For Whom the Bell Tolls

One of the most boring movies I've ever sat through. I kept waiting for some action, and finally got some at the end, but mostly what I saw was a middle aged yankee going bonkers over a very un-Spanish looking woman. There was an overabundance of arguing and infighting among the rebels which accounted for an overabundance of dreary dialogue. Had the entire film been as fast paced as the final 20 minutes, I would have been far more satisfied.

Sorry, but after waiting nearly 30 years to see this movie after I first read a review of it somewhere, I find that its badness is confirmed in nearly every aspect of production. Beginning with the casting: If Hemingway had anything to do with the choice of Cooper and/ or Bergman for the lead roles, someone should have realized that he had no head for cinematic adaptation, and shrewder minds should have prevailed. But EH was probably one of only a handful of famous authors whose production suggestions would have been taken seriously, despite the fact that Ernest himself had said many times that he wouldn't dare set foot in Hollywood, not for love or money. At least he understood his limitations. Too bad the studio heads didn't. To begin with, the novel of For Whom The Bell Tolls is probably one of Hemingway's least successful novels, and as a consequence, following its basic structure was probably a recipe for celluloid disaster. As the critics have said over and over, Hemingway's psychological self- projection of his imaginary persona into a series of "he-man" leading parts--beginning with the Nick Adams stories, and continuing through Death in the Afternoon, The Green Hills of Africa, and To Have and Have Not, and extended after FWTBT with Across The River and Into The Trees and Islands in the Stream--marred most of his fictional efforts. In imagining himself as the doomed, rugged, crusty soldier-of-fortune--hard-drinking, level-headed, romantically vainglorious--he created a series of improbable cardboard tragic heroes, whose wooden dialog and fatalistic affected charm appeared increasingly dated as the years passed. I won't go into detail about the production values of the Sam Wood fiasco, except to note that Ingrid Bergman's camp charade as the buffed-up Hollywood version of an oversexed Spanish hottie with cropped hair and perfect teeth had me rolling in the proverbial aisle. Realistic values notwithstanding, it was also a bit much to see Tamiroff and Paxinou stomping around looking grim and picturesque as Spanish peasant-puppets (a role reprised by Tamiroff in Topkapi--for laughs). The best part of the movie, surprisingly enough, were the cinematic tricks used to create split screen depth-landscapes and backdrops, which probably saved hundreds of thousands in location shots--the work is really superior and deserves to be studied. My favorite is the one where the hair-pin mountain road is pictured with military trucks moving in three directions at once from a camera angle far above. That's not something that I recall having been tried again until Patton (where the jeep convoys criss-cross up a steep hilly terrain in the scenes for the invasion of Sicily). Probably the biggest problems--aside from the bad casting, wooden dialog, and peculiar meandering quality to the narration--is that audiences today hardly realize the complex political, social, philosophical and religious issues which played out in Spain in the 1930's. All we really think we need to know is that this blundering American is blowing up bridges and needs to get his rocks off; which side he is fighting for, and why, probably is of little concern to present-day audiences. We're certain of one thing, though: If Maria was raped by those Fascist bastards, that's probably all the proof we need that they deserve our hatred. In the end, I was left wondering why the little ragtag band couldn't improvise a quick mounted get-away for Cooper, but that would certainly have gotten in the way of the tragic hero's demise, mowing down cavalry with a rusty old machine-gun. Movie-making has come a long way since 1943, and thank god for that. It's astonishing to note that this movie was made in the same year as Casablanca, another vintage effort that has as many things right with it as this movie has wrong ones.

Hollywood doesn't seem able to put Hemingway's works on the screen. This is a romanticized version of guerillas fighting in the mountains during the Spanish Civil War. It is supposed to be a "classic" but there are too many weaknesses to give it that status. There is no real tension. Bergman (gorgeously photographed) and Cooper fall in love instantly and we are never in any doubt about that. They are surrounded by some of the talkiest guerilla fighters hiding out in a murky cave (where much of the technicolor action takes place), each with thick accents that don't seem to match their characters. Katina Paxinou certainly does a stunning job as Pilar--and Akim Tamiroff is more than adequate--but the film becomes weary after the first hour and gets bogged down in too much talk before it finally zeros in on its main action sequence involving the blowup of a bridge. Again, Hollywood fails to inject a Hemingway story with enough human interest and fails to make us care enough about these characters. Transition to the screen just doesn't work when it comes to Hemingway whose writing style is best confined to the novels he wrote. The only bright note is Victor Young's pseudo-Spanish score which gives the picture its only lift. Not the film it was hyped to be at the time, depending on its status as a best-seller by Hemingway for a built-in audience. Satisfaction not guaranteed unless you are a huge fan of Bergman and Cooper.

No doubt about it ! This DVD deserves a perfect 5 (this is the second that I give after ROBOCOP director's cut). 130 minutes of absolute pleasure with actors who were real stars : Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper. The colors are wonderful, the scenery superb and the musical score terrific. But I hear someone out there complaining : Gosh ! It's a 1943 movie, an antiquity. Don't be afraid, you will not be disappointed. There are also in this movie explosions, gunfires and even torrid love scenes. Just observe how Ingrid Bergman plays with her hair in order to seduce Gary and you will forget all the actual little starlets. This story of a three-days love affair during the Spain civil war is about idealism, self-sacrifice and hope. Themes that, I agree, are not specially "in" in 1998 but were developed by Ernest Hemingway, one of the best american writers. A healthy DVD in order to clean our eyes and ears.

Reading some of the comments here left me wondering, in some cases, whether the writers had this film confused with some B-movie potboiler. Some have written scathing contumelies with not a single positive remark to be found. It's amazing how differently two people from the same planet, same culture, can view the same thing. For me, this has always been one of my favorite movies, with very few flaws to be found. Gary Cooper could never be accused here (or anywhere else) of over acting. His style has always been one of understatement. He, in fact, was one of the actors who helped change the style of acting from the theatricality of the silents, to the more realistic method still in vogue today. Here, he is perfectly cast (Hemingway would accept no other)--the quiet, stoic, ruggedly handsome American. Ingrid Bergman is my favorite actress, so it's probably hard for me to be objective, but I feel this is one of her greatest roles, playing the damaged, yet still innocent, Maria (it was, in fact, the role for which Bergman felt she would be most remembered). True, her accent could hardly be mistaken for Spanish, but this seems trivial when this is stacked up against her immense talent as an actress. The criticisms about her appearance have no justification at all, as has been pointed out by others. All Spaniards do not look alike. Ms. Bergman is absolutely radiant, luminous, stunningly beautiful. Her scenes with Coop are wonderful. You can see "Roberto's" interest in her immediately, first of a carnal nature, but increasingly with tenderness and concern. Their's is one of the best love stories on film. The supporting characters are superlative; Akim Tamiroff is fine as the once courageous but now cowardly (and possibly treacherous) Pablo; Vladimir Sokoloff as the lovable aging guide--but where did they find Ms. Paxinou? Her Pilar is a fascinatingly vibrant character, full of grit and valor and indomitable courage, and yet capable of being deeply wounded by the thoughtless actions of a child. She apparently never did another film either before or after this one--just taking her well deserved Oscar and slipping away {Edit (Dec. 2005): I've since discovered that Ms. Paxinou DID appear in a few less prominent films after this one.} It's true that war is not romantic, and the film shows some of the horrors of this enterprise. It is also true that it does to some extent romanticize this war in that it emphasizes the self-sacrifice and courage of these people. In any case, I feel most people will find themselves moved by the sacrifices and **SPOILERS** the doomed romance of the leads. The story has been altered a bit from the wonderful novel, but this is inevitable. Still, it follows it much more closely than most Hollywood filmizations. The scenery is spectacular--the color, the cinematography are top notch, and Victor Young has composed a lush and moving score that wonderfully underscores the action and emotions of the players--his creation being among the best in cinema history. The direction strikes an excellent balance between showing us the details of day to day survival by these hunted insurgents, the suspense of battle, and the growing romance. Some have criticized the dialogue, but I find it quite believable. That last speech of Jordan's and his thoughts right after, have in particular been singled out for scorn. But for me, it is extraordinarily real. He doesn't utter some plasticized ideal of what a parting speech should be--no it's something someone might actually say, filled with simple but heartfelt phrases. Well, dear reader, you simply must see this film. Then judge for yourself whose comments are more accurate--those above, or those who have reviled the film. I know where I'd put my money.

Trailer—For Whom the Bell Tolls

I read Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" some years ago and now have finally gotten around to seeing the movie. Gary Cooper brings to life the role of a US idealist who falls in love with a Spanish woman (Ingrid Bergman) while fighting for the pro-democracy side of the Spanish Civil War. In attempting to blow up a bridge over which Franco's forces will pass, he and his cohorts have all sorts of experiences and discussions, but they know their aim. Some of the scenes are among the most intense that I've ever seen in a movie. One line in the book suggested to me that the censors at the publishing house didn't speak Spanish: "I (expletive) in your mother's milk." Naturally they changed it in the movie. Overall the movie did a good job looking at the daily lives of people in the international brigades. Katina Paxinou won a well deserved Oscar for her role as a freedom fighter.

I have this movie on DVD for weeks, I thought: this would be a long and boring movie. So I waited a long time and today I thought let's give it a chance and I had a really good time, the movie is great and a true classic, that every classic movie fan must see. It tells the story of a bomb expert (Gary Cooper) he get's the order to destroy a bridge, he stays with a few people in a cave. The leader of the gang Pilar (Paxinou) is a woman with girl power, the misfit pablo (Tamiroff) and the young Maria (Bergman) during the story Cooper and Bergman fell in love, but they both can't help that Paxinou steals the show with her great acting, she plays the stars from heaven and she really deserves her Oscar for best supporting actress, unfortunately we never saw great things of her later. You can also see that this movie was made to win a lot of Oscars, you really should see this movie.

I first read this book at least 30 years ago and last read it at least 25 years ago and I can still remember many of the scenes and lines from it. It has to be one of the top ten books of the last century and one of the top ten ever by an American author. The book (not necessarily the movie) reveals the courage and horror of war about as effectively as anything else I've ever read. Cooper successfully underplays as an American explosives expert fighting the Fascists in Spain while working with some dicey (to say it mildly) locals and an appealing Bergman. Here's the rub - the movie is actually TOO faithful to the book (you'll never hear me say that elsewhere), they literally lift the dialogue off the pages. Hemingway's books read better than they talk, too often the book dialogue comes out stilted or overly-dramatic when filmed. The casting is great, the scenery magnificent, so I can live with this other thing (as Ernest might say).

One of the most boring movies I've ever sat through. I kept waiting for some action, and finally got some at the end, but mostly what I saw was a middle aged yankee going bonkers over a very un-Spanish looking woman. There was an overabundance of arguing and infighting among the rebels which accounted for an overabundance of dreary dialogue. Had the entire film been as fast paced as the final 20 minutes, I would have been far more satisfied.