A Bell for Adano (1945)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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

Bells Not Ringing Clearly At Adano **1/2

1945 film dealing with American occupation of the Italian town of Adano.

John Hodiak portrays a sympathetic officer who understands the need of the town.-food and water to survive.

He shows kindness to the people of the town, many of whom are comical characters. William Bendix plays his assistant in his usual comic form. However, when Hodiak has to leave, Bendix is excellent when he has to tell him the news. He is so upset by this, he is terribly drunk.

Gene Tierney is terribly miscast as a daughter of a fisherman, who seeks Hodiak out to find out information on her lover. Before he can act, Italian POW's return to the town, and one of them, Richard Conte, tells her what has happened to her beloved. If you were an anti-fascist who campaigned against the Mussolini regime, why would you be the first to go when Italy entered the war on Nazi Germany's side? The lover died for patriotic reasons though he was bitterly anti-fascist. There is something wrong here.

The film deals with military bureaucracy and bungling by Roy Roberts. Such bungling costs Hodiak to be transferred. This was when the film was getting better. Too bad it ended at this point.

The town of Adano needed a bell to carry on its daily life. Hodiak was successfully able to get the bell. The bell tolls for him when he leaves the town. Irony, not at its best, but when is irony actually good?