For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) YTS

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Trying to adapt this Ernest Hemingway novel for

Trying to adapt this Ernest Hemingway novel for the screen was always going to be quite an ask, and for me it was just one too much for Gary Cooper - even if the author had written it with him in mind for the role of the intrepid “Jordan”. He is more of an academic rather than a crusader, but he is experienced with explosives, restless and soon finds himself attracted by the Internationals Brigade fighting for the republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. With heavy snow on the ground, he is tasked by their Soviet armourers with working under the audacious “Pilar” (Katina Paxinou) to mine an important bridge which is to be detonated when the Fascists attempt to shift their ordnance across it. Meantime, he encounters the young “Maria” (Ingrid Bergman) who has only recently been a victim of the violence of the Falangists, and so is just as earnest to wreak her own revenge. What now ensues sees this group of partisan resistance fighters skirmish with their foes and also with themselves as the chill of the winter sets in and a romance begins to blossom. Initially their military action proves less successful and with reprisals always on the cards, their coalition of like minded people fractures and “Pablo” (Akim Tamiroff) pinches the detonation equipment. Determined not to fail, “Jordan” concocts a more manual and dangerous way to accomplish his mission - but in executing his plan is injured. Can he still make good on his oath, though? This is a great and characterful story to read, but somehow it loses much of it’s sense of peril here. Possibly because so much of it looks studio shot: the rocks looked as if the snow had been painted onto them and the look of much of this feature suggests indoors with central heating. I didn’t think that Cooper and Bergman gelled at all well and she is as prone to over-acting, especially as we reach the denouement, as he is to some seriously wooden scenes. That matters more when some of the more nuanced and politic dialogue is delivered as if he were reading the phone book and thereby the film is robbed of a large portion of it’s potency. I thought the assemblage of supporting talent, including Vladimir Sokoloff”s “Anselmo” worked better at presenting us with a genuine looking cohort of disparate freedom fighters, but some of the wartime effects looked little better than someone throwing a bag of soot from off-set as this film simply failed to capture the imagination I experienced when reading the book. Did it need to be three hours long? Well yes, I think it did. There is a lot going on here and the story is more than just that of “Jordan” and “Maria”, but as it is delivered here it does feel like a long and meandering watch that lacked sharpness and conviction. Some books are just best left on the page - I think this might be one of them.

Reviewed by shanie25350 7 / 10

Hemingway wrote the novel with Cooper in mind

When I first saw For Whom the Bell Tolls, I thought it was overlong and overrated. Since then, I've decided to re-evaluate the film and have decided that the film can be summed up as follows.PROS:(1) Hemingway and Cooper were friends, and Hemingway wrote the Robert Jordan character with Cooper in mind and handpicked Cooper for the role. Sure, it would have been nicer if this film had gotten made when he was younger, but it's hard to imagine anyone other than Cooper playing Jordan.(2) This was only Cooper's second color film in a long and illustrious film career that began in the silent era, and Bergman's first color film. It's a treat to see both stars in Technicolor, and both of them are utterly luminous in their close-ups (I'd say Cooper actually has a slight edge here since, unlike Bergman, he didn't benefit from a soft focus effect, and it's hard to imagine another leading man of this era who was better suited for close-ups than Cooper was, even though he was in his 40s here and a little past his prime).(3) Some reviewers felt that Cooper and Bergman had no chemistry, but I strongly disagree. The two were having an affair while working on this film. If Bergman seems like she's gushing over Cooper, she probably wasn't merely acting.(4) If Cooper seems wooden to some people, he's supposed to be playing a stoic character who exemplifies grace under pressure, but is also sensitive, idealistic, and quietly romantic at the same time.(5) It's hard not to notice that Cooper's look in the film must have been the inspiration for Indiana Jones, which makes me think that this film was much more influential than I had previously thought it was.CONS:(1) This didn't need to be a nearly 3-hour movie, and I wish it were 30 minutes shorter.(2) I appreciated the supporting actors and initially liked their performances, but when I re-evaluated the film, I felt that they were over-acting and seemed like caricatures (and no, I'm not referring to their make-up; I'm referring to their acting).(3) I wish there would be a properly restored version of this film.For Whom the Bell Tolls is not without its faults, but I give credit to Old Hollywood and Sam Wood for even making a film that is this faithful to a novel--so faithful that it moves at a glacial pace at times, but I also think that people had longer attention spans back then and did not need instant gratification like people do now.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls

1943

Action / Adventure / Drama / History / Romance / War

For Whom the Bell Tolls

1943

Action / Adventure / Drama / History / Romance / War

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Trying to adapt this Ernest Hemingway novel for

Hemingway wrote the novel with Cooper in mind

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