A Farewell to Arms (1957)

The story of an affair between an English nurse an an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I.

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay), Ernest Hemingway (novel),

Stars:

Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Vittorio De Sica

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rock Hudson	...	Lt. Frederick Henry
Jennifer Jones	...	Catherine Barkley
Vittorio De Sica	...	Major Alessandro Rinaldi
Oskar Homolka	...	Dr. Emerich (as Oscar Homolka)
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Miss Van Campen
Elaine Stritch	...	Helen Ferguson
Kurt Kasznar	...	Bonello
Victor Francen	...	Colonel Valentini
Franco Interlenghi	...	Aymo
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Passini
José Nieto	...	Major Stampi (as Jose Nieto)
Georges Bréhat	...	Captain Bassi (as Georges Brehat)
Johanna Hofer	...	Mrs. Zimmerman
Eduard Linkers	...	Lieutenant Zimmerman
Eva Kotthaus	...	Delivery Room Nurse

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | love | ambulance | soldier | writer | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

14 December 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Addio alle armi

Filming Locations:

Alps, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$4,353,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Selznick Studio, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

152 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David O. Selznick's last film.

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Goofs

When Hudson and Jones are in the hotel bedroom he gives her a glass of wine. The amount of wine in her glass varies between shots.

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Crazy Credits

Producer David O. Selznick tries to imitate the opening credits of his classic film, "Gone With The Wind", by having the letters of the title "A Farewell to Arms" sweep slowly across the screen from right to left.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Greer Garson (1961)

User Reviews

What's Wrong With This Picture?

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.