A Farewell to Arms (1957) 5.9
The story of an affair between an English nurse an an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I. Director:Charles Vidor |
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A Farewell to Arms (1957) 5.9
The story of an affair between an English nurse an an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I. Director:Charles Vidor |
|
| 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Rock Hudson | ... | ||
| Jennifer Jones | ... | ||
| Vittorio De Sica | ... | ||
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Oskar Homolka | ... |
Dr. Emerich
(as Oscar Homolka)
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| Mercedes McCambridge | ... | ||
| Elaine Stritch | ... | ||
| Kurt Kasznar | ... |
Bonello
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Victor Francen | ... |
Colonel Valentini
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Franco Interlenghi | ... |
Aymo
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Leopoldo Trieste | ... |
Passini
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José Nieto | ... |
Major Stampi
(as Jose Nieto)
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Georges Bréhat | ... |
Captain Bassi
(as Georges Brehat)
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Johanna Hofer | ... |
Mrs. Zimmerman
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Eduard Linkers | ... |
Lieutenant Zimmerman
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Eva Kotthaus | ... |
Delivery Room Nurse
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Frederick Henry, an American serving as a volunteer ambulance driver with the Italian forces in the First World War, is wounded and falls in love with his attending nurse, the British Catherine Barkley. In the midst of war and some intrigue, the pair struggles to stay together and to survive the horrors around them. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Obviously, a great deal of time and money was lavished on this project. Producer Selznick intended it to be a vindication of a career that peaked with "Gone With The Wind" in 1939, and then began a long, slow, almost painful decline. By the mid fifties he had become something of a "has-been" in Hollywood. The result? Pretty much a miss. The book is probably unfilmable, of course, but the screenplay still leaves much to be desired. Rock Hudson is far too shallow to make a go at the over-the-top emotionalism this story needs. The usually wonderful Jennifer Jones, for whom this project was conceived, somehow doesn't seem to exhibit the idealism and resolve the part needs, and that she demonstrated with such seemingly effortlessness in many other films. The direction is stilted and sometimes downright awkward, more the fault of producer Selznick, I would bet, who had a reputation for micro-managing his films, than famed director Charles Vidor.
Simply put, I'm never convinced, not even for a moment, that what is happening is real and not just another movie. Too bad.