human ears to pick up, he recognized
the noises of a
斯蒂芬意识到他仍旧抓着这只兔子。轻轻地，他把它放在棕色树叶铺成的床上。远远的，对于人耳来说太难听见了，他便认出一声狐狸的叫声。
Come along, brother hunter, he
thought sadly. Your breakfast is
一道尾随，猎人兄弟，他悲哀地想。你的早餐在等着你。
As he slung his jacket over his
shoulder, he noticed the crow that had disturbed him earlier. It
was still perched in the oak tree, and it seemed to be watching
him. There was a wrongness about
当他从肩上拿下夹克衫，他注意到乌鸦早早地就在妨碍他了。他仍旧栖息在这棵古老的橡树上，似乎在注视着他。它有一些不太正常的。
Moving almost silently among the dead
leaves and dry twigs, he made his way toward the edge of
the&woods. His car was parked there. He glanced
back, once, and saw that the crow had left the branches
and dropped down on the
在枯死的树叶中安静地移动，他走向树林的边缘。他的汽车停在那。他回头瞥了一眼，就一下，然后看见了乌鸦离开那棵树向兔子俯冲过去。
There was something sinister in the
way it spread its wings over the limp white body, something
sinister and triumphant. Stefan's throat tightened, and he almost
strode back to chase the bird away. Still, it had as much right to
eat as the fox did, he told
用那种方式扑向那只柔软无力的身体似乎有些不太吉利，有些不吉利，还有一些洋洋得意。斯蒂芬的喉咙勒紧了，他几乎要大步走回去赶走那只鸟。然而，它和那只狐狸有一样的权利，他告诉自己。
right as he did.
和他一样的权利。
If he encountered the bird again,
he'd look into its mind, he decided. Just now, he tore his eyes
from the&sight of it and hurried on through the
woods, jaw set. He didn't want to be late arriving at Robert E.
Lee&High School.
如果他在遇到那只鸟，他观察自己的思想，他决定了。刚才，他瞟了一眼它然后穿越树林。他不想到达罗伯特E.
Lee高中时已经迟到了。&
已投稿到：
以上网友发言只代表其个人观点，不代表新浪网的观点或立场。Unit 10 I’m going to be a basketball player. (10)_百度文库
两大类热门资源免费畅读
续费一年阅读会员，立省24元！
文档贡献者
评价文档：
暂无相关推荐文档
Unit 10 I’m going to be a basketball player. (10)
把文档贴到Blog、BBS或个人站等：
普通尺寸(450*500pix)
较大尺寸(630*500pix)
大小：9.48MB
登录百度文库，专享文档复制特权，财富值每天免费拿！
你可能喜欢From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by , about a troupe of actors in -occupied
who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch (uncredited) and
from the story by . The film stars , , , , ,
and . The film was released two months after actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane crash.
The title is a reference to the famous ""
Before the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the stars of a theater company in Warsaw are the "ham" Josef Tura () and his beautiful wife, Maria (). As part of the company's rehearsal of a play satirizing the Nazis, one of the actors, Bronski (), takes to the street to prove that he looks like Hitler in his costume and makeup. People gawk at the appearance of the Nazi dictator in Warsaw, until a young girl asks for the autograph of "Mr. Bronski."
That night, when the company is performing Shakespeare's , with Tura in the title role, Bronski commiserates with his friend and colleague, Greenberg (), about being limited to being . Greenberg reveals that it has always been his dream to perform
in , especially the famous "Hath not a
eyes?..." speech.
Meanwhile, Maria has received a bouquet of flowers from the handsome young pilot Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (). She arranges to meet him, telling Sobinski to come to her dressing room when Tura begins his "To be or not to be..." speech, so they can be sure of privacy. The young man walks out, very obviously, when Tura begins his monologue, causing the highly-strung actor great distress. Sobinski and Maria begin to see each other, but soon after Germany declares war on Poland, Sobinski leaves to join the fight.
Hitler conquers Poland, and the Polish division of the British
is fighting to free its mother country. Lt. Sobinski and other young pilots of the division sing together, with the
leader Professor Siletsky () as their guest. Siletsky hints he will return to Warsaw soon, and the men jump to give him messages for their relatives, but Sobinski is suspicious when he gives Siletsky a message for Maria Tura and he doesn't know who the famous actress is. When Sobinski reports the incident to higher authorities, they realize that Siletsky now has a list of the names and addresses of relatives of Polish airmen in the RAF, against whom reprisals can be taken.
Sobinski is sent to Warsaw to warn the resistance, but Siletsky gets there before him. The flier manages to reach Maria, who passes on the message to the underground. Immediately after, she is stopped by two soldiers, who have been ordered by Siletsky to bring her to him so he can deliver Sobinski's message and determine what "To be or not to be" means to her. Siletsky invites Maria to dinner, hoping to recruit her as a spy, as well as to sample her charms. She pretends to be interested and goes home to dress more appropriately for the occasion. Just before she arrives at her apartment, Tura returns and finds Sobinski in his bed and his bathrobe. Maria and Sobinski try to figure out what to do about Siletsky, while Tura tries to figure out what is going on with his wife and the pilot. In the end, Tura proclaims that he will kill Siletsky.
Later that evening, Maria returns to Siletsky's room and pretends to be attracted to him. Just as they kiss, there is a knock at the door. A Nazi officer – actually one of the members of the acting company – summons Siletsky to " headquarters", which is the theatre, hastily disguised with props and costumes from their play.
Tura pretends to be Col. Ehrhardt of the Gestapo, and Siletsky gives him the report containing the names and addresses of the families of the Polish pilots. He also reveals that Sobinski gave him a message for Maria, and that "To be or not to be" was the signal for their rendezvous. Tura reacts in an extremely jealous way and declares he will have Maria arrested. Noting this overreaction, Siletsky quickly sees that he has been duped, pulls a gun on Tura and tries to escape, but is shot and killed by Sobinski. Tura returns to the hotel disguised as Siletsky in a fake beard and glasses, to destroy the copy of the information about the Polish resistance that Siletsky has in his trunk. Unfortunately, he's met at the hotel by the real Col. Ehrhardt's adjutant, Capt. Schultz (), and taken to meet Ehrhardt himself (). Tura manages to pass himself off as Siletsky, and learns that Hitler himself will visit Warsaw the next day.
The next day, the real Siletsky's body is discovered in the theater. Ehrhardt sends for Maria to tell her, but she is unable to warn Tura in time, and he arranges another meeting with Ehrhardt, again posing as Siletsky. When Tura arrives, Ehrhardt sends him into a room with Siletsky's dead body, hoping to frighten him into a confession. Thinking quickly, Tura shaves off Siletsky's beard and then attaches a spare fake beard that he was carrying in his pocket. He then calls Ehrhardt into the room and manipulates him into pulling Siletsky's now-fake beard off. This appears to prove that the real Siletsky was actually the imposter, but just as Tura is about to make his escape, the other actors, sent by Maria and again in Nazi costume, storm into Ehrhardt's office, yank off Tura's false beard and pretend to drag him away to prison. This gets Tura out of Gestapo headquarters, but now he cannot leave the country on the plane Ehrhardt had arranged for him, and it's only a matter of time before the ruse is discovered.
The company now comes up with a bold plan. The Nazis stage a show at the theater to honor Hitler, and Sobinski and the actors sneak in dressed as Nazis. Among them is Bronski, initially without his Hitler mustache. The actors hide until Hitler arrives and takes his seat, and then, as the Nazis are singing the
inside, Greenberg suddenly appears. This distracts the Führer's guards long enough for Bronski, now wearing a Hitler mustache, to emerge unnoticed from hiding, surrounded by his entourage of actors dressed as Nazi officers.
Playing the head of Hitler's guard, Tura demands to know what Greenberg wants, and the actor finally gets his chance to deliver Shylock's famous speech from . He ends with a ringing "if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?!" and Tura orders his "officers" to take Greenberg away. He also recommends that Bronski/Hitler leave Poland immediately, and all the actors march out, get in Hitler's cars and drive away.
Back at her apartment, Maria is waiting for the actors to pick her up. They all intend to leave on Hitler's plane, but Col. Ehrhardt shows up and tries to seduce her. Ehrhardt is amazed, however, when the door opens and Bronski walks in disguised as Hitler. Bronski simply turns and walks out in silence, but Ehrhardt immediately thinks that Maria is having an affair with Hitler and he has just been caught trying to steal the Führer's mistress. Maria dashes after Bronski calling, "Mein Führer, Mein Führer!"
All the actors take off in the plane. They easily dispose of the Nazi pilots, and Sobinski flies the plane to , where the actors are interviewed by the press. Asked what reward he'd like for his service to the , Tura hesitates in a show of false modesty, but Maria quickly responds for him, "He wants to play Hamlet."
Tura is now once again on stage as Hamlet and reaches the moment of "To be or not to be." He sees Sobinski in the audience as he begins the speech, but both are amazed when a new young officer gets up and noisily heads backstage.
as Maria Tura, an actress in Nazi-occupied Poland
as Joseph Tura, an actor and Maria's husband
as Lt. Stanislav Sobinski, a Polish airman in love with Maria
as Greenberg, a Jewish member of the company who plays bit parts and dreams of playing Shylock
as Rawich, a ham actor in the company
as Professor Alexander Siletsky, a Nazi spy masquerading as a Polish resistance worker who tries to seduce Maria in order to persuade her to become a Nazi spy
as Col. Ehrhardt, the bumbling Gestapo commander in Warsaw
as Bronski, a member of the company who impersonates Hitler
as Dobosh, the producer of the company
as Actor-Adjutant, a member of the company who masquerades as Col. Ehradt's adjutant
as Capt. Schultz, the real adjutant of Col. Ehrhardt
as Anna, Maria's maid
as Gen. Armstrong, a British intelligence officer
as Major Cunningham, a British intelligence officer
Lubitsch had never considered anyone other than Jack Benny for the lead role in the film. He had even written the character with Benny in mind. Benny, thrilled that a director of Lubitsch's caliber had been thinking of him while writing it, accepted the role immediately. Benny was in a predicament as, strangely enough, his success in
was not interesting anyone in hiring the actor for their films.
For Benny's costar, the studio and Lubitsch decided on , whose career had been faltering in recent years. The role was designed as a comeback for the veteran actress, but Hopkins and Benny did not get along well, and Hopkins left the production.
Lubitsch was left without a leading lady until Carole Lombard, hearing his predicament, asked to be considered. Lombard had never worked with the famous director and yearned to have an opportunity. Lubitsch agreed and Lombard was cast. The film also provided Lombard with an opportunity to work with friend , whom she had known since he was an awkward teenager. The film was shot at , which allowed Lombard to say that she had worked at every major studio in .
To Be or Not To Be, now regarded as one of the best films of Lubitsch's, Benny's and Lombard's careers, was initially not well received by the public, many of whom could not understand the notion of making fun out of such a real threat as the Nazis. According to Jack Benny's memoirs, his own father walked out of the theater early in the film, disgusted that his son was in a Nazi uniform, and vowed not to set foot in the theater again. Benny convinced him otherwise and his father ended up loving the film, and saw it forty-six times.
The same could not be said for the critics, however. While they generally praised Lombard, many scorned Benny and Lubitsch. To one critic Lubitsch wrote, "What I have satirized in this picture are the Nazis and their ridiculous ideology. I have also satirized the attitude of actors who always remain actors regardless of how dangerous the situation might be, which I believe is a true observation. It can be argued if the tragedy of
realistically portrayed as in To Be or Not to Be can be merged with satire. I believe it can be and so do the audience which I observed during a screening of To Be or Not to Be; but this is a matter of debate and everyone is entitled to his point of view, but it is certainly a far cry from the Berlin-born director who finds fun in the bombing of Warsaw." The critic Mildred Martin reviewed another of Lubitsch's films and referred derogatively to his
birth and his comedy about Nazis in Poland.
Some critics were especially offended by Colonel Ehrhardt's line: "Oh, yes I saw him [Tura] in 'Hamlet' once. What he did to Shakespeare we are doing now to Poland." However, the film has since become a comedy classic.
To Be or Not To Be has a 97% approval rating on the review aggregator website
with an average rating of 8,7, based on 36 reviews, with the consensus: "A complex and timely satire with as much darkness as slapstick, Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be delicately balances humor and ethics."
To Be or Not to Be was nominated for one : the . In 1996 it was selected for preservation in the
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
recognition
A radio drama adaptation of To Be or Not to Be was produced by the Screen Guild Theatre on Jan. 18, 1943, starring
The film was remade as
in 1983. It was directed by
A stage adaptation was written in German by Juergen Hoffmann in 1988.
was released in 2008.
A stage version also titled
A stage adaptation was created in
by Marton László, Radnóti Zsuzsa, and Deres Péter in 2011.
Balio, Tino (2009). United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars. .  . p173
. Explore.bfi.org.uk.
. En.wikipedia.org.
. Loc.gov. .
This article needs additional citations for . Please help
by . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)
Further reading
Eyman, Scott
p. 302
Wikiquote has quotations related to:
Movie stills and literature
on : January 18, 1943
: Hidden categories: