A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writers:

Ernest Hemingway (novel)
Benjamin Glazer (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 December 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | War | Drama

Tagline:

"Let's love tonight," they said, "There may be no tomorrow!"

Plot:

A tale of the love between ambulance driver Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine Barkley during World War I...

Plot Keywords:

Armistice Day 1918 | Italy | Tragic Ending | Battle Of The Isonzo | Dying In Childbirth

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Helen Hayes	...	Catherine Barkley
Gary Cooper	...	Lieutenant Frederic Henry
Adolphe Menjou	...	Major Rinaldi
Mary Philips	...	Helen Ferguson
Jack La Rue	...	Priest
Blanche Friderici	...	Head Nurse
Mary Forbes	...	Miss Van Campen
Gilbert Emery	...	British Major
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alice Adair	...	Cafe Girl (uncredited)
Henry Armetta	...	Bonello - Italian Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
Herman Bing	...	Swiss Postal Clerk (uncredited)
Agostino Borgato	...	Giulio - Hospital Porter (uncredited)
Robert Cauterio	...	Gordini (uncredited)
Marcelle Corday	...	Swiss Nurse (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Italian Soldier (uncredited)
Peggy Cunningham	...	Molly - Disgraced Nurse (uncredited)
George Humbert	...	Piani - Singer (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Fred Malatesta	...	Manera (uncredited)
Paul Porcasi	...	Harry - Innkeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Borzage

Writing credits
Ernest Hemingway		(novel)
Benjamin Glazer		(screenplay) and
Oliver H.P. Garrett		(screenplay)
Laurence Stallings		play (uncredited)

Produced by
Edward A. Blatt	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Benjamin Glazer	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herman Hand		(uncredited)
W. Franke Harling		(uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)
John Leipold		(uncredited)
Paul Marquardt		(uncredited)
Ralph Rainger		(uncredited)
Milan Roder		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Lang		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Otho Lovering		(uncredited)
George Nichols Jr.		(uncredited)

Casting by
Fred A. Datig		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson		(uncredited)
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Travis Banton		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lew Borzage	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Charles Griffin	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Arthur Jacobson	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jean Negulesco	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Clem Jones	....	props (uncredited)
Joe Robbins	....	props (uncredited)
Joe Thompson	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Franklin Hansen	....	sound (uncredited)
Harold Lewis	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Loyal Griggs	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sherman Clark	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Pittack	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Gross	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Joe Robbins	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Grace Dubray	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Farciot Edouart	....	transparencies (uncredited)
Robert M. Gillham	....	general press agent (uncredited)
Charles Griffin	....	technical advisor: war sequences (uncredited)
Dr. Jardini	....	technical advisor: hospital sequences (uncredited)
Daniel Keefe	....	business manager (uncredited)
Jean Negulesco	....	assistant: Benjamin Glazer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount Productions Inc.)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Genius Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (all media)
• Castle Communications (1995) (Finland) (VHS)
• Finnkino (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hollywood Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1987) (Finland) (TV)

Runtime:

80 min | Spain:83 min | USA:89 min (original version) | UK:79 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 (1996) | Finland:S (1989) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #4306-R, 9 May 1938 for re-release)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Some references list the play by Laurence Stallings as an uncredited source for the movie. It opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 22 September 1930 and had 24 performances. The opening night cast included Glenn Anders, Joe Downing, Jack La Rue (also in the film) and Elissa Landi.

Quotes:

Catherine Barkley: [Catherine comes to tend a wounded Henry] Hello, darling!
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: Catherine!
[she kisses him]
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley: Are you badly hurt?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley: [concerned] Oh my poor darling, it's your leg, isn't it?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: You're the loveliest thing I ever saw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Task Force (1949)

Soundtrack:

A Farewell to Arms

A Memorable Film In Need of Restoration

The 1932 film version of Ernest Hemmingway's A FAREWELL TO ARMS will never challenge the likes of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT--but while it fails to capture the horrors of World War I it is remarkably effective at capturing the novel's sparse and unyielding prose. A good deal of the credit goes to writers Garrett and Glaizer and director Borzage--but the real interest here is not so much in the cinematic interpretation of the Hemmingway novel as it is in the cast, which is remarkable.

Actress Helen Hayes was already among the leading lights of the New York stage when she was lured to Hollywood for a handful of films in the early 1930s--and it is easy to see what all the fuss was about. Plaintive beauty aside, unlike most stage and screen actors of the era she is completely unaffected in her performance and proves more than powerful enough to overcome the more melodramatic moments of the script. She is costarred with Gary Cooper in one of his earliest leading roles, and while the pairing is unexpected, it is also unexpectedly good: they have tremendous screen chemistry, and in spite of the film's dated approach they easily draw you into this story of an ill-fated wartime romance between a nurse and an ambulance driver.

The film is also well supplied with a solid supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou, Jack La Rue, and Mary Philips, and while clearly filmed on a slim budget--something most obvious in the battlefront sequences--the camera work is remarkably good. Unfortunately, all this counts for nothing unless you can find a print of the film that you can stand to watch. It is sad but true: the 1932 A FAREWELL TO ARMS seems to have fallen into public domain, and the result is a host of DVD and VHS releases that range from the merely adequate to the incredibly dire.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer