IMDb > A Farewell to Arms (1932)
A Farewell to Arms
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A Farewell to Arms (1932) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   1,505 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Ernest Hemingway (novel)
Benjamin Glazer (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for A Farewell to Arms on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 December 1932 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Every woman who has loved will understand. more
Plot:
A tale of the love between ambulance driver Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine Barkley during World War I... more | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations more
User Comments:
A Memorable Film In Need of Restoration more (37 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Helen Hayes ... Catherine Barkley

Gary Cooper ... Lieutenant Frederic Henry

Adolphe Menjou ... Major Rinaldi
Mary Philips ... Helen Ferguson
Jack La Rue ... Priest
Blanche Friderici ... Head Nurse
Mary Forbes ... Miss Van Campen
Gilbert Emery ... British Major
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Additional Details

Runtime:
80 min | Spain:83 min | USA:89 min (original version) | UK:79 min (DVD version)
Country:
Language:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-12 (1996) | Finland:S (1989) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #4306-R, 9 May 1938 for re-release)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Tom Ricketts (as Count Greffi) is supposed to be in this film but was not seen. more
Quotes:
Catherine Barkley: [Catherine comes to tend a wounded Henry] Hello, darling!
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: Catherine!
[she kisses him]
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley: Are you badly hurt?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley: [concerned] Oh my poor darling, it's your leg, isn't it?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're the loveliest thing I ever saw.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Task Force (1949) more
Soundtrack:
A Farewell to Arms more

FAQ

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18 out of 22 people found the following comment useful.
A Memorable Film In Need of Restoration, 28 March 2005
7/10
Author: gftbiloxi (gftbiloxi@yahoo.com) from Biloxi, Mississippi

The 1932 film version of Ernest Hemmingway's A FAREWELL TO ARMS will never challenge the likes of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT--but while it fails to capture the horrors of World War I it is remarkably effective at capturing the novel's sparse and unyielding prose. A good deal of the credit goes to writers Garrett and Glaizer and director Borzage--but the real interest here is not so much in the cinematic interpretation of the Hemmingway novel as it is in the cast, which is remarkable.

Actress Helen Hayes was already among the leading lights of the New York stage when she was lured to Hollywood for a handful of films in the early 1930s--and it is easy to see what all the fuss was about. Plaintive beauty aside, unlike most stage and screen actors of the era she is completely unaffected in her performance and proves more than powerful enough to overcome the more melodramatic moments of the script. She is costarred with Gary Cooper in one of his earliest leading roles, and while the pairing is unexpected, it is also unexpectedly good: they have tremendous screen chemistry, and in spite of the film's dated approach they easily draw you into this story of an ill-fated wartime romance between a nurse and an ambulance driver.

The film is also well supplied with a solid supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou, Jack La Rue, and Mary Philips, and while clearly filmed on a slim budget--something most obvious in the battlefront sequences--the camera work is remarkably good. Unfortunately, all this counts for nothing unless you can find a print of the film that you can stand to watch. It is sad but true: the 1932 A FAREWELL TO ARMS seems to have fallen into public domain, and the result is a host of DVD and VHS releases that range from the merely adequate to the incredibly dire.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Absolutely no chemistry, or believable sexual tension. genplant29
Best DVD to buy? bjnevin
Notes on A FAREWELL TO ARMS JSlack3
Anyone else cry over this movie? teepeewhy
Question edh512
Most faithful adaptation? HollyAF3
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