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>
Strange that one of America's favorite writers has no success in having his novels transferred to the screen with any fidelity or improvement over the original. 'A Farewell to Arms' is a lumbering, turgid, over-stuffed movie that never seems real. Chemistry between Hudson and Jones is simply not there--Jennifer Jones, in particular, seems remote and detached as the nurse even when she's supposed to be wildly in love. And then there's the matter of length--it seems to go on forever with a very weak resolution.
David O. Selznick wanted to create something that would rank alongside his 'Gone with the Wind' as an epic romance with a war background--but the talky script defeated everyone. Hemingway himself publicly disowned the movie, claiming that Jones was far too old for the part and unhappy about the film in general. At any rate, it was not the hoped for success and did nothing to halt the decline of Selznick's career--or Jennifer Jones' career for that matter. A big disappointment.