Themes: Political Unrest, Americans Abroad, Star-Crossed Lovers
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou, Arturo de Cordova, Vladimir Sokoloff
Release Year: 1943
Country: US
Run Time: 168 minutes
Plot
Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a romantic drama set against the turbulent tapestry of the Spanish Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Robert Jordan, an idealistic American fighting with a Spanish guerilla band. He is assigned to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress. He falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman), a young peasant girl who's joined the fight after being ill-used by enemy troops. Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), the eternally drunken leader of the guerillas, resents Jordan's attentions toward Maria, and he refuses to help Jordan in his sabotage work. Pablo's wife Pilar (Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou) takes over command of the guerillas and helps Jordan by arranging horses for the band's departure after their job is done. The man supplying the horses (Joseph Calleia) is killed, and Jordan is left to finish his task minus a means to escape. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long, faithful adaptation of the Hemingway novel, with excellent performances, torrid love scenes, and first-rate Technicolor photography. Available for many years only in the 130-minute reissue version, it was restored to nearly its full original length of 168 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
For Whom the Bell Tolls largely depoliticizes the issues surrounding the Spanish Civil War and focuses on the romantic adventure in Ernest Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Almost none of the cast is remotely Spanish, and Ingrid Bergman, for all her fine acting skills, struggles perhaps more than the other cast members to bring credibility to her role. Remarkably faithful in most other ways to its source novel, the restored version of For Whom the Bell Tolls sprawls over its 168-minute running time. The action sequences are very good for a 1943 film, and the overall look and texture are outstanding. Although the film was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, it won only one, for Best Supporting Actress Katina Paxinou. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Haldane Douglas - Art Director, Hans Dreier - Art Director, Joseph Youngerman - First Assistant Director, Sam Wood - Director, Sherman Todd - Editor, John Link - Editor, Victor Young - Composer (Music Score), Milton Drake - Songwriter, Walter Kent - Songwriter, Ned Washington - Songwriter, Victor Young - Songwriter, Wally Westmore - Makeup, William Cameron Menzies - Production Designer, Ray Rennahan - Cinematographer, Sam Wood - Producer, Bertram Granger - Set Designer, Gordon Jennings - Special Effects, Harold Lewis - Sound/Sound Designer, Dudley Nichols - Screenwriter, Ernest Hemingway - Book Author
The film was originally released in a roadshow format, at 170 minutes, or nearly three hours (not counting intermission). For re-release, it was trimmed down to 134 minutes, and it was not seen at its full length until about ten years ago, when it was archivally restored to very nearly that (168 minutes). This restored version is the one that has been released on DVD.
There was a Lux Radio Theater version broadcast on February 11, 1945, which retained the principal cast from the film: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Akim Tamiroff.
Hemingway's reaction
Hemingway greatly disliked the film, due to the removal of the book's political content.
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