A Farewell to Arms (1957)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay)
Ernest Hemingway (novel)

Release Date:

14 December 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

WWI | Post WWI | Italian Soldier | Armistice | War For Independence

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

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

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #18795) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video re-rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Alps, Italy

Company:

Selznick Studio, The

Trivia:

Rock Hudson turned down Sayonara (1957) and Ben-Hur (1959) in order to make this film. He later said this was the biggest mistake of his career.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the café while Catherine is in hospital, Frederick is shown placing the sugar cubes on the table, with three already there and his hand moving to place there the fourth one. Camera cuts to a different angle and there are suddenly five sugar cubes on the table. Later in the same scene, after he flattens the sugar cubes with his hand, the position of his hand (and sugar cubes) changes instantly and he's holding one sugar cube that he wasn't holding a split second before.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Jennifer Jones: Portrait of a Lady" (2001)

Hasty love in a hasty movie on a hasty era.

I expected something interesting and I was served a bowl of sweet soup with good ingredients but no real flavour.

Historically the backdrop is quite accurate but the spectator never really enters this movie which revolves around a love affair and not around the war. The Caporetto disaster could have been explained a bit more and one could have done without those harrowing scenes of gushing love. The court martial thing is a farce and acting is moderately interesting.

Disappointment for sure.