For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Ernest Hemingway (novel)
Dudley Nichols (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 April 1944 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

The Most Thrilling Moment Ever Screened

Plot:

Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going...

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | Cave | Civil War | Mountain | Duplicity

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Robert Jordan
Ingrid Bergman	...	María
Akim Tamiroff	...	Pablo
Arturo de Córdova	...	Agustín (violent)
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Anselmo (guide)
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Rafael (Gypsy)
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Fernando (calm)
Eric Feldary	...	Andrés (courier to Gen. Golz)
Victor Varconi	...	Primitivo (lookout)
Katina Paxinou	...	Pilar
Joseph Calleia	...	El Sordo
Lilo Yarson	...	Joaquin
Alexander Granach	...	Paco
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Gustavo
Leonid Snegoff	...	Ignacio

Runtime:

170 min | USA:134 min (re-release) | USA:168 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Blue Canyon, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Ingrid Bergman's first color film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: (At 49:50) Pilar says "Wait" to Jordan and Maria. It is clear that the shot has been reversed, as the bolt handle and magazine on her Krag-Jorgenson carbine (see previous entry) was on the left of the rifle, whereas this weapon was only made in right-handed versions.

Quotes:

Robert Jordan: Are you afraid?
Maria: Not now. I love you, Roberto. Always remember. I love you as I loved my father and mother, as I love our unborn children, as I love what I love most in the world, and I love you more. Always remember.
Robert Jordan: I'll remember.
Maria: Nothing can ever part us now, can it?
Robert Jordan: Nothing, Maria.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "NYPD Blue: For Whom the Skell Rolls (#2.2)" (1994)

I no provoke, Inglis!

I have read most of Hemingway's novels and enjoy him for the romantic he is (why is it some people view him as a realist?). However, when I see this film, as well as the Tyrone Power version of THE SUN ALSO RISES, I am left wondering if the problem with Hollywood adaptations of his work was that they were TOO faithful. That's right, all you Hemingway lovers: too faithful. The man's dialog works on paper, but when spoken by the actors--good actors at that--it becomes downright silly.

Hemingway once wrote a play, THE FIFTH COLUMN, that was snickered by theatre-goers in 1937. He learned his lesson and never wrote another play. Some of the Hollywood scriptwriters might have also learned, if not from the reviews of THE FIFTH COLUMN, at least from the film of THE KILLERS: the best way to adapt Hemingway is to steer away from his dialog, not stick so close to it.

That said, I must confess I enjoy this film like the others...though I can't help but chuckle at it sometimes.