Themes: Star-Crossed Lovers, Americans Abroad, Military Life
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips, Jack LaRue
Release Year: 1932
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
This first film version of Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms stars Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. Cooper plays Lt. Frederick Henry, a World War I officer who falls in love with English Red Cross nurse Catherine Barkley (Hayes)-after first mistaking her for a woman of ill repute. Henry's friend, Major Rinaldi, is envious of the romance, and pulls strings to have Catherine transferred to Milan. When Henry is wounded in battle, he ends up in the very hospital where Catherine works. They resume the affair, which reaches an ecstatic peak just before Henry is returned to the front. The now-pregnant Catherine remains in Switzerland, sending letters by the bushelfull to Henry. But the jealous Rinaldi sees to it that Henry never receives those letters, leading Catherine to conclude sorrowfully that Henry has forgotten her. As the Armistice approaches, Henry makes his way to Switzerland, hoping to find Catherine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although the ending was altered, this A Farewell to Arms is one of the best cinematic adaptations of an Ernest Hemingway work. True, the film doesn't quite capture the unique Hemingway voice and style, but it does have some of his flavor; more importantly, it translates the story into "Hollywood" terms that make it more cinematically appealing. If the film lacks the depth of the novel, it still packs an emotional wallop. Certainly a great deal of the credit must go to stars Helen Hayes and Gary Cooper, who make an odd physical pair but who have a genuine, affecting chemistry. Hayes is radiant in one of her finest screen performances, playing suffering, nobility, and heartbreak in an outsized style that still rings true. Cooper utilizes his considerable charm to good effect, helped by his truly impressive good looks; while he's not as comfortable as Hayes with some of the heightened emotion, he still pulls it off. Director Frank Borzage skillfully blends the romance with the war-themed story, creating both impressive battle vistas and intimate, softly lit duets -- all with the inestimable help of cinematographer Charles B. Lang. Modern audiences will undoubtedly find portions of the film (and its style) dated and over the top, but those willing to meet it on its own terms will be rewarded. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Roland Anderson - Art Director, Hans Dreier - Art Director, Edward A. Blatt - Associate Producer, Charles Griffin - Consultant/advisor, Travis Banton - Costume Designer, Arthur Jacobson - First Assistant Director, Frank Borzage - Director, Otho Lovering - Editor, W. Franke Harling - Composer (Music Score), Bernhard Kaun - Composer (Music Score), Ralph Rainger - Composer (Music Score), John M. Leopold - Composer (Music Score), Paul Marquardt - Composer (Music Score), Herman Hand - Composer (Music Score), John Leipold - Composer (Music Score), Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer, Harold Lewis - Sound/Sound Designer, Oliver H.P. Garrett - Screenwriter, Benjamin Glazer - Screenwriter, Ernest Hemingway - Book Author
Set in Europe during World War I, the plot focuses on the tragic romance between Frederick Henry (Gary Cooper), an American ambulance driver serving in the Italian Army, and Scotish Red Crossnurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes). Major Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou) envies their relationship and has Catherine transferred to Milan. When Frederick is wounded in battle, he finds himself in the hospital where Catherine works. They continue their affair until he returns to battle. Now-pregnant Catherine settles in Switzerland, and when her many letters to Henry remain unanswered because his responses are held up by the censors, she assumes he has abandoned her. As the Armistice nears, Frederick journeys to Switzerland to find Catherine, who dies in childbirth with him at her side.
In his review in the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall said, "There is too much sentiment and not enough strength in the pictorial conception of Ernest Hemingway's novel . . . the film account skips too quickly from one episode to another and the hardships and other experiences of Lieutenant Henry are passed over too abruptly, being suggested rather than told . . . Gary Cooper gives an earnest and splendid portrayal [and] Helen Hayes is admirable as Catherine . . . another clever characterization is contributed by Adolphe Menjou . . . it is unfortunate that these three players, serving the picture so well, do not have the opportunity to figure in more really dramatic interludes."[1]
Dan Callahan of Slant Magazine notes, "Hemingway . . . was grandly contemptuous of Frank Borzage's version of A Farewell to Arms . . . but time has been kind to the film. It launders out the writer's . . . pessimism and replaces it with a testament to the eternal love between a couple."[2]
Time Out London calls it "not only the best film version of a Hemingway novel, but also one of the most thrilling visions of the power of sexual love that even Borzage ever made . . . no other director created images like these, using light and movement like brushstrokes, integrating naturalism and a daring expressionism in the same shot. This is romantic melodrama raised to its highest degree."[3]
Channel 4 describes it as "an excellent adaptation . . . the two leads are ideal and irresistible here, particularly a reliably sensitive Cooper, who milks his everyman appeal to great effect."[4]
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