The Sun Also Rises (1957)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Peter Viertel (screenplay)
Ernest Hemingway (novel)

Release Date:

23 August 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920's France and Spain.

Plot Keywords:

Expatriate | 1920s | Disillusionment | Prayer | Drunkenness

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Nov. 11

4:35 AM

MAX

Cast

Tyrone Power	...	Jacob "Jake" Barnes
Ava Gardner	...	Lady Brett Ashley
Mel Ferrer	...	Robert Cohn
Errol Flynn	...	Mike Campbell
Eddie Albert	...	Bill Gorton
Gregory Ratoff	...	Count Mippipopolous
Juliette Gréco	...	Georgette Aubin (as Juliette Greco)
Marcel Dalio	...	Zizi
Henry Daniell	...	Army doctor
Bob Cunningham	...	Harris
Danik Patisson	...	Marie
Robert Evans	...	Pedro Romero

Also Known As:

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (optical) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #18549) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Fans of Tyrone Power were shocked by his tired and aged appearance in the movie, since he was only 42 at the time of filming. Years of chain smoking cigarettes and drinking heavily had taken a toll on his looks. In addition he was reportedly taking pills so he could survive with only three hours sleep every night.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the preparation for the running of the bulls, while the bulls are being driven down the chute to the holding pen, a handler behind the safety walls shirt changes color from blue to white, then back again during the same sequence.

Quotes:

Lady Brett Ashley: I never make plans.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: The Son Also Draws (#1.6)" (1999)

As grim as Hemmingway could get.

There are several films from the '40's to the '60's that I prefer to experience, rather than jump into Pauline Kael's skin. Let her successors dissect and occasionally say something of pith.

George Herbert said, "Time is the rider that breaks youth."

All the principal characters in this sad tale are broken. In their dissipation and aimless, joyless pursuits, they didn't stand for much of anything. It has been said that the cast was just too old for these roles. But they looked perfect for their roles, a group of people who were caught in a tepid tide pool, waiting to be washed out to sea. They were all tarnished goods.

I was especially impressed by Errol Flynn's performance. Of all of them, he was the most pitiful. Remember the song, "Tired of living and scared of dying?" That's him-a far cry from Captain Peter Blood.

Next is Robert Cohn (Mel Ferrer). He was a rich aimless child, eager to fasten himself to others, like a limpet. College had done nothing for him, except to make him an even greater useless snob. Then Lady Brett transformed him into a swine before casting him aside, because 'she couldn't stand his damned suffering.' After a crushing defeat at the hands of Brett and her bullfighter, he wisely headed home to Frances, if she would still have him.

Now we come to Jake and Lady Brett Ashley. These two truly loved one another, but in a very unhealthy way. She lost a husband to the Great War and never recovered. He gave "more then his life" to the war. His impotence was probably not the real reason Brett would not marry him, nor he, her. Damaged goods.

This film is excellent. Important, as is the book, emotional Tours De Force. Hemmingway is incredible.