A Bell for Adano (1945)

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

John Hersey (novel)
Norman Reilly Raine (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 June 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has...

Plot Keywords:

Italian Fascism | Fall Of Fascism | Occupation | Armistice | Sergeant

Cast

Gene Tierney	...	Tina Tomasino
John Hodiak	...	Maj. Victor P. Joppolo
William Bendix	...	Sgt. Borth
Glenn Langan	...	Lt. Crofts Livingstone, USN
Richard Conte	...	Nicolo (Italian POW)
Stanley Prager	...	Sgt. Trampani
Harry Morgan	...	Capt. N. Purvis (as Henry Morgan)
Monty Banks	...	Giuseppe
Reed Hadley	...	Cmdr. Robertson
Roy Roberts	...	Col. W.W. Middleton (Provost Marshal)
Hugo Haas	...	Father Pensovecchio
Marcel Dalio	...	Zito
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Chief of Police Gargano
Henry Armetta	...	Errante (cart man)
Roman Bohnen	...	Carl Erba (cart man)

Also Known As:

John Hersey's A Bell for Adano (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #10570) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Final film of Henry Armetta.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Tina crosses her room to open the door to Victor late at night, she carries an oil lamp. However, the long electrical cord actually powering the lamp is clearly visible as she crosses the room.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Flying Nun: A Bell for San Tanco (#1.4)" (1967)

Soundtrack:

Lili Marleen

Ring them bells

Adapted from a famous novel ," a bell for Adano" seems sometimes too good to be true."Mister Major " is really a hand to kiss for he changed the life of the inhabitants of an Italian small town singlehandedly.John Hodiak portrays this officer with authority and humanity.On the other hand ,the users are right when they write that Gene Tierney -an actress who happens to be one of my favorites- is miscast;she could pass for half-Chinese in "Shanghai Gesture" ,she is not credible as a blonde (?) Italian .Besides ,it is not much of a part,and except for the scene where she's told about her fiancé's fate,she is lost in the crowd.

Marcel Dalio,on the contrary ,is well cast as the coward;this French actor was famous in his native country for his portrayals of villains,traitors ,collaborators,etc .The first scene is his: swearing he has never been a fascist but giving the infamous salute ,he is absolutely marvelous,so to speak!

It 's sometimes too good to be true but Mister Major is an endearing character,a military man who thinks that rules are made to be broken ,which ,for an officer, is not common."A bell for Adano" is a Christian movie almost as much as King's "song of Bernadette" was.

The first sequences of the village in ruins will remind you of the Italian Neo-Realism ,Roberto Rossellini's works ("Paesa" "Germania anno zero")